So later today I’ll be sharing a post in support of helping the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. I’ve been doing research over the last couple weeks as I’ve been able to and I really want to share this set but I’m nervous that I’ve gotten anything wrong.
Anything I’ve been mistaken on, please feel free to correct me there will be no hard feelings whatsoever. It’s very important to me that I do this right.
From what I’ve seen there’s a movement called blue for Sudan that seemed widespread, as well as some other social movements that I focused on so there is a lot of blue in this set. Also, I’ve included links for education and resources.
I’ll be doing the same thing for Congo and again if I get anything wrong please correct me, the last thing I want to do is spread misinformation. I am always open to further education beyond what I have been able to find so far. 💗
Today, on top of waking the house up, I witnessed Corn drop his Kong INTO the water bowl, drink around it, then pick it up and bring it directly into my bed still soaking wet and dripping water EVERYWHERE.
It felt unnecessary to target me like that but I’ll allow it because he’s adorable and I’m a sucker.
Skip the red paragraph if you’re sensitive to injury descriptions
TLDR: My implant got activated Monday morning and I’m having so many feelings™️ so I’m going to over share like always.
It was emotional to have the implant programmed, a little painful because we had to find the right settings. The goal is to have it just under the level where you can feel it. Like they said, I started having gradual relief within 48 hours.
More than anything though, I was thinking about everything that led up to this for the last 2 1/2 years. Life really lifed and did a number on me, I haven’t fully shared what happened with my knee because it’s rather gross but now that I have my pain mostly controlled it doesn’t make me feel as nauseous to express it 💀 I’ll just say that my knee decided to leave it’s assigned seat and ligaments decided to not be ligaments to the point where I had to get an emergency donor implant- which is so cool that science can do that! But everything about the experience was deeply traumatic. I was screaming in the ER for over 14 hours because my knee kept leaving it’s assigned seat and they failed to get it back in place three times. No one wanted to break chain of command to bring in someone to give me a nerve block or knock me out so I screamed until I squeaked. Ultimately after they finally knocked me out for an MRI, I had to have a donor implanted MPFL, debridement, fracture repair, hematoma drain from the joint and surgical intervention to get my knee back in its assigned seat along with some other stuff that made things even more complicated. Since I was under 10 years old I have had chronic issues with my knee leaving it’s assigned seat, it’s the entire reason why we amputated because we thought eliminating part of the condition I was born with would stop knocking it out of place. That worked for 6 1/2 years up until this injury so the history is a big part of why this was so traumatic. The PTSD comes from being in the ER the way I was and it’s triggered when I have flareups in the area because I get phantom sensations, it’s been something that I’ve been working on with my counselor even now but sometimes experiences just leave their scars literally and figuratively.
All of this happened because I had the audacity to walk and breathe at the same time.
Since then I’ve had severe pain to the point that it’s left me almost bedridden even on pain meds. Nonstop, even with medicinal intervention. So now having my implant activated, and I healed from surgery, it’s making me deeply emotional to for the most part not be in pain. I walked to the bathroom earlier and didn’t even realize that I was walking so much easier. I could bend and straighten my knee better than I’ve had in years and it’s just so cathartic I’ve been a teary mess.
I still have a long way to go with physical therapy and keeping that joint strong. Reducing my pain down to a 2 doesn’t change that I still have severe complications that I have to continually rehab for the rest of my life but it makes it so much easier to manage. There was legitimately a time I completely gave up on the idea of me walking ever again because of it. I was resigned to learning how to effectively transfer into my wheelchair and doing standing transfers with my prosthetic on. Even standing was leaving me out of breath from the pain. I’m so proud of how hard I worked physically and through the mental block to walk short distances at all.
I will say though, if that never happened I probably wouldn’t have made this blog. Originally it was a creative outlet I started about four months after my injury, I never would have thought that there would be so many of you! Much less so many of you who started loving my dogs; that identified with me, empathized with me and resonated with the things (even beyond what happened) I’ve been through. I’m beyond floored that I’ve comforted anyone through all of this and it’s made my heart feel so warm. The support I’ve gotten from you all through this entire mess has made me feel so less alone during what has been the loneliest time of my life. I am lucky enough to have a good support system that I’m grateful for, but it’s so hard to express everything when everyone just wants to help and has opinions on how to do that.
(This sounds like I’m leaving but I’m not lol)
I know how lucky I am, how privileged I am to have access to the care and resources to have this done and I try not to brag about that because with the messages I’ve gotten I know so many of you struggle with chronic pain and joint issues that you haven’t found an answer for yet. But just for a bit I’m going to really celebrate how much this has already changed my life.
Oh goodness gracious, Corn is… a character that Drummy is learning a lot about 😭
Corn is so goofy and definitely a lovey like our drumstick, he wants to cuddle but he has a lot of energy thats keeping us on our toes. (he licked inside my nostril and got on the shit list for approximately 35 seconds 🤣) It’s been pretty nice weather so easy to play fetch and take walks. It’s been a couple years since we’ve had such an energetic dog so we’re out of practice but settling into a nice rhythm. They’re mostly getting along but we’re being cautious about socializing them together. I have kind of a long explanation below but I think informative? It might sound like I’m over explaining however I hope it might be helpful to anyone looking to adopt a second dog/animal.
We’ve had a couple snags integrating them but we’re working with behavioral specialists and following veterinary advice. Nothing catastrophic but corn dog is extremely locked in on food, he goes rummaging and counter surfing and the behaviorist said that it’s a leftover behavior from having to fend for himself. Naturally that breaks my heart, but she also said that once he decompresses better overtime it’ll get easier as long as we’re also continuing his training. There hasn’t been any fighting or snapping at each other, just barking and some growls. We’re keeping them separated outside of strictly monitored and brief social visits/tandem walks so they get used to each other‘s smells and routines. We just have to slow down a little bit on letting them hang out, which sucks but it’s better for them in the long run. All of this was recommended and approved by professionals, reassuring us of what we already knew how to do.
Sometimes introducing a new dog to the house isn’t as smooth as people hope, but it’s super normal to experience stuff like this. I’m only emphasizing because I think some people experience snags like this and then give up on having that new dog; but it really does just take time and some work with consistency in most cases. Our local shelter was so overwhelmed for ages and I’m having a lot of feelings about dog welfare but I’ll save that for therapy.
Hopefully the next dog update has a little more improvement between drumstick and corn, but we’re taking it slow and not worried about a timeline, we know they’re compatible it’s just gonna take some work like when we initially got drumstick. Also, I think I’m gonna go back to calling this the weekly pupdate even though we only do it twice a month for whimsy purposes 💗
hello love! i stumbled upon your blog by accident and adore all the dividers you’ve made so far <3 i was wondering if i could request dainty/decorative purple dividers? preferably a lavender but any light purple will do! and if its possible, could you also incorporate stars/sparkles in a few of them? IF THATS DOABLE OFC!!! tysm and have an amazing day!
Anon, deepest apologies because I just realized you’ve been waiting since February 🥴 I hope these are to your liking 💗
I got my stitches out today and it made life a little bit better. Still in a lot of pain but working with physical therapy already and my implant will be activated soon!
I would like to formally announce a new family member!
This is Corn, short for Corndog
Drumstick is a little unsure, but they get along really well and we’re still in the decompression/introduction stages. He’s extremely similar to drumstick disposition wise, very gentle and low-key. Super sweet and just wants to be around his people. He doesn’t really know how to “dog” yet, doesn’t understand the concept of a couch just like when we first got drumstick so we know what we’re doing.
Corn is a brindle pittie aged around 2-3, and a bit underweight, but we’ll fatten him up appropriately under vet supervision. 💗
Dog updates will include him as well now of course, I hope you guys end up liking him just as much as drumstick 💗
hiii! can you make minimalist pale pink dividers that can be used in the pinned posts?
like not entirely just lines, but something going on? i’m sorry if this is too specific or not specific enough 🥹
Hey! I’m hoping these are alright and light enough? Super pale colors aren’t always tumblr mobile friendly so I mixed in a slightly darker shade to make them stand out. You should also check out these, they’re much more minimalist and I think they’ll pair nicely. Thanks for the request! 💗
Hello!! Could I request some green themed unicorn dividers? Like the unicorn is green itself with maybe like green energy kinda around it if that makes sense lol! Thank you so much for all you do!!
Hey anon, I gave it my best shot so I hope it’s what you were looking for? Unsure I feel about how these turned out but there was an attempt 😭💗
My surgery was successful but I feel like I got hit with a sledge hammer def got my shit rocked again
Recovery feels rough but going well overall. My post op pain is being managed by some heavy meds (hopefully I’m putting my words in the right order lol), and the people around me —including Drummy, are really sweet and supportive. My implant gets turned on July 20th and fingers crossed everything works otherwise I might crash out.
Thank you for the well wishes, I opened tumblr today to a love explosion 💗
