Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Hi Katie,

Thinking of you and Bonnie (beautiful dog!!!)...

I can only imagine how difficult this is and am hoping that things are looking up...

Wishing the best... Please let us know when you can --- I bet a ton of folks are worried...

Sending all of the strength, positivity, patience that I can to you (and Bonnie) in NZ...

Best,
Stephanie

Still keeping you and Bonnie in my thoughts and prayers! Hope all went well. She is such a beautiful dog!

Hi Folks, thank you for all your kind messages, it means a lot to us.
It has been a difficult week, but we are all basically OK now.

Bonnie first. The surgery went well and although the first 24 hours were hard...using a sling to take her outside to pee, trying to help her lie down in a comfortable way etc.....all was good that first day. She has to be confined so we have sectioned off a corner of the room with boards to make an area the size of an unfolded sleeping bag for her. I have a chair in that area as well and she can have the cone off if we are actively supervising. However the 2nd day after surgery the wound started bleeding necessitating an emergency visit to the vet. She is a big dog, a standard poodle, and I had to call Peter to dash home after school and skip a meeting to help me lift her into and out of the car. The vet was great and the bleeding stopped, and all is good again now. Now things seem to have settled down a bit. She can get out for a pee and a poop by herself with minimal help for the steps. She is even occasionally putting the foot to the ground but is not weight bearing yet. She has to be confined for 6 weeks and then an x-ray, and if the leg is healing well at that point she can have the freedom of the living room. So this is a long process.

Me and Peter. Peter was glad to miss his meeting as he felt a little under par...it had been a long week at school. On Saturday he woke up unwell. I also had a sore throat. He had cold symptoms. We still have isolation rules in NZ, so now we are both isolating, although we both tested negative yesterday (sunday). We have yet to test today. I would say we both have colds, but as a teacher Peter has to stay home until 24 hours after the symptoms have subsided, even if he continues to test negative. Both of us are on home isolation for now, so we are hoping Bonnie continues to improve and doesn't need a vet (yes we do have a contingency plan if she needs the vet whilst we are still isolating)

Food. I have been stress eating like there is no tomorrow. I have always stress eaten, and I am unlikely to change now. Any food will make you fat if you eat it to the point of bursting, and I have put on about 1.5kg. The stress eating was all 'compliant' but included a lot of nuts/dates/dried fruit etc. A lot. There was also some oil free baking using nut butter and apple puree. Of which I ate a lot. You get the idea....

Anyway, its Monday morning now. I am still under par but a little better. Peter is worse, and is coughing and sneezing. I will get a grip on things today with the food. No more snacking. I got a friend to shop at the weekend and have lots of veg. I have leeks, so I will make our favourite leek and potato soup today. I find snacking a problem and I have been snacking constantly, so I have to really work on that today.

apparently the sun is going to come out today. I hope so, and if it does we might go for a short beach walk. We are allowed to do that as long as we only go in our own area and keep away from others. As we have a beach within walking distance that is easy for us.

So thank you for your good wishes.
Onwards.
Katie.

Okay, good to catch up on Bonnie. I hope she goes forward from here with no complications. Tell her I understand, and that it gets better. It's painful and time intensive, but it does get better. and I REALLY hope you and your feller get over whatever it is that caught you. good on you for bringing the snacks back under control.

the sun came out and we had a beach walk.

The beach looking north.



The beach looking south




And a photo of Bonnie with her rear end shaved ......poor girl.....

Hi Katie!!!

Your Bonnie is BEAUTIFUL!!! I am so sorry that she is going through the effects of surgery... Also, 100% relate to what you said earlier about how hard it is (or just really what you have to do to let your pet do their thing...)...

Wishing you and your hubby and Bonnie the best... healthful healing... sorry that it is a long road... My one friend has Newfoundlands (the swimming dogs?)... that are like 160 /180 lbs. a piece.... OMG -- some of them have had hip surgeries for displasia that is common in that breed (from what my friend tells me)... I personally can't even control my under 10 lb. cats... so...

Wishing you strength, fortitude, positivity, awesome outcomes!!!

Thank you for all that you contribute to this Board!! Yes, I am still 100% jealous of your beach thing!!!

Best,
Stephanie

Hi Katie! It sounds like all three of you have just had a really rough go of things this past week or two! It must have been so scary when Bonnie started bleeding. I'm so glad to hear that the vet was able to get it under control. I hope that all of you are feeling better in short order. Bonnie is a beautiful girl to go with your beautiful beaches! I hope you will be kind to yourself - you are going through so much right now. You will get the food sorted soon enough. I suspect that eating extra of compliant food to help get through a stressful time is far different than falling into the depths of the Pleasure Trap during a stressful time. It sounds like you have done so well to stay out of that trap!

Sending you peaceful and healing vibes across the miles!

Hey Katie,

So glad Bonnie made it through surgery and is doing well. A lot of work for you but what a beautiful dog she is!

I love looking your beach pictures! We only made it to the beach 1 day this year in April. Hoping for more next summer.

I’m sorry you and your husband have been under the weather. It is the worst especially since I’m sure you don’t get sick very often. I’m so impressed that you stuck to on-plan food (dried fruit and avocados and stuff count!) when stressed. As you know the weight will come off when normal life resumes and I’m sure you’re not sweating it. Thanks for being a great example for us!

good morning, I think we are through the worst. I have not been reading journals so I am going to spend this afternoon, when a southerly is forecast to blow through, catching up. Its great we have so many regular posters now...but it makes catching up hard!

I am back running! Yesterday was the first day out, and I just did 2km to see how I went. Today I did 4km, and I hope to move back into my regular routine next week (Sunday here).

Bonnie is allowed out of her restricted area today and can have 2 five minute walks. She can go at whatever speed she wants as long as she uses all 4 legs. We are going after breakfast and before lunch to beat the southerly, snow is forecast, it won't snow here because of the beach, but sleet is not going to be good for her bad leg. Next Tuesday she sees the surgeon again for a check up, and has some physio.

I am still snacking, but hopefully now I am back running that will sort itself out. Yesterday Peter had some crisps (chips in America?) and I wanted some too....so I made my own. Picture below. So yummy! I eat them plain but you could sprinkle herbs or spices before microwaving if you liked. Slice potatoes as thin as possible, put in a single layer on a sheet of baking parchment and microwave. You don't need to turn them. Mine take about 5 minutes to do, and I do 3 batches so 15 minutes total. Watch them carefully as they need to be golden but not brown. If they go brown they taste burnt. But the timing can vary hugely depending on your microwave, so watch carefully the first time you make these. They work best with the sort of potato that you make fries from. Reds dont seem to crisp up. I use Agria, but I dont know if you have those in America.

Ruff wrote:I am back running!

I can only dream of being able to run.

I mean, I'm physically capable of running as far as simply moving a little faster if absolutely necessary. But I honestly fear causing harm to myself due to the strain on my joints and ligaments because of the extra weight I carry.

Actually "going for a run" feels like a looong ways off, but I do anticipate getting there one day.

Hi Katie!!!

OMG .... Your Bonnie is so BEAUTIFUL!! Hoping that she is feeling better.... And knowing surgery you said was a long haul...

Anyway, wishing you all of the best in this (as welll as Bonnie)...

Also, OMG... your chips look unbelievably wonderful!!! I am so up for giving these a go !! Going to totally do it!!!


Cheers,
Stephanie

I got in the hills! I ran in the Port Hills. They are the north side of the crater rim. The crater is an ancient volcano, and Lyttleton harbour is inside the crater. The port hills are the nearest hills to my house. It took me ages to do 10.5km, I am really feeling it after the bug, but it was great to be out even if I only ran the downhill bits. Now...if all goes well....photos!

10.5km, 567m ascent, 2 and a half hours in time... In old money thats about 6 and a half miles, and 1865feet. 2 and a half hours!!!

I climbed up the pipeline, steep but the quickest access.


I live on the spit between the ocean and the estuary....a wonderful place to live as long as one doesn't think about global warming and sea level rise...


The alps from the port hills.


The summit of Mount Pleasant


View over the harbour (and the inside of the caldera )


Looking out to the heads.


And finally my route home. The building on the next hill is the top gondola station, I drop down between the 2 hills, back up over the gondola hill (Mt Cavendish) and return to sea level via the valley between Mt Cavendish and the rocks at the back of the picture.

Katie!!! Gorgeous and thank you for taking the trouble to provide all these beautiful pictures!!! If only this site had the emoji with the heart eyes <3 <3

Amazing pictures, Katie! Thanks for sharing!!!

Yummy! I am so trying those microwave chips

We have a 10# of russets right now too so yeah...maybe when I can get up the stairs LOL