Thumb up date & Francesca's retirement

So it's now been a whole week since I've been bitten, my thumb is getting much better. I went to the hand surgeon today and he feels that my thumb is pretty savable. There is a very small area on the inside part of my thumb near the index finger that is still really hard and black. If I have to any part of my thumb removed it would be that part only. Wonderful news in my book!! I'm leaving for m trip on Friday and I'll be gone two weeks. I'm so very excited!! I'm only going to NJ to visit my sisters but heck it's still a vacation to me and I'm ready for a vacation of any kind!! I'm taking my beagle "Soie" with me, she has been trained as my medic alert dog, so where I go she goes!! Our Dalmatian "Francesca" has been my medic alert dog for almost 11 years, so it was time to just let her enjoy life and chill. So basically she is retired, she still loves to work and really doesn't like seeing my put Soie's pack on her, she knows that's her job. So for short trips I'll allow Francesca to work but she is getting older and has been a wonderful friend, partner, helper, therapist to me for many years. At this point in her 11 year old life she is queen bee and can just chill, although something tells me she'd much rather be still working. When Soie and I came home yesterday she sure got a once and twice and third over from Francesca, it was really cute, she came right up to Soie and it was almost as if she was asking "did you take good care of mommy today"? Which she did, considering she is very new at this she is catching on very quickly, yesterday was her VERY first trip to the grocery store and I wasn't sure how it would go but I have to say she was a very, very good young lady, never once acted as if she'd like to try one of everything she saw or smelled. It's truly amazing how once you put the "working collar,leash and pac" on, how you almost see her little brain "click" into work mode. Some of you maybe wondering why I have a medic alert dog, maybe not but just in case you are, here's the deal, OK? When we first got our second dal I was fairly newly sick by a just a few years, she and I become fast friends and couldn't stand being away from each other EVER. We knew we wanted her trained at least for "good manners" if not obedience training as well. We we told of a lady not far from us who trained service dogs of all kinds and pets as well. So we took Francesca to her, for boarding school, in which they stay in her kennel for three weeks only coming home on the weekends. We would drop her off on Sunday evening and pick her back up Friday afternoon and have a short session with the trainer going over things that needed practice and what new stuff she learned that week. After the second week the trainer asked if I was considered "disabled" by my physician, I told her I was indeed. She then told me that, that entitled me to a medic alert dog. So we thought about it while Francesca was home on break and told the trainer yes we'd like to pursue that. So after several more weeks or training in her kennel and our home, Francesca was a certified "medic alert dog". Registered with the state and all!! She has worked very hard for us in her 10 years or so. She's was have noticed was slowing down a bit and it seemed after long working periods of time she was "sore" and very tired, so we thought it was time to give her a rest and retire her. So we just happened to have a WILD beagle who our son got his next to last semester of college, (why he got her knowing he'd most likely going the Navy who knows, but I never tried to talk him out of it, I've always wanted a beagle and knew if he did go in I'd have my beagle!!!!) So retiring Francesca posed a slight issue if I wanted the continued support of a medic alert dog, so after talking with the trainer she said she'd give it a try but beagles are very hard headed but smart dogs and she'd give it her all and if after all of the training she didn't think Soie would "cut it" she'd tell me so. Well it took Soie a bit longer to catch on, mainly because she'd rather be into whatever is going on next top her, cause it seemed like more fun, and she'd rather walk with nose to the ground cause you never know when you'll find something good on the ground. Long story short, she finally has passed her certification and is now registered with the state as being my medic alert dog, has her PIN number as her identification, as well as her business cards and her plastic tag with her name, my name, her trainer's name and the state in which is registered in. We got her pac back yesterday with all of her patches on it and off we went to see just how she'd do, I do have to admit she did FAR BETTER than I even gave the poor girl credit for!!!!!! I was and am so proud of her, she obeyed every single command I gave, never tried to sample anything within her reach at the grocery store nor the pet shop, she was a very good young lady. I had her out working for about 3 or so hours and I'm proud of her to say the least. Tomorrow she and I will get on that big scary air plane and fly to New Jersey to spend some fun times with my sisters and just plain chill out!!!! So with that being said I'm going to end this rather rambling, boring post and begin getting my clothes together to be packed and ready to leave for the air port bright and early tomorrow AM. I doubt I'll have a chance to post or read your blogs, but once I get back I'll have lots of fun photos and I'll be able to report back just well Soie did on her very first EVER plane ride and how hard she worked while we were away!! Also, I really do read them almost daily I'm just a little slack at the commenting, but I'm trying to do better. My goal when I get back is post at least 4 times a week even if it's only a short one with a few photos and I plan to comment to each post you folks write. I mean come on you guys are way too kind to me and always leave comments so I need to do the polite thing and comment too! Some of you may wonder why I "need" a medic alert dog, I suppose it's a "want" at this point not so much as it is "need", but it's always nice to have with me, often times more as an emotional support dog rather than medic alert, but she does carry all of my medications in her pac, she has a list of my physicians and my conditions as well. As Kris has mentioned in a few posts it's hard for us at times because we "look as if nothing" is wrong with us on the outside, but if only they knew the pain we are in almost constantly, as well as if we were ever to hurt and needed medical attention and weren't able to give that information, my medic alert dog would have anything and everything they'd need. As well as she carries several sterile catheters in her pac for me and I'd surely hope that would "alert" medical folks that I "sort of don't have a real bladder or make them think twice before trying to stick something somewhere it shouldn't go. So I hope I didn't totally confuse you with my ramblings, as before feel free to ask any questions if I have the answer you'll get it from me, if not I'll try to find it deal? I hope everyone has a wonderful two weeks and is as medically stable as possible for them, you will all be in my thoughts and prayers!! I'll post a few days after I get back and get settled back into my non-vacation life!!! Take care all!!! I'd also like to share with you some "fruits of my labor" you could say, I've always helped my father with his garden but never had one of my own, this year I was determined to have at least a few tomato plants, so I planted four in huge pots on my patio. Upon checking in on them on Tuesday to much huge surprise I have at least three tiny tomatoes and several more flowering blooms, soon to have tomatoes as well. I am so proud of myself, as silly at it is but I can't wait to be albe to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I'll leave you with a few photos of my tomatoe plants!!
Marie