My Kind of Saturday

Today was my kind of day. The sky is blue, the sun is shining and there is a cool breeze blowing. And my ma and pa stayed at home all day, working outside, while I got to hang out in the yard. I look bored here, but I am really resting myself in a sun puddle:

Hey, Pa, you missed a spot on the car. I'm helpful like that.

Yup, hanging out outside all day and getting to be with my people definitely makes me a happy girl.

I Walk the Line

Today my ma came to watch me in action, as I work to get all my leg and back muscles strong again. Part of my exercises is walking in this tank on a treadmill that is submerged in water.

When I first started walking on this treadmill, the nice physical therapists started me off at three minutes. Now I am all the way up to 14 minutes.

If you'd like to see me in action, click on the video below. Normally I don't whine and cry when I am on the treadmill, but I was so excited to see my ma, I was ready to get out of the dunk tank and get back home in my sun puddle!



Because you're mine....I walk the line.

Home Sweet Home

The day finally arrived - my ma came and picked me up today and took me HOME!

First things first. I had to get in my comfy bed:

And then I had to enjoy the sun puddle:

All's right in my world, folks. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go catch a few ZZZs before I head back to physical therapy in the a.m.

Get Well Wishes

Hi everyone, Sadie here. My home away from home - Veterinary Specialists of the Southeast - has wi-fi, so I'm able to update you on my condition myself.

I sure am glad my Ma brought me in here, because I was really hurting last Monday. Then I fell asleep for a really long time and when I woke up, I wasn't hurting as much. I did have a weird new haircut, however:

That being said, the folks up here are taking good care of me. My doctor is a nice man named Dr. Paul, and he is a specialist in these kinds of surgeries. You can read an article about him here. My new best friend is a lady named Taine and my physical therapist is a lady named Georgia. The other night we started therapy and she massaged my muscles with a device that had a low electrical current running through it. It felt so good! And once I get my stitches out, they'll put me on something called a treadmill that's submerged under water. I don't know how I'll feel about that, but my Ma said she would take a picture for you.

And speaking of my Ma (and my Pa), they have been to see me every day. Yesterday, they brought me a gift from my friends at the Spivey household - Clarece, Carl, Jack, Roger, Victor, Bloo, Minnie and Scarlett. An autographed get-well card:

I'm not sure why Spitfire and Bones didn't sign the card. However, there was also a doggy biscuit, wrapped in pink and white satin ribbons. I was impatient with my Ma as she tried to unwrap it - that Miss Shelley sure knows how to wrap up a biscuit! - but she finally got the ribbons, tape and Ziploc bag undone and I enjoyed a delicious treat.

So fear not, readers of Six Inches High and Rising. Super Sadie is on the mend.

Sadie on the Mend

Dear readers of Six Inches High and Rising,

Sadie is out of surgery! She did have a ruptured disk, right in the middle of her back, that had traumatized the nerve root and there was a lot of compression. The surgeon said he was surprised she was walking as normally as she was and the extent of the damage led him to believe she has been living with this for a while as it continued to build up.

That being said, she came through the surgery fine and is in recovery now. Her Pa and I can go see her tomorrow (the vet requests owners not come see the pet on the day of surgery, to give them time to recover a bit).

Thank you for all your good wishes and prayers for Sadie...she is a well-loved little girl!

Before too long, she'll be running and playing.

Nancy

Say a Little Prayer for Sadie

Hello, regular readers of Six Inches High and Rising. Sadie's mom here. Many of you know that Little Miss Sadie May has not been feeling very well lately. Several weeks ago, she would yelp out in pain when being lifted and did not act as peppy as usual. As her Ma, I knew something was really wrong when she wasn't that interested in S-U-P-P-E-R. She went to see her friends at Case, and they prescribed an anti-inflammatory medicine. She had a full blood screen (results looked "great," according to Dr. Knight) and she even had acupuncture. Despite our best efforts, Sadie epitomized the poky little puppy.

My friends who know me well know that patience is not one of my virtues, and my four-legged babies are my everything. I neither have nor want human babies and I make no apologies for that inclination or for spoiling Sadie with three beds throughout the house, long walks around the park, expensive gourmet dog treats and a basket full of toys. She's my friend and constant companion.

So seeing her not feeling well, not being her perky little self, really had me worried. Her Uncle Jeremy opined that perhaps she had lost her mojo. And it did seem that way. Although she is five and no longer a high-energy puppy, she is the equivalent of 36 human years, not exactly over the hill. And a mama just knows when something is not right.

So yesterday, I took her back to Case, where she saw the compassionate Dr. Knight again, who had examined her previously on March 18. She said, "This is not the same dog as the last one I examined." She was very stiff and tense in her neck and back, exhibiting signs of pain. Dr. Knight immediately suspected degenerative disk disease and referred me to a specialist, a veterinary surgeon who does three to five disk repair surgeries a week.

The surgeon, Dr. Paul Shealy, made the same conclusions after examining Sadie. Today she is undergoing a myelogram, a test where dye is injected into her spine to determine if there is a disk problem and, if so, where. If that test shows a disk problem, she will immediately go into surgery. She will have a long recovery - about four weeks - but the good news is that these surgeries have a high rate of success and for the "long-low" dog breeds, bassets have the lowest incidence of recurring issues later on down the road.

While I hate for her to have to go through a back surgery, I am relieved to (hopefully) have a clear diagnosis and I am grateful that such a specialist has a practice right here in Savannah and for the caring folks at Case, who saw to it that Sadie got into see the surgeon as soon as possible yesterday. Their well wishes for "Sadie Girl" along with the good thoughts and prayers of folk all over the world (literally! Hi GrandMum and GrandJohn!) are very much appreciated.

Because those thoughts and prayers aren't just for Sadie - they're for me, too. So do us a favor today when you think of it. Say a little prayer for us.

Meeting Uncle Jeremy

This past weekend, we had a very special guest in our house - my Uncle Jeremy, who lives all the way across some big pond in a place called England. I still was feeling a bit under the weather, but I am a good hostess, if nothing else, so I was sure to wait right by his bedroom door until he woke up on Saturday morning:

On Sunday morning after brunch, my Pa and Uncle Jeremy took me for a ride in my car, the Fiat. It perked me up a bit. I was too busy looking out the window in this picture:

Here's a picture of Uncle and Pa when they lived in Italy. Uncle Jeremy looks like he was about my age:

Thanks for coming to visit me, Uncle Jeremy! You're welcome any time.

xxoo,

Sadie