Tuesday, July 19, 2011

And so it begins...

We have officially began our full time RV life.  There's some good news and there is some bad (actually terrible) news.  Let's get the bad news over with.
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PETS: RYLEY
We are down to 3 pets for our travels in the RV. Although, if we still had our Pillsbury, we would gladly had made room for him and all his needs, just to have him still with us.
Our 10 yr old Irish Setter Ryley, has been limping. We thought it was from him trying to play with our former foster, Ollie who is very active.  We kept Ryley from participating in the play for a couple of days to rest his front left leg. Thought he was getting better, but on Saturday he started limping so much that at times he didn't want to even use his leg.  Sunday, more of the same.  Monday, the same. We decided we wanted an xray so we would know what is the matter before we go away for 5 days.  Our general vet couldn't squeeze him in, so back to Garden State Vet. Specialists again. No use beating around the bush...bone cancer in his shoulder.  1 - 6 months to live. REALLY SUCKS!!!!!!!!
Ryley has always been a survivor. He was dubbed "telethon dog" while still a puppy, because he had so many health issues that we took care of and had to of course pay for, that it would take a telethon to pay for it all!
Off the top of my head, here are a list of what he's gone through.
Age 4 months: diagnosed with H.O.D. (Hypotrophic Osteodystrophy)
Age 4.5 months: broke front right leg.
Age 5 months: anal prolapse Put under anesthesia and pushed back in. Never happened again.
Age 2 years: Lymph node in neck removed.
Age 3 years: Juvenile cataracts.  Cataract surgery to repair and new lens implanted  left eye. Right eye, cataract was still minor. 
Age 5 years: TPLO surgery

Age 6 years: Glaucoma in right eye. Tried to save it, but couldn't. Ryley blind in right eye now.
Age 9 years: Glaucoma in left eye (with fixed lens). Couldn't save it, so now Ryley is completely blind.
Age 10 years: Grapefruit sized tumor on his liver.  Removal of tumor and partial liver removal. Within 10 days, Ryley was back to normal and active. His cancer was the "best cancer" he could have had. It is not the type to spread and will most likely SLOWLY grow back in the same spot. We hoped to have another 2 yrs with him.
Age 10 years: 2 months after liver surgery. Diagnosed with bone cancer, not related to previous cancer.
PETS: SWAYZE
This is the first time for our African Grey Parrot, Swayze to be in the RV.  She is temporarily in a smaller than normal cage. She traveled well , but doesn't seem to like the small cage. In the middle of the night, she had a night terror. Ended up losing 3 blood feathers, so blood splattered over the kitchen table and part of the night blinds. We brought her cage into the bedroom with us and she settled for the night.
She is currently enjoying our company outside her cage for a change of pace.
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RV'ing:
 We drove the two hours to Lums Pond State Park without incident. Traffic was heavy, but Scott handled the drive easily. I'm so proud of him.
Large campsites, with shade trees, but open enough for the RV to fit in without hitting overhead branches.  Scott did a great job of backing in. We are still trying to figure out our signals to each other. We do use walkie talkies which makes for a happy marriage.
Since now we are actually starting to LIVE in the RV, the items we brought in will not be leaving. Weird to hang up all my clothes and try to figure out where to put things.  I'll enjoy figuring out little gadgets to use to gain more storage space as we find what we use daily.
It is HOT, HOT, HOT! Anything over 75 degrees is too hot for us. It's about 88 degrees right now. The only time I'm leaving the RV is to let the dogs do their business.
DEBBIE: I've been pretty much relaxing while here. Lots of volunteer computer work to do for A&B ES rescue applications. That will take at least 3 hours.  I did work on my Summerflies Shawl last night.  I will finish it today. Just have to complete the picot bind off.
SCOTT: Scott on the other hand has been working all day. Wish he had been more like this in our sticks & bricks home.  Remember, this is our first trip LIVING in the RV, so there are lots of things to be done to make it ours.
Completed today:
Signed up for Verizon for internet through Millenicom. You get a lot more bandwidth through the Millenicom/Verizon service.
Hooked up Direct TV & Tivo
Protective screen over screen on door, so dogs won't poke a hole in it.
Installed long handle across door.

Repair closet latch, repair shower latch, covered shower skylight.
Installed screening over fridge opening and heater exhaust.
Installed little computer fan in fridge to aid circulation and keeps things more evenly cooled.
Time for a bloody mary for jobs well done.

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