I hate my dog

Teuthida · 01-14-2009, 07:21 PM

My corgi has degenerative myelopathy which has recently made her back legs almost useless. She can still walk around with difficulty but slips and falls a lot because she can't feel her rear legs.

She has to be carried up and down stairs and has developed the annoying habit of having me go to the rear of the yard to grab her to carry her inside. I did this today as usual and on my way back to the house I slipped on ice and landed with all my weight on my right elbow to protect my dog from the fall.

Dog's ok but I'm afraid I might have broke my arm which would really really really suck because I have a tight deadline I have to make and with no health insurance I cannot afford to go get X-rays if it turns out not to be broken.

While I'm nursing my arm the damn dog somehow managed to walk up 13 stairs to the second floor which she hasn't done in months. That bitch might have let me broke my arm to carry her up four steps when she was able to make it up three times that.

This was this morning. Still dunno if it's broken or fractured. Not sure how I can tell. I can move it ok now but still hurts and is quite swollen. What say you Dr. Bube? Or anyone who has had a similar injury?

Gonna try to draw now. Lost half a day of work time already. Hope not too painful.

Argh. That BITCH!

Fox 6 · 01-14-2009, 07:49 PM

Bube has a medical background. maybe he can help out?

Bond · 01-14-2009, 08:05 PM

Try going to your friendliest religious hospital. They might do it for free.

Jonbo298 · 01-14-2009, 10:29 PM

If you can't afford health insurance due to financial reasons, fair amount of hospitals are willing to offer financial assistance. When I was insurance-less but needed a procedure to untwist my intestines among other FUN things, they mentioned financial assistance and to at least try.

Needless to say, my income wasn't so great at the time. They covered the entire bill on their end. They wouldn't cover "3rd party" things like outside hospital blood tests but it was $940 compared to a hospital bill of over $40,000 for the week....

Professor S · 01-14-2009, 11:22 PM

Having played offensive and defensive line in footbal for a number of years, I've broken a few bones. Fingers, especially. An easy way to tell is to apply compression pressure (slight) along the length of the bone.

Example: If you think you broke your forearm, grab your wrist and push back towards your elbow.

If its a fracture, you will be in CRAZY PAIN even if you spply slight pressure. If there is little to no difference in pain, you likely have a deep bruise, which is nnothing to deminish. In any case, sling the thing and go to a free clinic.

Teuthida · 01-14-2009, 11:41 PM

Thanks for the help guys. I tried the forearm push and no crazy pain experienced. I've been icing it most of the day and now I just have pain when it's touched which is a big relief. I was mostly just scared that I wouldn't have full use of my arm when I needed it most. I couldn't move my arm enough to draw this morning but now I'm doing fine with some padding under my elbow. I'll see how it is tomorrow.

Angrist · 01-15-2009, 07:45 AM

I wouldn't use your arm with such an injury, broken or not. Give it some rest.
But I guess you have no options, with the deadline and all.

Bube · 01-15-2009, 11:58 AM

I guess I'm a bit late, but I'm glad to hear you're better now.

The swelling is pretty normal for a fall like that, but I'm sure if you had broken it, you would have had a lot more trouble moving it. Still can't rule out a fracture though, and I'd advise you to try to get an x-ray..

Teuthida · 01-16-2009, 12:57 AM

Thanks for the advice. I can fully move it now with almost no pain. I guess it just seemed worse than it was....or I have super human healing abilities.....

The funny thing is my dog now keeps appearing upstairs without anyone carrying her up and without being caught in the act of climbing the stairs. Either she was faking her illness the last half year or the sudden fall (in which she landed on me) gave her more use of her back legs...or she flies. Either way, it's rather odd.

Dyne · 01-16-2009, 01:12 AM

My dog is a huge ball of energy, and we take her out on walks often, but when me and my girlfriend go on super long walks, my dog just kind of.. runs out of energy, and we have to carry her home.

It gets us all dirty, too.

Oh puppies.

Nighthawk · 01-16-2009, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teuthida

The funny thing is my dog now keeps appearing upstairs without anyone carrying her up and without being caught in the act of climbing the stairs. Either she was faking her illness the last half year or the sudden fall (in which she landed on me) gave her more use of her back legs...or she flies. Either way, it's rather odd.

Maybe when you fell, you yelled at the dog, or screamed or something. That really effects (or affects, I don't really know) animals emotions so now she must know something bad happens when you carry her upstairs and avoids it?

Teuthida · 01-16-2009, 03:59 AM

Nah, I didn't yell at her or anything. I acted much more angry towards her in my first post than I did in person. And she still does her routine of forcing me to go to the back of the yard to pick her up and carry her up the four steps outside to bring her into the house. It's the inside steps which she always had more trouble with even when she could walk properly (short legs and all) that she magically goes up. I just don't get it.

Angrist · 01-16-2009, 09:18 AM

Is it a German shepherd dog?

If she has hip/leg problems, it's still better not to let her walk stairs...

Glad you got better. Made the deadline?

Teuthida · 01-16-2009, 10:12 AM

A Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Both breeds get that disease. It's a neurological though, making her lose feeling from the waist down. Best to keep her active so the muscles don't atrophy while at the same time have her avoid injury since she can't feel much. Really sucks in her case since she still acts like a puppy at her old age and tries to run around like crazy but trips over herself. Vet said she'll eventually need to get wheels for her back legs to walk.

Anywhoo, deadline is the 28th. I'm about half a day to a day behind. Pulling an all nighter (all dayer in my case since reverted to being nocturnal as I tend to do) now to get on schedule. Shall be promoting it at NY Comic Con if all goes well.

Dylflon · 01-16-2009, 10:29 AM

Just leave the dog out there. If it wants to come inside, let it know it has to stop being a fuckface.