It has been quite some time since I have posted to this blog. This is on account of an accident I had on 5th January. I decided to take the dogs for a late afternoon walk, got about 100 yards from home and slipped on the ice. I knew immediately that my ankle was broken and dislocated and gave out some agonising cries heard only by my dogs. As I lay on the snow I shouted for help but no-one heard me and no car came along the quiet icy lane. I decided that I would have to slither toward home and pushed myself along on my side. My Golden Retriever Hazel stayed by my side whilst Daisy the spaniel sniffed along the hedge, totally unconcerned! I let go of her extending lead at one point and couldn't see her but eventually spotted her lead handle about three feet away and managed to get hold of it.
After slow progress I eventually got to the end of the hedge. The two Golden Retrievers, Megan and Tara, who live at the bungalow at the end of a short track, could then see me and started barking incessantly. Tara's bark in particular was one of distress and after a while her owner came out to see what the trouble was. At the same time the lady from the farm heard the commotion and also came to investigate. Thus I was discovered and an ambulance called. So I owe my thanks to the dogs for their timely alert to my predicament.
As I went off in the ambulance I was worried about my dogs but my neighbours assured me they would take them for a walk and give them their dinner. At the hospital it became clear that I was not going to be quickly fixed up and sent home. With two breaks described as "nasty" I was going to need surgery to put metal pins and plates in my ankle. Unfortunately the severity of swelling made surgery impossible and there was no option but to remain in hospital whilst the swelling calmed down enough to operate. I was in hospital for 10 days in all.
My dear sister immediately came to stay and look after the dogs, making the 100 mile journey on the evening of the incident. Thereafter the snow fell heavily and she was literally snowed in at my cottage, the lane impassable for 5 days and her car embedded on my drive.
The question of the dogs' long term care was weighing heavy on my mind as I knew my sister had to return to work and I would be incapable of looking after them when I returned from hospital. To my surprise and delight some friends that visited me in hospital concluded that I wouldn't be able to care for them and offered to look after them in their home until I was fit enough to have them back. I cannot measure my gratefulness for this gesture. My dogs have never been in kennels and are used to a very comfortable lifestyle with lots of affection. To put them in a kennel environment would have been so upsetting for me, although I know they would have been safe and had their basic needs met. Instead I have been so comforted to know that they are being so well cared for by Liz and John and are enjoying all the things to which they are accustomed.
They are still away and I am missing their presence so much. Sometimes they come for a visit and that brings me untold joy. Last Sunday, Hazel raced into the room and licked my face over and over, followed by Daisy who must have thought that I still needed a good wash! Well I suppose that figures when you haven't had a bath or shower for 6 weeks! Although obviously pleased to see me, at the end of the visit they hop happily into the car with Liz and John with no backward glance so, although nice to think that only my love is good enough, it is blatantly not true! They are happy and secure and I am blessed to have such good friends.
Liz and John describe Hazel as "an angel" and Daisy as "a little minx"! I hear tales of her antics from grabbing the end of the toilet roll in the cloackroom and running along the hallway with it, to eating John's cornflakes when he left them unattended on the coffee table. I undestand that their two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels don't quite know what to make of Daisy. She entices them to play but at ages 10 and 12 they prefer to snooze in their beds.
I have another 9 days in plaster, then will progress to a supportive knee-high boot. Then the physiotherapy will start, so things are moving on and getting ever closer to being able to have the dogs back with me. Having that to look forward to is spurring me on to a full recovery.
They say that out of adversity some good always comes. Well I have discovered what truly good friends and neighbours I have. I have got to know neighbours much better and their kindness has been overwhelming. Sometimes we see all that doom and gloom in the news but underneath it all there is good in the world, and I am grateful.
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