A Part of the Family by Sharon O'Donnell

Our beautiful little red long-haired dachshund had back surgery on Friday of this week. Dachshunds are prone to back problems because of their long backs and short legs, but our Fenway is only 7 years old -- a bit young it would seem for such problems to happen. Even in dog years, he is only 49 -- my age exactly -- but come to think of it, I did have back surgery myself 3 years ago.

But with dachshunds, back problems can be very serious, and believe it or not, 6 or 7 is the average age of these problems occurring. I had a dachshund when I was growing up, and he lived until he was 16 with never a back problem or other health problem at all. Despite Fenway having doggie steps onto two of our couches and up to our bed, he still developed the problem.

He first started having symptoms of back problems this past August when he suddenly didn't want to walk. My husband had done research on the web, and he knew that when back problems develop, it is important to get treatment immediately. We took Fenway to a local university vet school clinic where they examined Fen and took x-rays. They could tell that Fenway had some mineralization along the discs of his spine, but they couldn't tell if a disc was actually herniated; an MRI would be able to show it, BUT they said that spinal surgery was so tricky that they would not recommend such surgery if the dog was still able to walk -- even if an MRI showed a herniated disc, they still would recommend conservative therapy - where basically the dog is carried up and down steps and not allowed to jump, etc. For the most part, we did that for the past 4 months. In the rain or the cold, we still carried Fenway down the stairs to his gated-in area off our deck and would then wait for him to do his business and carry him back up again. When we first got Fenway, we had steps built for him that were small without much rise in height between each of them so that there would be less strain on his back. However, perhaps that any kind of steps would have been too much strain.

The conservative therapy seemed to be working. Fenway gradually got back to his old self, although he was really spoiled, having grown used to us carrying him up and down the steps. Then four days ago, I noticed he was hesitating when having to get up to walk. We called and made another appointment for the university vet clinic for the next day. This time my husband insisted on Fenway having an MRI even though it was expensive; and if the MRI showed it was a herniated disc, we wanted to seriously consider surgery. Our college son came home and went with us to take Fen to his appointment. They kept Fen for the day to do the MRI. That afternoon, the results were back, and yes -- it was a herniated disc. They said surgery might help - but it was still risky as any spinal surgery is. The also said that if the disc had been herniated for a while, it would be difficult or impossible to remove. They also said they could decompress the herniated disc as well as the other discs in his back so that there would be more room around them in the spinal canal. Or we could put Fen on pain meds and more conservative therapy. We opted for the surgery. It was scheduled for the next day, but we took Fen home with us for the night.

That night it was more than obvious Fen was in pain. He had trouble moving and reluctant to walk. His breathing was more labored, as if it hurt to breathe. The next morning, his breathing was worse, almost like he was groaning or snoring every time he took a breath. He was in pain, and it was incredibly painful for us to watch. My husband had to take Fenway in for his pre-surgery prep at 7:30 that morning. Our 11-year-old son broke down in tears as he listened to Fenway's breathing, such an obvious sign that Fenway was hurting. Our whole family was a wreck. Our middle son, a senior in high school, had to get to class, but I know it was hard for him to leave Fenway. I saw later he'd texted, "Good luck in surgery, buddy."

Fenway is like part of our family. Forget the simile. Fenway IS a part of our family. He is very loyal and cuddly and playful and can make us forget our worries and concerns in no time. Just being around him makes us better people. Fen has a special relationship with everyone in the house, but he has a super special strong bond with my husband, Kevin. When Kevin is out of the house, Fenway guards Kevin's belongings all day, growling at anyone who comes near. It's actually kind of strange and overboard but that's Fenway. Most of the time, Fenway is a very laid-back dog who loves to relax, but when his is ready to play, he plays hard.

Yesterday afternoon did not bring the news we'd prayed to hear. The disc had been herniated for a while, making it impossible for doctors to actually remove the disc; however, they did decompress the disc and the other discs so there would be more room for in the spinal column and thus would alleviate the pain. But still -- it wasn't the best case scenario. Time will tell what will happen. Using pain meds off and on will also help him if needed. It hurts to think he won't be able to roughhouse with my sons the way he has for the past 7 years -- we'll miss that so much, and I wish I'd taken some videos of it. I think I took one last year, but it was brief, and I'm not even sure where it is in our stack of small video tapes. Ironically, in the beginning of November, we bought a brand new video camera that records without tape -- primarily to record Fenway. But we've been so busy that we didn't get around to taking one.

Even though he won't be quite his 'old' self, we know we are blessed to be able to bring Fenway home tomorrow. I went and visited him this morning, and he was very wobbly but able to walk and seemed very ready to come home with us. Hated to have to leave him there. His back is bare, now, his beautiful red hair shaved with staples along his spine. It's odd to see him like that. Kind of funny to look at though, and that is the approach we will take when my 11-year-old sees him. Kind of a revers Mohawk.

We can't wait to bring Fenway home in the morning. Home. Back where he belongs. With us. Part of the family.

Home Improvement (s) by Sharon O'Donnell

Since we’ve lived in the same house for over 20 years, we’ve had to update and repair things as we go along. It's time for us to do something else: repaint the kitchen cabinets and downstairs bathroom. There's always something, it seems.

The big thing was a family room addition that we did ten years ago right about the time our youngest, Jason, was born. That era of my life I refer to as “Pregnant and Plywood” since I was indeed pregnant with our third son, and a sheet of plywood was the only thing separating our kitchen from the outside for over a month. Fun.

Two years ago, we finally decided it was time to update the foyer since that’s the part of the house that basically everyone sees. In addition to painting our two-story foyer, we desperately needed to replace the wooden banister. For years, there was a child safety gate attached to it, which dug into the banister, making it worn and chipped. Since we were getting a new banister, we decided to go ahead and get hardwood stairs also. I wanted to get a carpet runner for the stairs, but Kevin thought we should see the hardwoods first before deciding. After a few days of work, the project was complete, and the staircase looked great. I still felt I might want a stair runner, but it wasn’t something we had to have right away. I did drop a few hints to Kevin about which colors might look nice, but he liked the hardwood steps better than carpeted ones.

Then it happened. I was working on the computer when I heard a loud noise and turned to see Fenway rolling hard off the bottom step and landing on the floor. He’d fallen down the stairs! I rushed to him and held him, making sure he was all right. Nothing was broken, although he was shaking.What were we thinking? Fenway has long hair, including on his paws; why didn’t we consider the possibility that hardwood steps might pose a danger for him. I felt terrible.

I called Kevin and told him what happened. And yes, he was on the phone with the carpet guys within minutes ordering a stair runner. If they posed a threat to Fenway, then the stairs would have carpet immediately. Of course, it took a few days for our carpet order to arrive and be installed. In the meantime, Fenway would sit at the bottom of the steps and stare up at them, as if they presented an impossible obstacle. Man versus Mt. Everest. Dachshund versus wooden stairs. It was obvious the stairs intimidated him, and it took a whole day before he dared set his paw on them again. If he went up the steps quickly, he would do okay; problem was, with his confidence lacking, sometimes he’d stop halfway up or halfway down and then couldn’t get started again. Someone always tried to be there right by him in case he needed us, yet that wasn’t always possible. There were times I’d find him lying on the middle step, afraid to go up or down. This, of course, would not do. We had to block off the steps with ottomans and chairs, sort of like childproofing. Finally, when the carpet runner was installed on the stairs, Fenway was free once again to go up and down as he pleased.

The most recent home improvement we made was in the winter of 2010 when we remodeled our master bathroom. All I wanted was Kevin to recaulk the shower so mold didn’t show any more. Honest. That’s all I wanted. But somehow it turned into a major renovation complete with tile and a new vanity. Kevin always would get upset with me when I brought up recaulking the shower because he said the caulking he’d already done was the best he could do. And of course, he was determined not to call in a professional.

Much to my surprise, one day after Christmas, Kevin suggested we go look at new shower stalls. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth or to try to determine the motivation of said gift horse, I said okay. We went to the local Home Depot and picked out a shower stall that we liked; yet, Kevin said he’d like to look around a bit more.

Enter Kevin’s good friend, Chuck, who was visiting from Florida that week. Chuck has a talent for somehow getting Kevin to agree to making major purchases. God, I envy that talent. I don’t know how he does it. The boys and I have both noticed. Chuck suggests ideas he thinks would be good for house, and Kevin will automatically begin to seriously consider it. If I’d come up with the same idea, Kevin would never listen to it. I used to be jealous of Chuck's talent until I realized I could use it to my advantage.We had been planning to have our pipes replaced in our entire house because they were the polybueteran type that was prone to leaking or bursting; however, we hadn’t done it yet because it was rather expensive. It was Chuck who said, hey why not go ahead and remodel your bathroom as long as you’re pulling out the pipes.

Next thing I know, Kevin, Chuck, and I are sitting in a tile shop ordering Italian tile for the floor and shower walls, a glass shower stall, a new vanity with mirror and cabinet, and even a new toilet – the kind with the strong flush that alleviates toilets getting stopped up. Oh Happy Day. No more using the plunger! The tile is gorgeous, but that toilet – it is the crown jewel of the bathroom. The piece de resistance. It’s definitely the most popular thing with the boys we’d bought since buying Fenway.

I love our new bathroom. I feel like I’m in a hotel. As a matter of fact, it took Kevin and me a few weeks to feel comfortable actually being in the bathroom because it was so nice, it didn’t feel like we lived there. The other thing is that remodeling an upstairs master bath means that visitors will never see it, and come on, isn’t showing it off to visitors supposed to be half the point of it? But it’s not like adding on a sunroom and having people over for dinner. You can’t say to dinner guests, “Why don’t we have dessert up in our master bath?” Well, you can, but you would get some very strange looks.

The next thing on my list is to get the guest bathroom updated. As I said above, nobody can really see the nice master bathroom except us, so a guest bathroom update would be nice.

I think it’s time Chuck comes up for another visit.