Conversation With My Kids

A recent trip to the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks on a warm February weekend.

Last week's Razorback basketball game gave us the opportunity to introduce our kids to one of the best and most popular players in U of A history, Corliss Williamson. During halftime of the game, the school honored Corliss by hanging a banner in the arena. I have a particularly fond place in my heart for Big Nasty because we were in school at the same time; I spent many, many hours waiting in the cold just to get into the building to watch him play.

As Lee and I explained to the kids his nickname, "Big Nasty," there was a lot of giggling going on. I suppose it does sound like a funny name to a bunch of little kids who talk about poop and farts all the time. I could tell they were really not impressed. 

The next day, Lee and the twins picked me up for lunch. I took Boy Twin into the bathroom to wash up before lunch. As he jammed his paper towel into the trashcan, he jubilantly declared, "I slam dunked it, just like Big Stinky!" 

I'm so glad they enjoyed our history lesson. 

Keeping An Eye on Fergie

 

 

 

The last couple of weeks have been rough on us. Little Princess Fergie VII took a hard hit to the eye when she was playing ball with daddy; we immediately knew something wasn't right. Lee took her to see the vet the next day, where she diagnosed Fergie with glaucoma and said the pressure in her eye was dangerously high.

 

Fergie has been back two more times for a checkup on the eye. At our last visit, the vet confirmed that she would likely never regain the vision in her right eye. The pressure had come down, but not enough to stop the pain. We are treating her eye with drops and giving her pain pills. If we can get the pressure to go down and stabilize, then the doctor feels like we can permanently treat her with drops going forward. However, if the pressure is not manageable, then they will probably have to remove her eye. Of course, we are hoping it doesn't come to that.

 

I've done a little studying and it seems that secondary glaucoma can be caused by an eye injury. The vet said there is a thin mucous lining in the back of the eye that got pushed to the front of her eye when she got hit, thus blocking her vision. Surgery may be an option, but it's not guaranteed to restore the vision either.

 

We are just so sad about the whole situation. It was completely an accident and Fergie was doing what she loved the most--playing ball with dad. Luckily, she's handling it like a champ. She still wants to play and go outside and wrestle with the kids. Our baby is going to be nine years old in June and it's hard to think that's getting old for a doggy.