August 9, 2005

• I shot a wedding with the help of Serra~A~ last Friday and I must say she is invaluable as a light disc holder/equipment wrangler.  I let family members take care of the bride so I didn’t have to bend down a lot and could just concentrate on the pictures.  It turned out to be a much better day for me than the previous wedding where I did too much.  The pictures came out really well and that is always a relief. 

  
  

  Vee’s little sniffle has turned into a full blown cold and I am on my second round with it.  It isn’t as horrible as it could be so I am thankful for that since I can’t take anything for it.  Early this morning I was awake with Vee for a couple of reasons when I we heard the sonic boom as the space shuttle came in to land.  It has been since I was in the 6th grade that I have heard that.  Brian didn’t seem all that interested in it when I asked him if he heard it.  “Is that what that was, it was really loud.” as he rolled over and went back to sleep.

  
  

  I think I may have mentioned last week that Mo had been sick for nearly 2 weeks.  He was throwing up every night and during the day sometimes.  We were sort of waiting it our until it got really bad on Thursday last week.  Not only was he throwing up but he was lethargic, not eating, and not himself at all.  So I bit the bullet and took him to a vet.  We were faced with some tough choices as the tests were inconclusive and all we had to go by were the opinions of the vet.  We leaned heavily on Holly’s expertise and kept in contact with other family as we weighed out options.  Everyone figured he had a blockage in his digestive tract somewhere, most likely from ingesting something that isn’t digestible.  With a little further testing the vet was relatively sure it looked like a ball.  So we decided after a few tears were shed that rather than putting down a perfectly healthy dog we would agree to surgery to remove the problem.  It turned out to be one of Serra~V~’s 25 cent vending machine balls that Mo just couldn’t stay away from.  I remember the day it disappeared.  He wouldn’t leave it alone and Brian had expressed concern the night before that he might swallow it so SV had been putting it up high so Mo couldn’t get to it.  She put it on my sewing table where it soon disappeared from.  He is a pretty smart dog and has learned to climb on things to get what he wants.  The day he ate it I remember him coughing and gagging a lot and I figured he had eaten something that didn’t agree with him.  I didn’t put the two together at the time though.  I figured he had hidden or buried the ball somewhere else.

  
  

  The ball had been blocking his intestines at the stomach level and was keeping him from getting much food or water.  He was severely dehydrated and would have gone down hill fast as the ball would never have digested or passed.  Brian rearranged his schedule the following day to run him to another facility to be watched while he was at work and I was doing the wedding.  He is recovering well with  6 inches of staples holding him together.  He can only eat a few tablespoons at a time every few hours for a few weeks and has to take antibiotics like a baby. Yesterday he had his morphine catheter removed and hasn’t experience any discomfort that I have noticed.  In fact I am having a battle keeping him from chewing on any little thing he comes in contact with.  He can find a screw or a tiny piece of plastic faster than the vacuum.  We are contemplating getting some training help to kick the habit that could kill him.  It would be cheaper in the long run.  Thank you  to family members that helped us out during this little trial.  A great deal of stress was lessened especially for me.

  
  

  I feel like my birthday has already come with all the nice things that have come in the mail and the little party last night.  Thankyou everyone who has made it a great week for me already. 

  
  

  Alright, per Dad’s request.  For those of you with weaker stomachs than Mo.  You may want to cruise past the first 3 images. 

  
  

   

  
  

  Here we have the second round of x-rays with barium added for a view of were the blockage potentially is.  As you can see there is an unnaturally round object in the stomach.  Next we have the finished product.  Mo all stapled up.

  
  

   

  
  

  Please rub my unattractive shaved tummy. …Mo ate WHAT!  Is he a bad boy?

  
  

  The rest of these are some of my favorite shots of the wedding.

  
  

     

  
  

     

  
  

       

  
  

   

  
  

  We went to the beach today and met up with Mom, Serra A, Jeff, and the cousins with their mom.  Jeff and Serra entertained the masses while the three of us sat under the umbrellas and enjoyed watching.  I even coaxed Serra A into taking some pictures.  I will save those for another day since I feel I have done my posting duty today and it’s time to put my feet up for an hour before starting on dinner.  It’s the Ventura County Fair tomorrow to see how all our entries did, and for some rides and fireworks.  We may even squeeze in some piglet races too.  Actually, I may have to sit out on the rides this year.

  • 6:00 pm
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