AL - Recording baby steps: Newest Addition

[AL]

thanks everyone. Buford had a decent weekend with just an occasional 1/4 of a tablet. In fact Saturday night he didnt' have any at all. Last night I gave him a whole one - he had somehow slipped off of his bed and completely under my bed so he was completely stressed and freaking out.
I am so sorry for your loss of little Caramel, gleno......

I don't have photos because my cell phone battery was dead and I didn't have my camera... but a I bought a black/grey young buck rabbit! He is sooo cute. The sign said his breed was a "Floppy", I asked the sales guy was that kind of like selling a dog as an "all-american", he just grinned. Regardless, this little thing is cute! I found a vet that routinely does rabbit work so I will be having him neutered. After I talk to the vet I may see about getting a 2nd rabbit and having it fixed as well. I'm too much of a sentimental mush to think he can be alone


This past weekend there was no chance to work in the garden since I was either with buford or out of town at my nephew's baseball games. I sure hope to get to plant this weekend, it is driving me crazy.

Left the chicks out in the shelter with Pat last night. When I got home from work they were all (chicks and Pat) out in the run, Pat in one corner and the chicks just a foot or 2 away in the other. I put them in the shelter, Pat jumped out but this morning she was back in there with them. Those chicks are LOVING running around, scratching and dustbathing.
I used just a regular flashlight and candled Yankee's 20 eggs (the setting hen) and tossed 5. Not real sure about the others so I left them until I can take my LED out and check them again.

I have some major changes coming in the next couple of months. I don't know how well they will be received here, but sometimes you just have to do what is best for you and take the lumps that come with it. I am really nervous and really excited, all balled up into one.

 

[glenolam]

Do tell.....I think the majority of people on this site know you gotta do what you gotta do! Plus it's never nice to say you know something and not spill the beans!

 

[AnnaRaven]

thanks everyone. Buford had a decent weekend with just an occasional 1/4 of a tablet. In fact Saturday night he didnt' have any at all. Last night I gave him a whole one - he had somehow slipped off of his bed and completely under my bed so he was completely stressed and freaking out.
I am so sorry for your loss of little Caramel, gleno......

I don't have photos because my cell phone battery was dead and I didn't have my camera... but a I bought a black/grey young buck rabbit! He is sooo cute. The sign said his breed was a "Floppy", I asked the sales guy was that kind of like selling a dog as an "all-american", he just grinned. Regardless, this little thing is cute! I found a vet that routinely does rabbit work so I will be having him neutered. After I talk to the vet I may see about getting a 2nd rabbit and having it fixed as well. I'm too much of a sentimental mush to think he can be alone


This past weekend there was no chance to work in the garden since I was either with buford or out of town at my nephew's baseball games. I sure hope to get to plant this weekend, it is driving me crazy.

Left the chicks out in the shelter with Pat last night. When I got home from work they were all (chicks and Pat) out in the run, Pat in one corner and the chicks just a foot or 2 away in the other. I put them in the shelter, Pat jumped out but this morning she was back in there with them. Those chicks are LOVING running around, scratching and dustbathing.
I used just a regular flashlight and candled Yankee's 20 eggs (the setting hen) and tossed 5. Not real sure about the others so I left them until I can take my LED out and check them again.

I have some major changes coming in the next couple of months. I don't know how well they will be received here, but sometimes you just have to do what is best for you and take the lumps that come with it. I am really nervous and really excited, all balled up into one.

Glad the vet came up with something to let you spend more time with Buford. And hey - if they're necessary changes, then who is anyone to judge. I look forward to hearing about it.

 

[AL]

Buford has had some great days lately - I guess maybe the meds kind of take the edge off? dunno

Yesterday I tilled a little over half the garden before the tiller quit but it was enough to let me get started planting! 2 kinds of cucumbers, 4 jalapeno peppers, 2 mucho nacho peppers and 2 kinds of radish. I worked on my potato baskets and set out my tomato plants (mostly bought, but 3 raised from seed ) to plant this afternoon and / or tomorrow morning.

I am exhausted, sore, and really just want to go back to bed - but it's time to get ready for church so I"m out...

 

[AL]

Well my tomato plants are sitting in the horse trailer waiting for the weather to pass . the "3 H's" of summer - high winds, heavy rain and hail. Hopefully it doesn't wash out my new little pepper plants or the seeds I put out.


I am going to have to put Yankee (broody hen) in the big wire kennel. Anytime she gets up somebody goes and lays in her nest and the eggs she's been setting on get pushed out and end up cold. I'll candle tonight, mark them and then move her tomorrow evening when the weather isn't so nasty.

I've been in touch with a trainer for Buddy (yay POW!) . He is doing better as far as general manners, but I want to get some "jobs" for him - he has way too much time on his hands! (photo evidence to come later)

The chicks are getting big and all feathered out! I will have to get new photos of them. They are 4 wks old now, so maybe I can get some gender help with them.... my friend wants 2 and Mr ON said he would still take a few. I feel pretty sure my favorite red one is a roo though.

My friend gave me 2 packs of asparagus. I have no idea what to do with them but I guess I will find a spot in the back of the garden and plant them. Evidently it can take a couple of years to get anything useful from them?

I still haven't planted my grass seed, but I hope to have the time to get to it tomorrow after planting tomatoes and before getting ready for work - but I have a doc appointment in the morning as well so it may all be pushed back.


OOOH and my "boy" rabbit - isn't. I took it to the vet to see when it could be neutered (strictly a pet) and he's a she. I have a message in to a guy from CL about a cinnamon marked female now. The yet un-named black rabbit I have now is super friendly at the moment - if I walk by her cage she comes out of the door wanting me to pick her up.



The "change" in store is this:
I have been morbidly obese almost my whole life. I am by no means a gym rat, but I don't sit in front of the TV eating cheetos and bon bons either (garden, horses, chickens, fencing, pond, hiking, nephews, etc). I can diet and lose 50lbs, but 50lbs won't get me healthy - and I've never been able to keep it off. So I am going through my insurance requirements to have the gastric bypass surgery. It is not the lazy or easy way out - I hardly think having organs sliced, separated and rejoined = "easy". I will still have to exercise faithfully and my diet will be even more strict and limited (simple sugars cause "dumping syndrome" - which is pretty much what it sounds like ).
It may not be SS... but I am so excited thinking of life beyond surgery - jeans that fit from an everyday store, riding horses again, riding bikes again - canoeing , hiking mountains / beach without breathlessness, and taking my nephews to amusement parks / water parks and actually being able to ride with them.


I know there are a LOT of people who disagree with weighloss surgery. So I know I have to have thick skin (no pun intended) to post this. But I still plan to pursue more and more SS and it would be a heck of a lot easier if I still felt comfy coming here.


And to end on a different note.... we are under tornado watches, flash flood watches, severe thunderstorm and high wind advisories. I went home on lunch (carried 2 loads of clothes to the washer,s tarted one, took Buford outside, fed / watered him etc) and found my chicks sleeping outside the shelter, piled up by the privacy fence. I guess nobody accused chickens of being real bright. I got them settled in the shelter, put Pat in the shelter (she was outside too) and gathered eggs. Of course I dropped the egg basket and broke all of them.
Now I am back at work with the rain drain pipe running behind me - like my own personal water feature.

Glad I am close to the bathroom.

 

[Farmfresh]

Are you still planning on having the rabbit spayed? It is probably even more important with a female due to false pregnancies and other things.

Are you doing the gastric by-pass or lap band type of surgery? Why did you decide on this particular type? I will not be judgmental of you at all, I have know several people that did the surgery route. My only suggestion is that before the actual day, take a while and VERY strictly follow the post surgery diet. That will give you a good idea of what to expect from the whole procedure.

 

[AL]

I have to find a vet around here who will do it... mine will only neuter males (they don't really do rabbits except basic care and neutering...and he doesn't want to do that invasive a surgery) and I haven't found another vet that will see rabbits.

I decided to do the gastric bypass for a few reasons
- the lap band allows cheating. It is just a mechanical tool to help you follow the normal diet - limiting meals etc. You can still eat all the junk food you want, if you chew it well
- the band erodes / slips and requires more revisions
- the band has to have "fills" every few weeks or so, and you still don't lose as much weight as with the bypass

The surgeon I chose is one of the top in our area. He is very confident without being arrogant or rude. I like that he took time to answer every question. ( I changed hospitals because the original guy was an abrasive ahole. He told me I need to stop eating McDonald's everyday and get up from in front of the TV all day everyday. One of my {thin} friends said I should have invited him to come spend a day with me)
I am seeing the new nutritionist for 4 more visits, and that is where I get the coaching on the new diet etc and also lose weight before the surgery to lessen the risk.
I have done tons of research (no pun intended ) and work with someone who has been very successful post-op. My sister's best friend is having the surgery next week, so shehas been a great source of information as well.
The hardest thing for me to adjust to is sipping water. I am someone who drinks a full bottle of water before working out, refills it and drinks it again while working out - and probably again after working out. I tried the sipping thing Saturday in the garden and I definitely have to start drinking water earlier in the day / the night before!

The surgeon already has me taking the vitamins and trying out protein shakes. I cut out candy a long time ago and caffeinated soft drinks way before that, so I am at a good start. The earliest I will probably be able to have the procedure will be late July, but I figure it will be more like August / Sept. I do a day every now and then of just clear liquids / protein shakes to try to get ready for the pre-op - 6 days of that diet.


ETA - completed sentence about former nutritionist

 

[AnnaRaven]

Congratulations on making what must have been a very hard decision. I'm proud of your bravery in being open about it. Good for you. I've had friends who've been through it and were really happy with the results.

Hope your surgery goes well!

 

[AL]

Thanks... it has been on my mind for years - literally.

 

[Denim Deb]

I won't judge you for having the surgery. You have to do what's right for yourself. I'm sure it's not a decision you made lightly (no pun intended), and I'll support you in that decision.