Quick Update

We're insulating.

 And drywalling.

Actually got a good bit done. We should be finished and ready for texture and paint by Wednesday.

Gonna be a long week.

Six

Flash Flood

First an update on the California house. We got a great offer on the house late last night. It's for a little more than we asked, As Is, the buyer is already qualified for the offered amount, they put down a large good faith payment, the lender is a good one our agent likes and it's a 30 day escrow as opposed to 45. Lu and I talked it over with our agent and have decided to accept it. The paperwork begins today and man there is a bunch of it to do. We signed the offer sheet (all 8 pages!) and fired it off. With a bit of luck escrow will close at the end of August. Lu and I are ecstatic. We have been truly blessed. The power of prayer is strong. Thank you all for yours!

A couple of days ago the skies started looking pretty ominous and we got the Emergency Broadcast interruption on the TV. Within about an hour it looked like this outside.

It rained like that for a couple of hours. As it died down we decided to walk the neighborhood and take a look at Gould Wash which is just half a block from the house. It's normally a dry wash but it was pretty full of swiftly rushing muddy water.

Around the block there's another bridge over the wash. Next to it was a huge old cottonwood tree that decided it was time to come crashing down.

Another view of the flood from that same bridge. That's a lot of water.

Fortunately it didn't crest it's banks so flooding was kept to a minimum. It has before. A few years ago it was bad enough to flood our basement. We went back the next day to check and the water was mostly gone. If you take a look you can see the high water mark. I figure it was about 6 feet deep at it's highest.

A neighbor captured some of it on video. It includes that big tree that crashed.



We had some more rain and lightning yesterday and the forecast is a little uncertain to my mind. We shall see. In the meantime Lu and I are celebrating the pending sale of the California house. If it does go through I can get back to working on this house for a bit. It's been a while since we were down to a single house. I cannot wait. It will simplify our lives immensely and in these days that is a very good thing.
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Canine Broken Leg Care - Update

Dann gently reminded me that I have been entirely remiss on the Angus updates. This will probably be the next to last post on this topic, providing we experience no unexpected complications. We are right at 5 months from the date of the accident.

The short answer to how he's doing is this:

If you look closely at that second picture you'll see three legs off the ground with the right front leg, the one he broke, firmly on the ground. No pain, no favoring, just joyful running fun.

Angus still at times favors that leg but overall he walks and runs on it without any difficulties. It seems that when we push him, and rehab is all about safely pushing him physically, he gets a bit sore. In reading and researching the issue of broken legs in active dogs it seems apparent to us that one year is the generally accepted time frame for a complete recovery. When the Surgeon released Angus back to full duty what he was in effect telling us was that the leg was healed to the point that serious strength building running, swimming and walking could be done without fear of a re-break. He only limps after a hard exercise session.

What we've done is watch him closely and carefully plan his rehab so we can allow him to push his limits with the least amount of pain possible. What that means is that we intersperse short leash walks and pool swims with free runs, long walks and open water swims. The former keep him loose, limber and toned while the latter allow him to experience the muscle building exercise he must have if he's going to recover completely and get back to one hundred percent.

There is simply no way to rehab from such a badly broken leg without some lingering pain as the wound completes the healing process and the muscles rebuild to their pre-injury state. It's our job to know his limits, allow him to push those limits and watch him for signs that those limits have been reached so we can allow his muscles the rest time they need to rebuild and bring him back the where he was before the accident.

We're now at the point in his rehab where the improvement we're seeing is slower than at the beginning. That's actually a very good thing as it means that he's getting ever closer to full recovery. The closer we get the less daily improvement he'll experience. His right shoulder now feels almost like the other. The leg has regained most of it's muscle mass. We even put the frame back on the bed last Sunday.

We are content with his progress. He runs and plays hard every day and when he's getting that off leash freedom shows zero signs of ever having had a broken leg. It's after the fun is over and the long hike is nearing it's end that he'll show a slight favoring of the leg. We're continuing the massages (and man, does he ever love his leg massage time!) and give him a Rimadyl occasionally when he seems to be in greater discomfort.

When I discussed Angus' long term prognosis with his surgeon he assured me that he'd make a complete recovery, even for a Field Trial Lab. At the time I was a little apprehensive and doubtful. No longer. I am absolutely confident Angus will make a complete recovery. He's already so close right now that I can almost forget that horrible day ever occurred.

Absent some catastrophic happenstance I don't want to even consider we will continue down the path we're currently on. In my mind we have another 7 months before the final result will be known but I no longer stay up late at night worried.

Angus is Angus again and all is right in our little world. That makes me happier than I can adequately convey.

Thank you again for all your prayers, knowledge, experiences and support. We love you all. Now, I'm going to go and play frisbee with my dog and isn't that just the best thing we could have ever hoped for 5 long months ago.

Six

Update

The writing is going well. It's going to be longer than a short story. There's just too much to cram into that small a space. Since he gave me the Ok I can tell you that my collaborator and spiritual guide is none other than our own Rev. Paul. At the risk of making him a target for anyone who is also writing he is an absolute gem and an indispensable source of knowledge, both scriptural and secular. The man is Wicked Smaht as Borepatch would say. Thanks Rev.

Car Guy will be here this evening. We're going on out annual long ride starting tomorrow. Probably be four days. We're going out to see his daughter and miracle granddaughter. If anyone doesn't think the power of prayer works miracles that little girl is proof that it does. She should have died. She should have had extensive brain damage. She should have crippling physical limitations from her injuries. She has none of that and there's no explanation other than God. Your prayers mattered. I am utterly convinced of that. Thank you all.

We're also going to be dropping in on Instinct to see his grip making operation. Car Guy wants a pair for one of his innumerable 1911s.

I'm turning the place over to DO and Sarge. They'll keep the riff raff out and hopefully do a little sweeping. Getting kinda gamey in here lately. DO will handle Sunday Kipling. Pictures and a write up as soon as I get back as well as some thoughts on carrying on a motorcycle.

In the wind tomorrow for a few carefree days on a motorcycle with my best friend. It's going to be fun.

Six

Canine Broken Leg Care - Rehab

Rehab is going well. Angus is still favoring the leg a little but he walks and runs readily on it. Sometimes he runs on it when we'd really rather he didn't but he's a young Lab. What you gonna do?

When we started the rehab process the thing that struck me initially was that the dog's basic adaptability was working against us. You've all seen the videos and stories about the three legged (and occasionally even two) dogs who manage to get by just fine. They don't seem to understand or even remember that they once had four wheel drive. Or care seemingly. We had experienced a bit of that with Angus. He'd been going three legged for long enough that it was natural for him. He adjusted his gait and his life to the tripod system and was perfectly happy with that. No issues here, let's go! One of the things we had to do in the beginning was to remind him, re-teach him really, that he did indeed have four legs and he should be using all of them. We started with slow walks. He continued to do the bunny hop while standing on all fours. When it was time to go again it was hippity hop and off we go. We started having Lu walk just in front of him and slowed the pace way down. That made Angus pull to get even with her and the slow pace made him walk instead of hopping out ahead. It worked and pretty soon he was on four about as often as three. We also put up a small pool. We are space limited in the back yard behind the covered porch which was where we wanted the pool to go. It's an el cheapo 12 foot round above ground pool just over three feet deep. Plenty for canine rehab or lounging on a hot Summer day. It also reinforces the instinctive use of the leg while providing low impact exercise. We swim Angus for 30 minutes every day.

Sometimes I can simply hold onto his ribs and let him swim in place

But usually he requires some motivation

The water is still awful cold so when it's her turn Lu suits up in her triathlon wet suit

Angus has a huge play drive and needs little convincing to jump in and swim around but we have developed a few games to keep his interest up. Teasing works well. "Get the ball Angus!" He'll chase it around and around.

Or his personal favorite, a good game of "I've got it you can't have it" AKA Keepaway.

We figured out that all he needs is the hint of a game of tug-o-war and he'll happily swim circles forever. In a small pool you have to be inventive and keep his interest piqued.

We even found a fun way to start the sessions. Ready?

Go! Trust me, that is a very happy dog. He now runs out and sits by the pool whining whenever he sees one of us getting on the swim gear. When I bend down to get him he runs up and snuggles immediately into my arms eager for the launch. You can almost hear him thinking WHEEEE!!

When I was convinced we'd been able to rewire his brain back to the instinctive use of the leg it was time to progress. First up was back to some trail walking. We're still limiting Angus both to distance and control. He stays on the retractable leash for now. Those leashes are a blessing when doing rehab walks with a young energetic dog like Angus. He gets enough freedom to make him happy and enough distance to get a good workout but we also have the ability to keep him close enough to anticipate trouble and keep him out of it.

Standing tall and proud on four good legs. How wonderful a picture is that?

The idea has been to reintroduce Angus to his old haunts and habits as rehab progresses. It motivates him, normalizes his life and makes him use the leg in controlled conditions. That's important with a dog. You can't just tell him he has to take it easy and follow this strict rehab regimen. You have to guide, show and convince him. That leg still hurts but if you approach it correctly he'll learn to trust what you're telling him. That it's Ok to go ahead and use it. To that end we went to the pond. Not the lake where the accident occurred but a small pond near the house. Angus loves the place. It was also Chrisi's favorite spot and we have since christened it Chrisi's Pond. Did I mention that it has resident ducks living there?

You can see in this picture that in the beginning Angus was still favoring that leg. I think it was still subconscious. He'd learned that the leg was no longer available and had adjusted to that reality. That, as much as anything else, was what we were fighting.

But throw in something that took his mind off the injury, like say, oh I don't know maybe some ducks? Now he's concentrating on exterior influences and not the leg.

The pond also allowed us a place for Angus to have long uninterrupted swims. I teased him with rocks tossed around where he was swimming. He'd chase one and when he didn't find it he'd look back to me and I'd throw another. It' goes against his retriever training where this type of thing is verbotten but we're concentrating on rehab. The rest can wait. Of course the ducks also did their part. You can see the two he was chasing just above his head in this photo.

Again, walking on the bottom in shallow water on all fours. Not a care in the world. "Did I do good daddy?" Yeah pal, you did great.

When I was rehabbing from my Achilles surgery the one and only thing that really gave me pain relief was massages. To this day Lu still massages that leg and foot area and probably will have to the rest of my life. I figured if it worked for me it'd work for Angus and I was right. He loves his massage time.

He'll come immediately and lay down as soon as he figures out what's coming. I rub him from shoulder to paw, being careful not to put too much pressure on the leg repair. That plate is still quite noticeable.

This is also the time for stretching. The ligaments and tendons in that leg have all shortened up and gotten stiff. He needs to have the ankle stretched back every day. He doesn't seem to mind and I'm careful not to make it painful. A little further each day.

A happy dog at the end of another good day. He was incredibly happy when he got his couch back.

Angus is doing very well, so well that I'm even starting to be confident of a total recovery. He gets stronger literally every day. Between the walks, swims and massages his rehab is taking him back to the dog he once was and that we despaired of ever getting back. Lu and I are indebted to both of his doctors for the fine work they did and to God for giving him back to us. Seeing him curled up on his couch after another day doing his work and generally having fun has been a balm to my soul. I figure his rehab will take anywhere from 6 months to a year before I can call him 100 percent recovered but I am now convinced that, barring the unforeseen, that day is coming. We're still barely 12 weeks into this process. We have a lot of work yet to do but the heavy lifting is done and that makes me unbelievably happy. I'll do updates as the months go by but for now the Canine Broken Leg Care posts have come to an end and a wonderful end it is.

Thank you again for all your prayers, support and treats. The journey would have been so much harder without all of you. Lu and I are grateful. If you happened to stumble upon this post and would like to talk or ask questions about your own dog's recovery I invite you to drop me a line. Lu and I are always happy to do what we can to help, even if it's just to provide a sympathetic ear and a encouraging voice.

For now I'm going to say my prayers of thanks and go love my dog. We'll see you all down the trail.

Six

Angus Update - Cast Is Gone - Pictures (Warning, Kinda Graphic)

We took the boy into see the surgeon in Las Vegas this morning at 0915 local time. As usual they took him back for removal of the soft cast and new X-Rays. A few minutes later the nurse came back being dragged by a black dog sans one soft cast.

It was good to see him without it. We've only seen his leg once in the last 8 weeks and that was two weeks ago when the our Vet changed the cast. It looks....kinda bad but in a good way. The leg is pale and covered with red areas. Some are from the incision but some are from being in a leg cast for 8 weeks. The good news is the surgeon was happy with his progress. His words "I'm pleased." That took a huge load off our minds since we're naturally a little pessimistic and generally expect the worst. Neither of us slept much last night. No more cast but we do still have to deal with an incision that needs final healing without any canine licking therapy. The ankle is stiff though his elbow is moving nicely. He still limps around and tends to carry the leg whenever he's moving faster than a dead slow walk. He stands well and the leg looks straight. Rehab begins immediately. Slow walks and as much swimming as we can fit into our schedules. We do have to go back to intense supervision to keep the running and licking down. We're trying to make a go of it without the collar of shame but it's nearby if (when?) we figure out can't get by without using it. In the meantime it's topical antibiotics and bitter apple for the wounds and lots of supervised activity. Doc says two weeks but we can easily lengthen that out depending on what we're seeing. More on this later. In the meantime  do have photos. I warn you that some are dang hard to look at. Some of them make my heart hurt.

Here's Angus in the parking lot with Lu just after we left the surgeon's office.We hadn't yet had a chance to get his leg cleaned up. He was past ready for everyone to stop touching his leg and just let him go home!

Ok. I got some shots of the X-Rays from the surgeon's computer. Again, they are a little graphic. You can see the breaks and how bad they were. They also show the plate and screws he used to put everything back together again.

By my count he used 10 screws. 8 to attach the plate and 2 more transversely to pull the split bone back together. Poor Angus. I get a sick stomach just thinking about how bad that had to hurt and all the misery he's gone through these last 8 weeks.

A couple of closer looks at that incision site. I was frankly surprised at how jagged and uneven it is. My own incision scars are invariably straight and relatively neat. Still, it's the end results that count.

In spite of everything we have been blessed and we know it. When he got hurt the only thing Lu and I prayed for (as well as a lot of you, my friends) was for him to recover no matter the cost or effort required. We got that miracle. Today was a large step in the recovery process. We couldn't start rehab and physical therapy in earnest until the cast came off for the final time. Whatever challenges come up please know we are both capable and determined to escort him through them.

Thank you all for your prayers. They are gifts that we can never adequately repay. That little man up there with the healing leg is proof of the power of prayer and we are eternally grateful.

I'll update as the rehab and physical therapy progressThank you again my friends.

Six, Lu and Angus.

Angus Update

Sorry I'm so late posting this. We've been busy as little beavers with drywall. It should be done today and if so I'll post some finished pictures later.

We took Angus to our Vet on Monday with the understanding from out Surgeon that the cast was coming off. Here's Angus Monday morning wearing cast number three.

If you look closely you'll see that the area of the soft cast around his wrist is wrinkled. That's where it has given as he's walked and allowed him to have a little more flexibility to put his paw on the ground better. I thought that was the whole point of the soft cast. To allow him to slowly have more movement in his wrist to prevent it from freezing and get him walking more normally. Apparently I was mistaken.

When we got to the Vet he informed us that the Surgeon had called him and told him to go ahead and put on yet another soft cast for another two weeks. Here's Angus wearing cast number four.

Everyone, especially Angus is unhappy. The skin over the tendon that runs down the front of his leg is inflamed a little and is obviously causing him some distress. I've been treating that area with Bag Balm. I was also informed that such wasn't a great idea and I should cease and desist. Yeah, not gonna happen. Rubbing that area with a salve gives him relief and does no harm that I can tell so I'm going to go right on treating his skin as I deem best.When they took off the old cast he was happy but when they started putting on the new one he suddenly decided he had somewhere better to be. It wasn't exactly a fight but he was one displeased dog.

Honestly neither Lu nor I can really see the benefit of this last cast. I know the docs are being careful but it seems excessive at this point. We understand the need to keep his activity limited and controlled and would do that regardless. The cast just seems to cause more discomfort than anything else. But we are nothing if not cooperative so if the doctors say two more weeks of a soft cast then two more weeks it will have to be. But I am going to treat his skin and any rashes he develops and if the doc doesn't like it he can kiss my fat ass.

We have an appointment with the Surgeon in Vegas on the 15th. He'll take another set of X-Rays and we hope will finally remove the cast completely. Angus is moving well. It's amazing how quickly they adapt. We're moving forward but the process is agonizingly slow.

Six

Remodel Update - Interior Walls

Framing is finally done. All the walls as well as the roof/ceiling repairs have been completed. The doors and windows are in as well. On these walls I built the framing in place as opposed to building the wall on the floor and then lifting it into place. Again, I am not a professional framer or building contractor. I'm just a guy who has some handyman skills and who's too cheap to hire this stuff out. Take anything I say or do for what it's worth. YMMV. If you're unsure consult a professional or hire the work out. Here's how we did it.

Ok. We started by cutting and laying out the sill plate for the first wall.

Once that was done we measured over from the West wall on both ends and in the middle to make the room square(ish). The sill plate is then fastened to the floor with the Ramset. Two things to be aware of here. First. I decided to make the sill plate one piece and then cut out for the door. It's easier and simpler than trying to do the sill plate in two pieces. Second. If do it that way and you're going to add a door make sure you don't fasten the sill plate to the floor in the area where the door will go. You can add in additional Ramset nails in critical locations once the door hanging/final framing has been done.

From there I dropped a plumb bob down from ceiling joists on each end of the wall as well as the middle.

When it was even with the edge of the sill plate I made a mark on the joist to locate the top plate.

We nailed the top plate to the ceiling joists using our marks as a guide. Because this is a non load bearing wall a single top plate is sufficient. As you'll see later I did a double top plate in the other wall.

When both plates were in we put in the two end studs along each outer wall. One of those walls was block construction so the Ramset was used again. When you're adding interior walls over masonry or concrete the Ramset is an indispensable tool.

Ok. At this point I have the top and sill plates installed and the two end studs in place. I decided it was the perfect time to put in the door. We decided where the door should go and then I marked a center point on the sill plate. The door is 32 inches and with the frame (it's pre-hung) it measures out to 33 1/2 inches wide. I need some room for shimming and fitting so the opening was set at 34 inches. I made a mark 17 inches on either side of the center mark for the cutout. From there we had to allow for the jack and king studs, 3 inches on each side of the cutout. I made a second mark on the sill plate for those two studs.

Then it was time to cut out the sill plate for the door opening.

I put in the king and jack studs and the door header as I talked about in the last post and installed the new door. It went in just like the exterior door did.

Once that was done we measured out and marked the sill and top plates for 16 inch on center common studs. Some people go ahead and take the time to outline the 1 1/2 inches for the studs but I've found a simple centering line is faster and works just as well for me.

Remember to check for plumb and square.

I then toe nailed in the new studs top and bottom. A pneumatic framing nailer is the most massively useful tool you can have when doing this kind of work. Hand nailing this many studs frankly sucks. I figure we put in about 3000 nails during this framing remodel. We also added about 65 new framing studs. When you add in the 2x6 ceiling joists and all the supports and bracing the lumber bill was considerable.

I made a mark about halfway up the studs and put in the cross braces. I off set every other brace just above and just below my center marks. There's at least a thousand ways to do this. My way is easy, simple and strong but do it the way that seems best to you and is code compliant in your area.

One wall down, one to go.

The second wall went in just like the first with one exception. I mentioned before that the first wall was non load bearing so didn't need a doubled top plate. The second wall is also non load bearing but runs directly under a header. That concerned me enough that I decided to bite the bullet and do a double top plate. It's just two 2x4s sandwiched together as opposed to a single board. In this picture you can see the header running to the block wall and the double top plate running under it. It's just added security in case the header settles or fails. That wall is strong enough to take the weight of the roof without the entire structure failing and falling down.

The second wall completed with double top plate and door installed.

Here's a view of the corner where the two walls meet from the kitchen. the Boy's room is straight ahead and The Girl's to the right.

And a view from the same location (looking left from the kitchen) of the hallway leading to the back door on the East wall and the covered porch. The door corner is just to the right in the picture. Quite a difference from what we started with.

A reminder. This is rough carpentry. It's moderately difficult but well within the ability of anyone who has basic carpentry and handyman skill sets but do your homework. Acquire the needed skills and knowledge. Take it slow. Have a plan but be ready to modify that plan as you go. You will goof up. You will find out that you can't do what you wanted to on occasion. You will change your mind. Stuff will break or won't fit. The inspector will inform you that it's all wrong and has to be redone. Be prepared for any and everything. If you get to a point where you're uncertain or just plain out of your depth stop and get some assistance or advice. Comply with all local building codes and regulations/rules.

I recommend the following tools at a minimum:

-Chop saw

-Circular saw

-Sawzall

-Framing square

-Drills (Cord or cordless. I have and use both) with bits and drivers

-Hammers both framing and finish

-Chalk line

-Pneumatic nailer capable of driving 16 penny nails and a compressor able to run it continuously

-Pneumatic brad nailer 

-2, 3 and 4 foot spirit levels. 4 foot is required, the rest is just massively useful

-More than one good 30 foot tape measures because you will misplace them constantly. having a spare rocks

-A good carpenters tool belt. Mine is the Tim Taylor model :)

-Marking tools from felt tipped to ink pens to carpenter's pencils

-Various small hand tools like hand saws, screwdrivers, nail pullers, pry bars, pliers, vice grips, etc. You never know what you'll need so more is better

-Lots and lots of fasteners. Nails, brads, screws of various sizes and gauges

All in all I am most pleased with what we've accomplished so far. The kid's rooms look like actual rooms now. It's been a lot of very hard work but the final result will be well worth the effort. The grandkids will have their very own rooms at our house. Joy! Plus the space is now solid and well supported. The issues have all been addressed and I'm no longer concerned about the whole thing suddenly falling down. My insurance agent will be so happy.

Next up will be wiring the rooms. I need two constant hot outlets, one switched outlet, one switched accessory box (for a ceiling fan) and one double throw wall switch per room. I've got the Romex but we need to run down to the big box home improvement store for the rest. I think we'll take the weekend off and since Angus sees the surgeon on Monday no more work until next week.

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