Something very nice has happened, 

it makes you realise how caring people can be.

Because I am getting older,

my wheel chair needs are changing.

Sounds easy, just go to the shop and say --

"I'd like to trade-in my old chair for a new model, please".

No such luck, first you must find a physio or OT who will help you choose the chair, best suited to your needs. 

I'm lucky, this time Moira Family Services, 

who look after my day to day care are helping me.

As this is my third chair,

I am fairly knowledgeable about what I need.

Judy [physio] will fine tune my list of requirements, and probably suggest things I had not thought of.

Because I can spend up to 12 hours in my chair, 

it must fit me perfectly,

you try sitting in the one place for 12 hours and see how you feel!

If you can take your eyes off my beautiful skinny boy for a second,

you might notice that I am slumped down in my chair, and my chest harness is nearly choking me!!!!

I must have been tired when this picture was taken because I usually sit straighter,-- stops me getting  back ache.

Once we choose the correct chair, the real fun starts!!!

Our chairs come from the government, sounds good,

we are allotted $6000 for the base and $2000 for any modifications that might be needed.

That's the problem, 

 I have about $15,000 of modifications on my old chair!!!!!!

I have to find that money myself, it is a big problem.

Here comes the wonderful part ------

Nicole, in our little supermarket clearance centre in Bentleigh 

has offered to have a sausage sizzle to help raise money for me.

She, and her husband Luke, are trying to get other shopkeepers to help them.

I cannot believe how wonderful people can be.

The last seven days have been awful, 

this is such a lovely thing to happen.

I am very tired now, so I shall write more about their plans tomorrow.

ONE week.

Today is Tuesday.

It is one week since Nacho died, 

it has gone so quickly.

I was looking at photos again last night 

and I came across this rather blurry video,

she was such a funny little button.

I hope you had the sound turned up!!!

Many people come into my house each week,

and each one has said how much they are going to miss her.

I never knew she had so many people wrapped aroung those teddy bear paws.

She certainly was not an angel,

she was a "Shing Dog" -- full of personality and devotion 

to all those she loved.

See you later Darling Girl.

Just one photo tonight!

The boy is missing you Niddle,

none to chase, or share bones with.

None to teach him the rules, or keep him company when everyone goes out.

It is so quiet and lonely.

 "This is a photo of Nacho, she is the four legged joy of my life.
I am disabled and spend a lot of my time in bed, Nacho is always with me, lying on my foot cradle, supervising the neighbourhood.
Actually, she really belongs to my daughter, so when she comes home from work I am forgotten.
It doesn't really bother me because I know tomorrow she will be back!!"

Those were the first words I wrote on my blog,

Nacho was the main reason for starting it, she was the joy of my life, and sometimes my sanity.

Even though I did not talk much about it, life was still very difficult for me, I was still trying to come to terms with my change of life style! 

Nachi saw me shed a lot of tears. 

Whenever I was sad Nachi would jump off the foot cradle onto my chest, and there she would lie with her nose almost touching my nose. Sometimes that little pink tongue  would delicately kiss my cheek as I pulled her ears. She listened to a lot of my worries as she looked at me with those beautiful eyes.

Jess loved her feet and I loved her shiny little nose and bright eyes. I can almost hear her breathing and the soft feel of her breath on my face,

She loved us sooo much, if Jess and I were having a hug within a minute Nachi would appear from nowhere, run up the bed and squeeze her little head in between ours. 

It became a game for Jess and me, we loved to see how long it took her to reach us. We were a family of three.

 Those little feet caused me some trouble; 

I bruise very easily,and heavy little feet leave bruises on bare skin, twice the visiting nurses queried where the bruises came from and I had to explain it was Nacho, not abuse!!!

Tonight I looked through my photos and came across some '

'BED' pictures ----------

I often wondered whose bed it was.

Writing is definitely helping me deal with my loss.

as I lie here and see our girl in my head, I am not crying so much, as I tell Jess, she will never leave us, she will always be in our memory, waiting to come whenever we think of her.

 I just wish I could give her one more cuddle,

and hear Jess say "Oh, she's alright".

I miss her warm body lying against my feet. 

On Tuesday 23rd July 2011 our beautiful Nacho died.

She was just one month short of her seventh birthday. 

Unbeknown to any one she had pancreatic cancer, which had spread to her kidney.
She was such a stoic little dog, even though she must have been in great pain for a long time, she never showed it.

I am writing this lying in my bed, a place that Nacho and I frequently shared over the last six years.

These are my memories of the short time we had together.

How do you break the news to your daughter that her most precious dog has only a few days left, and that she, must make the decision when the vet is to come for his final visit.

It was terrible.

Nacho came at a very low time in our lives, I became disabled and my teenage daughter had to take over the role of caring for me.

She needed something to love that was just hers.

I still remember the day Nacho came, if Jess and Bek had got to the breeders house 10 minutes later another family would have taken her.

The next day Jess wanted to take her back, because she was scratching all the time!!!

First visit to the vet, to be told that there was nothing wrong, she was just being a puppy!!

Nachi had the strongest little teeth and she delighted in chewing anything that belonged to ME!

My brand new wheel chair backpack lost the phone pocket the day it arrived.

During the day, if she was not lying on my bed eating me, she was permanently attached to Lucky's left ear, he was a very patient poodle.

Lucky taught her what to do when I spasmed, I soon had two dogs running up my body and lying across my chest.

The last time Nachi did that was about two weeks ago, I suddenly went off and she came racing into the room, ran up my body and straight across my chest.

She took her responsibilities very seriously.

When Jess and I were fighting my agoraphobia, Nachi was wonderful, Jess would take me to Bentleigh and leave me in the coffee shop court yard with her sitting on my lap, nothing would make Nacho move. 

When I spasmed, my fingers would lock onto her body until I came out of it. Sometimes it must have hurt her, but all she ever did was lick my face and patiently wait for her mum to come back.

I am stopping now because the memories are flooding back and the tears are making it too hard to write any more.

Tomorrow I think I will write again, 

there is so much I need to tell about this bossy little angel, with the beautiful eyes.

That boy AGAIN and AGAIN!!

Just in case you hadn't noticed 

I really, really, love that boy of mine,

but sometimes he makes me sooooo frustrated.

Last week his brain was on another planet,

and I had 2 fails in our lesson!!!

I could not get him to "sit/stay" or "wait" when he was told.

He just sat there, poked his tongue out and said --

"naaa, don't feel like working today"!

HONESTLY!

Two nights later, this is what I wrote in my notes --

tonight's funny thing.-------
I sent my coffee cup flying and asked Middi to pick it up for me, he carefully picked it up and brought it nearly to me, but before he reached me the cover fell off and he only brought that.

I asked him for the cup,which is very slippery, 

after pushing it round with his nose, to try and force the lid open, he left it and went into the lounge.

I thought he had given up and was about to call him back, when through the door he came with sparkling eyes and his polar fleece grab rope in his mouth, he then placed that on my tray! I told him he was very clever, but I really wanted my coffee. 

As the cup is really hard to hold with out its cover I was about to pick it up with my grab stick, Middi pushed my stick away and worried the cup with his mouth and paw, until he got it in his teeth, then he placed it very carefully in my hand.

Lots of praise and cheese!!

  What a darling exasperating boy he is!

 

Have a bone Mum!

A sick Girl!

OUR GIRL IS SICK!

Last weekend she was off her food, then she stopped going to the toilet.

By Tuesday morning we knew something was wrong,

rang the vet and got an urgent appointment.

Thank goodness for Chris, 

she dropped everything and took our little darling

to see John the Vet.

Turned out to be an obstruction in her bowel,

or so John thought!

 He hoped he could  help her to pass whatever was causing the trouble,

but by Thursday it hadn't come, so he operated.

It turned out not to be in the bowel at all.

There is a large mass on her kidney, that is pressing on her small intestine.

Now we have to wait for the results of the biopsy.

It is good to have her home again.

I don't think we realise how much we love our dogs

until something bad happens.

Until next time ----- hug your dog!! 

Something to thinkabout!

Chris and I were training this morning,
so this is fresh in my mind.

Whoever is pack leader is the one in control, 
it is as simple as that.

Midnight and I often have a problem with this, particularly around the house.

There is someone else having the problem too -- Nacho. 

She has always been "top dog", 
it has been interesting to watch the relationship between the two dogs.

Nacho shows her status by always being in front, 
when they go to the front door.Midnight straddles her,
but is always just a little behind. 
He is giving his support to the pack leader.

Things are changing, Middi is three times her height 
and more than twice her weight.

The big boy wants to play with her all the time,
I have always left Nacho to tell him where to go [and she did!]

Yesterday Chris watched them "playing" and pointed out that he is now bullying her  -- 
she is now too small to stop him when he gets rough!

When Chris is working with Middi and me, she is definately still the pack leader. 
With me it is because I respect her superior knowlege  
and Middi knows about "consiquences"!!!!

Today I learned something I had not thought of,
When I went out the front door I very carefully made Middi walk behind me, as I had been taught.
Chris then followed behind to close the door, 
seemed good to me.
"Thanks, said Chris, you have just made me inferior to Midnight,
in his eyes, he is superior to me!"
This of course will change the next time she comes but it has given me something to think about. 
In future, I will make Middi "stay"
until everyone, including Nacho has left the house.
Makes sense when you think about it!!
There is so much to learn.

What a clown!!

Until next time ----- who is BOSS???

Still fetching!!!

This entry is dedicated to my wheelie friend, who is always encouraging me to keep going.

Thanks Reen.

Middi is learning to fetch more and more things for me,

he now picks up my I-pod, 
the coffee cup, [though that one can be a problem if it is full of warm coffee!!]

My "grab stick is the most important thing of all,

when that falls off my chair, I am in real trouble - it is the extension of my arm.

Picking it up has been a real problem for Middi,

he could not grab it without getting hit on the face, 

or tangled in his long legs. 

I tried tying a small ball to the shaft,

winding an old piece of knitting on the handle, 

even a purple ribbon.

Nothing worked, until Chris brought an old sock

that she uses with Jai.

What a difference!

Here is a video showing a new use, for an old sock :-))

This morning I was feeling so disheartened,

nothing seemed to be working.

Then something clicked in a boy dogs brain and off we go again.

As Chris tells me over and over again -- be patient.

My impatience is not with him, it is me, sometimes I get so frustrated with my self and my chair.

I guess I need to remember ,if I didn't have the chair, I would never have got my "beautiful boy" 
Good things come from bad.

Until next time ----- treasure your friends!