Oh What A Week!

If anyone had told me, last week, that the following eight days would be such a roller coaster, I would have taken a pass. Instead, I went through a very tough couple of days, playing nursemaid to Mark after his eye surgery on Wednesday 17th June. 

I struggled to keep up with his eye meds, putting the erythromycin on his eyelid stitches and the drops in his eyes, with me tottering around holding on the bed and then trying not to be leaning on him while I was doing the drops. If you'd been a fly on the wall it would have been funny, I can look back and seethat now. At the time, it was extremely difficult.

Then came Saturday morning. I'd let the dogs out around 5am (they are still on Mark's work schedule and he's been retired since January!) and then gone back to bed after feeding them and putting fresh water down. I woke up a couple of hours later to the dogs whining again, so got up to let them out again ... and found they were whining at Mark who was collapsed on the floor in the hallway bathroom, having been puking and basically passed out. When I went to flush the toilet, it looked like somebody had emptied coffee grounds in there. I've seen plenty of vomit in my life, and had never seen anything like it. I googled it really quickly and it said it was internal bleeding so I told him, "we've got to get you to the ER". I hosed him off on my shower seat then got him dried and dressed, and thankfully, Jel was just out of the gate and leaving for work so she came back, and she helped him out to my car, with him actually using my walker for support.

I got him to Hillcrest, and they immediately took him back immediately, into a room and got him on IV meds and fluids. The staff were brilliant, the doctor ordered a CT scan and then said he was going to transfer Mark to Memorial as he needed an endoscopy to see what was going on. 

I left around 2pm to head down to Belton to take care of the goats and chickens, and was on my way back and called Hillcrest to find that he'd been discharged but was still en route to Memorial, so I headed to Memorial. When I got there, I needed valet parking but they don't have it on weekends, so I gave the security guard Mark's eye meds from home, and said I'd be back the next day (not realising that there'd be no valet parking then either, as they don't have it on weekends).

Apparently (which I didn't find out until the next day), he was admitted to Memorial at 7.09pm and promptly had projectile vomiting, scoring a record for distance and the height it reached on the wall ... with the nursing staff still talking about it when he was leaving! Because of that, and again it was the coffee ground looking, which is blood, they gave him 2 units of blood and did an emergency endoscopy at 1am,  cauterizing 3 wounds, apparently one was an ulcer and 2 were vascular bleeds. They then clipped them, to ensure they had a second level of sealing.

Unfortunately, despite fluids, and the transfusion, his haemoglobin started dropping again, so he had another transfusion, and they kept him on fluids only just in case they needed to do another endoscopy. Thankfully, his haemoglobin did stay stable after that second transfusion, although it didn't really improve, so - right up until the day they discharged him - they weren't sure if he was going to need another surgery to make sure everything was ok, or not.

Meanwhile, Jel and Samantha helped me a couple of days with Sunshine and Maisie at home, and Dylan and Lily took care of the chickens, and Solomon and Max for me. Without them, I'd probably never have managed to do everything I needed to. My lack of mobility makes so much of what I do difficult without other people helping me with aspects of what I need to do.  Opening the gate for the boys, opening their pen because I can't get my car close enough to be able to go down the car door to get the pen door; getting into the pens to get food and water bowls ... because the ground is uneven so I'm having to hold on to something and cannot pick them up; until you can't do things that you used to, it's hard to understand. It sounds like nothing and yet it's so much.

The good thing is that I brought him home yesterday, and he's doing ok. A bit doddery getting around, but def on the mend. I am very thankful for all the prayers, and all the help from everyone.

Plenty Of Thanks To Go Around

 Suffice to say, I've got a whole lot of thanking going on. 

Beginning yesterday, when the nurse at the opthamologist's office walked me out to my car and put my walker in the back for me (before bringing Mark out after his surgery) until today, when my grandson (Dylan) and great-granddaughter (Lily) came over to help feed the goats, chickens and stray mama because I was stressing about doing it with hubby being basically blind, and not supposed to be upright, right now. 

Inbetween, my great-granddaughter (Samantha) helped me with the 2 girls here with feeding and watering, washing off a crate tray, and helping get the crate in from outside, since we have some serious weather coming in and their outdoor pen bed area tends to get soaked, despite tarps. So they are indoors, crated, bedded down, fed and happy right now.

I also have to thank my hubby for being patient with me. I have 2 speeds, slow, and "is she even moving?" so his CNA is def not speedy and is accompanied by grunts and groans of her own. At least I can put his eye drops in and the ointment along his stitches, he'd be poking his eye out trying! His coordination is def off at the mo. I'm also good for food, drinks, his meds and setting up his insulin shot at night (since he can't see to calibrate it), although I can't give him his shot, it gives me the willies. Itry, and as I often say, I can be very trying.

The worst of it is that it puts my heart rate up, all the back and forth, so I have to lie down to let it go back down, and the same with my BP. I don't even take it until I've lain down for 10-15 minutes, so that then, even if it's high, it's not high enough to spook me and raise it all the more. A girl's gotta do what a girls gotta do!

Now, about to let the dogs out, before the rain comes in, and then rest for a bit. I deserve it!

Goat Life, And Other News

Goats are awesome, even when they are being obstinate and strong-willed. I know, back in 2016, we had said "never again" after losing the last of our 4 back then, Sadie, but just 6 weeks in with our new babies and I can't imagine being without them. 

Such distinct personalities too:

Sunshine, definitely little miss obstinate with an "I'm going to do whatever I want to" attitude.

Solomon, "hey I love everyone, oops there's my blackberries, bye". He LOVES blackberries!

Max, "I love everyone too but I love daddy the best!"

And then, our poor little Maisie, who is very shy and even after 3 days with us isn't sure that she can trust us.

Although, when I sat and held her today for some lovings, she actually looked at me and didn't try to hide her head in my armpit, so that's progress.

Plus she follows Sunshine around and even approached Mark, tentatively, when he was sitting down on the driveway, so - again - we seem to be making headway slowly. I just want her to be a happy goat and feel safe with us.

Meanwhile, over at the property in Belton, the boys had fun being outside their goat field. They chased the tractor and scared the poor stray mama again. All it took was a loud bleating, and she scarpered.

She'd been happily eating her food and only about 5 or 6 feet away from me. I'd even been talking to her, telling her she was safe with us, telling her she was a good girl and then - one loud bleat - and off she ran. She came back later with another female and they stood watching me. Knowing there were 2 coming around today, we put out extra food.

Hubby put together a milking stand today, for milking later on but -for now- for me to use for hoof trimming as that'll put them at a height where I can sit and do it. I'm not stable enough to try to stand and bend over. Thinking ahead, and trying to figure do-arounds for things that I know will be a problem for me.

Tomorrow hubby has his eye surgery, they say they won't be bandaging his eyes but he will see blurry tomorrow, and for the next few days after that will look like he's been brawling! Big black eyes apparently. They are trying to open up his squinty eyes as they think they're limiting the light getting into his eyes, and that's affecting his sight. Hopefully this will help improve it.

I'm nervous that I'll get lost en route. We know that is one of my many talents.

Welcoming Maisie

So, this afternoon, we picked up our latest little one, we're going to call her Maisie. She is 8 weeks old, and a Boer/mini Nubian cross and she has BLUE EYES! She snuggled down against me, in the car, while we were talking and then snuggled into Mark while I was driving. We assumed she'd be like the others (and cleave to us as the only familiar thing) when we set her down, outside the car, to meet Sunshine. Aha! Not so, she decided to go explore ... but away from us and just ran farther when Mark tried to catch up to her. Sunshine managed to "call" her back though

and they are both now together in the pen. As you can see from the pic, there really isn't much difference in their size right now, but she will probably grow to as big as Solomon and Max are at the mo, but Sunshine won't grow much more at all. 

The boys are getting on well, and they went walkies again today, over to a shady bushy area that will eventually be fenced in as an additional grazing area. They follow the tractor ... until something else takes their attention and then we have to double back to get them following us again.

Hubby Took The Goats For A Walk

 I say it over and over, I love my crazy life. I know it's not for everyone, but to me, there's something peaceful and calming about being around goats. Not always, Nubians can be noisy (and our bellow for mama and daaaad) but they are so loving, and so funny sometimes. I failed to get a pic (I was at the wrong angle and couldn't get the car turned around in time) but today Solomon chose to entertain me by getting into the chicken hutch ... and then on the upper layer where the nesting boxes are. I honestly don't know how he manages it, but he does!

Today, a day earlier than planned, we picked up Max, our newest baby. He is gorgeous, I've never had a Nubian with

spots before, and he is very soft-coated. He already follows Mark around, and comes to me for lovings. 

Mark took them all for a walk, to forage around the property and be goats, since

we treat them as our babies and pamper them. I drove alongside taking pics. Sunshine was a bit bossy with Max and kept butting him away, not sure if it was just because he was new or a spot of jealousy over him 

stealing "her" buddy. Sadly, she won't be hanging with her boy any more as they are getting to an age where things can happen, and I don't want babies having babies. So, Solomon and Max will now hang out together, and 

she will have a new buddy tomorrow, another Nubian but a little girl who we'll be calling Maisie. For today though, these three had a blast foraging around the property, outside of the goat field.

Yesterday, when the mama dog came around, she was HUNGRY. We normally put 2 large soda cups full of dry dog food in the pan for her, but we'd bought some canned food since it's so hot, and I put 2 cans in with the pan of dry and mixed it up. She snuck in while we were busy and ate the whole lot. Since I have no idea how many puppies she is feeding (and she is still feeding as she has very saggy half-filled tears when she comes over) I want to make sure she's getting enough nourishment.

Mark popped a couple of solar fans in the goat pen, so that they have air circulating, and they also now have a mineral lick that they have free access to. He also mowed some of the next field down, which will eventually be the girl's field. The mowing is a never ending job, since the total grassy area is about 5-6 acres.

We're heading out in a mo, to get some straw for Sunshine's bed tonight, and some frozen bones and ice creams for the dogs. Yeah, we'll never be rich cash-wise but we're rich in far better ways. We have all these furbabies who love us dearly, we are well-blessed.

Despite A Late Start ...

 We managed to get a lot of running around done, and things taken care of. I did, however, totally forget Tractor Supply. No worries, I'll deal with it tomorrow, saith she.

First stop, he voted. We stopped by his precinct and he got that done.

Second stop, I paid my June month at the Outlet Store in Fountain Inn. I had a check waiting - $38.70! My writing may never make me rich, but it feels good when people buy my books for their little ones.

I was going to bring my books back with me but decided to leave them in the store until the end of the month and to advertise them on FB daily, to hope to push some sales.

On the way back through to Mauldin, I hit on the idea of Andy's. Their "ice cream" is a custard, so has protein in it, and he had it with banana and strawberries and then whisked into a milk shake ... and managed to drink it down slowly without choking or it getting "stuck" as it went down.  As basically the first thing he was able to eat, I was glad it went well, and had some nutrition for him.

Then we went to Publix so that Mark could pick up his meds. He had been on the phone with the VA for over an hour and a half, and the VA doctor approved the endoscopy that the Urgent Care doctor had put in. He also prescribed pain meds for Mark, who came in and is now napping (which is good).

He should have had an endoscopy a couple of years ago, as he had this kind of problem before, and the gastroenterologist had been having him come in every 5 years for a colonoscopy (because his dad died of colo-rectal cancer) and then had sent a reminder to book both (it being about 10 since his previous endoscopy). Mark's primary care person at the VA wouldn't do it though. It took 6 months or so of continually asking before she even considered the colonoscopy ... then sent him a ColorGuard box instead because he's "not high risk". There are only two choices, she is either lazy or incompetent, but what's not high risk about his dad dying of colo-rectal cancer? How much of a higher risk is there? Plus, if she had ok'd the procedure with the gastro-enterologist who'd known him and done his ops for about 15 years, he wouldn't be going through this now, as the beginnings would have been found 2 years ago. Now it will be a new person who doesn't know Mark's history or have all the pics and notes from his previous ops. At least though, he will get his oesophagus blown out, and the ulcerous tissue sorted. I just hate that this could have been avoided had she done her job properly in the first place. End of that particular rant.

We went all the way up to Pelham Road, to the place for the part I need for my upright walker, and they don't have them in stock, so Mark found it on Amazon, and tomorrow we'll make sure the sizing is right (that walker is over on the property) and then just order it from there.

I "fancied" Oriental House, so as we came back down Garlington we stopped and picked up take out. Chicken, green beans and onion in a Cantonese sauce (that I had them add carrot to) for me (lots of leftovers for another day), and an egg drop soup for him. He had maybe a half, and again it went ok, so he has the rest for later. Suffice to say, I've found a new favourite dish!

I'm just enjoying the peace, and listening to him snoring. At least he's not hurting when he's asleep.

Wide Awake And Can't Sleep

 Ugh, it's 4am and I've been awake a couple of hours and am dead beat, but sleep is eluding me in these, the wee hours, of this morning. One would assume that the 5 hours in the ER would have tired me out, I felt tired when we left, but no, now I am wide awake.

I'm not worried about hubby now I know that he's going to be ok. Oesophagitis is fixable, even though he's in pain from it. The CT scan ruled out the rest of the bad things that I was afraid of. The last couple of days, with him dealing with issues swallowing, food feeling like it was stuck under his diaphragm and other pain, had me worried that I told him, "we're going to Urgent Care". They sent us to the ER so that he could have a CT scan. They gave him some morphine for the pain and he is sleeping well now.

The past couple of days have been busy, over on the property. My grandson, Dylan, and great-granddaughter, our miss Lily, came over on Sunday. Dylan helped Mark and did some mowing,

Miss Lily and I hung out with the goats, and she had a blast, feeding chickens, feeding the stray dog, sitting on the tractor with Sunshine (yep, the goat jumped up there and Miss Lily went up to hang out with her). The weather was hot but there was a breeze, and it was a beautiful day.

Mark's been working on the enclosure for the goats,

and we now have a nice hay rack in the pen that the 2 boys will be in after this weekend. Mark was putting it together in this pic. We pick up Max on Saturday morning. We met him earlier and think he and Solomon will have fun together.

Sunshine's new companion, Maisie, also arrives on Saturday.  She will only be 8 weeks old so we'll be keeping a little bit closer eye on her for a couple of weeks until she knows she's safe, and is settled.

The stray dog saw Solomon and Sunshine for the first time on Sunday and freaked out.  She started barking and backed away, we think she was trying to figure out what they were! She did end up eating though, and watched them like she watches us. She'll get used to them, she's a chow hound (poor baby) and nothing is going to stop her coming for food.

We hooked up with a new vet, closer to us and deals with large and farm animals, so on Monday, Solomon and Sunshine go for their CD&T shots. Max has already has his, and Maisie will have to wait another couple of weeks, and will be getting disbudded at the same time, under anaesthesia.

Noon - well, I managed to nap awhile, and then woke up and we are now having a rainy day. Hubby took his shower, I don't shower in storms, so here I wait for the lull, so that we can then get our day's to do trek started.

I have to pick up a new arm support for my upright walker as the other decided to split. That's heading in one direction, towards Greer, but then I have to loop around to go to Fountain Inn, to pay my boutique fee and pack up my books. On the way to Greer, I have to do a stop at Tractor Supply to get another sack of goat grower pellets, a red bucket for the boys' feed and a storage container for it as well, a bale of straw and a bale of hay. Getting ready for separating the boys and girls this Saturday. 

Saturday will be another busy day, going first to Belton to pick up our new boy, Max, and then to Fountain Inn, to pick up our new little girl, Maisie. Then the fun begins! It'll be great having 4 again. We missed having goats, it has been 10 years since the last of our previous 4, Sadie, died.