So glad to hear from some of you who have been waiting for me to re-connect with my blog.
Three weeks ago at the park, BB was attacked by an unknown dog, no collar, no leash, no owner present. BB is a small Shih Tzu, weighing in at 17.5#. The attacking dog was large, probably 60#, not a pit bull or a german shepherd. A mix breed, I assume. BB was damaged (tears/punctures in his skin over his left shoulder) pretty badly and one canine tooth was broken at the gum when the dog slammed him down on the walkway.
He is recovering after a trip to the vet, antibiotics & lots of hot compresses on the wounds, one which was draining for almost two weeks due to infection. I used epsom salts in the hot compresses but what worked best to drain out the infection was turmeric! I bought some organic turmeric some time back and after researching online, decided to try a hot compress with that organic herb. I tied some turmeric powder up in some gauze squares and steeped it in boiling water for 10 minutes. After the "tea" had cooled to a temperature that would be suitable for dogs' skin, I applied the tea on a clean microfiber cloth for about 20 minutes, changing the cloth back into the warm tea after the cloth had cooled. The results were truly amazing! On the tea soaked cloth was a lot of material that hadn't shown up with the epsom salt compress and within 24 hours, the wound had stopped draining and healed. Mind you, I had been using epsom salt compresses for ten days without much progress and NO material on the compress cloth. Two days after starting the turmeric "tea", the wound had closed and no more draining.
Last Wednesday, I worked out at my friend Syd's place, clearing and pruning. Syd's yard is infested with ticks, mostly black-legged ticks, these are known to carry Lyme disease. I removed a tick from under BB's ear. The next day, he had an abscess under the location of the removed tick. I began to use turmeric again, this time, I added the herb directly to the boiling water, gave it a stir ad allowed it to simmer for 10 minutes. 30 minutes of warm compress on the abscess and the swelling had reduced by 40-50%! Again last night, I put the "tea" compress on BB and he laid right down on the warm cloth and slept with his head on the cloth for several hours. I am continuing with this treatment.
Yesterday, I headed to Syd's again, this time to help her burn her pile of branches, twigs and storm branches. Syd lives in the middle of a pine forest, her house is in a clearing of about an acre and a half. The house is old, probably one of the older homes in that area, dating from the 1800's. She has many plantings, shrubs, Black Walnut and Chestnut trees. It is very peaceful and quiet, some would say remote.
For four days (weather permitting) prior to yesterday, Sam and I had been working in Syd's yard, clearing and pruning. Sam had made 4 other piles of these prunings (and pullings, mostly bittersweet & various briar canes) because the burn pile was so large.
I assembled the necessary incendiary devices, we have had a very rainy April (20 days of rain out of the month), breaking the record for rainy days since weather history began (1902?). The burn pile was a soggy pile, everything soaking wet. I bought some charcoal lighter fluid (2 containers), picked up my flame weeder and some fryolator oil (used cooking oil) and brought all to the burn pile.
Syd and I applied oil & lighter fluid to the burn pile and I used my Dragon flame weeder to ignite the pile. The ignition was disappointing...but we kept at it. By 3 pm we had burned the four extra piles on the original burn pile, altho much of what was on the bottom of the original pile was just too wet to burn. We rounded up all the equipment and put it away. Syd provided the pizza (from Matt's Blackboard in Rochester) and beer. The pizza was excellent, hand made, very thin & crunchy crust.
I headed home, the flame weeder went back to the garden shed, the remaining fryolator oil to Lenny (who generously provided it). I was really beat but had a good burning day with Syd.
Three weeks ago, I had a cyst removed from my right hand, ring finger. The bandage has been on since, the doctor's orders were: do not remove the bandage, don't get it damp or wet. I am an avid hand washer, so this has been a challenge! Add to that all the care for BB's wounds & abscess. One of the surgical attendants noted my obsession with hand-washing and gave me some large-size disposable gloves to wear on my right hand for protection of the bandage. They have been most helpful, but I do miss my good hand washing! Since I live in an apartment complex with 114 apartments, I have been most careful to wash my hands well each time I enter my apartment. Many people have been sick with some sort of cold that has turned into pneumonia. So far, I have managed to stay healthy and keep the bandage dry.
Tomorrow, I have the bandage removed by the doctor. We shall see how things have healed. Four or five days after the surgery, I had an argument with an uncooperative shopping cart, the bandage was so fat, it got stuck in the cart and was bent closed probably more than should have been. I had no pain in the site till that argument and think maybe the incision was split open ;<(. I will say, there is no real pain of the kind I had before the cyst was removed. The surgeon said the cyst blew right through the tendon and that was what was causing the pain when my hand was at rest. She also said there was no cartilage in that joint and suspected most of my finger joints would show the same lack of cartilage. This is the result of using your hands as much as I have over my life.
Once the bandage is off, I can take a shower, wash my hair and hands! And give BB a bath.
Time to give BB another warm turmeric compress on his cyst...and I shall go back to binge watching Star Trek, Voyager.