In all honesty though, I’m really happy and having fun, even if I am exhausted.

Maryan had a total Thyroidectomy last week (on Wednesday) so I’ve been tending to her, on top of tending to all ten of the new puppies, the two cats, and attempting to keep the house in some sort of order close to the way she keeps it!

I took Wednesday-Friday off from work, and while I did log a few hours, despite all the work, mostly while Maryan was sleeping, it was probably less than 12 total.

I’ve been having so much fun with the puppies, that it’s difficult to treat this as any sort of ‘chore’. They’re walking pretty well now, and are so sociable and friendly that feeding and watering them becomes a ‘pet’ fest.

I’ll admit that the cleanup after all of these little guys is among my least favorite tasks; even that task will get me giggling as they try to “help” by attacking the end of the rake or shovel.

It seems that at this age they actually grow a little (visibly) each day… and that growth is evidenced by how much they can eat. We’re going through about 40 pounds of dog food a week… its tough some days keeping food available to them all!

Maryan is doing pretty well, she’s still in some post-surgical pain, but it’s been diminishing with each passing day and that’s been a blessing in and of, it self.

She struggled with a Thyroid ailment called “Hashimoto’s disease” for about three years. When it was first discovered one of the doctors recommended a partial thyroid removal, which would not have ended the progression of the disease, simply removed the effected tissue. In the end, this disease destroys the entire thyroid, so she opted to wait until such time as a complete removal was called for.

Hashimoto’s is an immune system disorder. In short, the immune system decides the thyroid is “foreign” and attacks it in much the same way it attacks the flu virus. When you have Hashimoto’s, you feel like you have the flu, all the time. No on knows exactly what causes the disease, and there’s no ‘cure’ short of removing the thyroid.

If you’ve ever battled a case of the flu, you know how she’s felt, everyday, for about three years.

The surgeon seems fairly confident that this procedure will have her feeling ‘normal’ again, but the return to normalcy will take place over several months, slowly, but steadily.

She may never get back to her ‘old self’, but, she should end up feeling much more like her old self than she has in quite some time.
Initially, I thought us adopting a pregnant dog, and keeping the puppies until they’re weaned was a crazy idea. However, when I see her face light up when she’s watching them play, or when I bring one or two in the house for her to hold, it’s all worth every second of time, and every bit of effort they take each day.

I’ve actually found myself wishing we could keep all ten puppies as they’re so cute, and loving. I know though that us having eleven dogs, and two cats is just not realistic, or even within our realm of possibility.

I do wish though that we’d find some homes for these little guys… I hate the though of taking them back to the shelter… I know they won’t get the kind of care they’re getting now, and there’s a possibility they won’t all get adopted.

Stay tuned, if the weather holds out we’re planning on taking all of them out in the yard to play later this afternoon… and taking some pictures… which I’ll post as quickly as I can get them uploaded.


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