Looking forward

Cairo and I visited the veterinary surgeon again this morning to have his stitches removed. The surgeon said the incision has healed up even better than she expected, and she expressed pleasant surprise at Cairo's weight gain (to give you an idea, I had managed to beef him up from an initial emaciated 26 lbs. up to 29.5 lbs. before the surgery; now, one week after losing an entire leg, he is up to 30 lbs.!).

He is allowed to go on short walks now, and his head cone is off (although it will be put back on during times we can't directly supervise him, since it's not a good idea for him to lick the amputation area excessively). We're also letting him have more free time outside the crate now. The doc says within another week or two he should be able to do pretty much anything he wants.

We have another appointment on June 15 for a final x-ray on the left hind leg, to make sure it has healed all the way.

In the meantime comes my birthday (May 26). As a present, the s.o. is giving me a trip home to Ohio, probably June 7-11 or so. He's buying the airplane tickets later today. Normally we would drive up together, but with the pet issues and astronomical cost of gasoline right now, it's much smarter for me to fly up alone and rent a car at the Akron/Canton airport.

My half-sister K. will be in Ohio at the same time I will be. This is a big deal because she lives in Victoria, B.C. She has been studying Chinese medicine and will be stopping by at home on her way to Greece, where she'll be working on a cruise ship for 2 1/2 months as a way to gain experience for her certification.

I'm also going to see my mom and stepdad, my ex-stepdad and his wife, my paternal grandparents, my brother and his lovely fiancee', and probably some others. I never end up having enough time to spend with each person, but that's the way it's always been for me my whole life. I've had a complex family since my parents divorced when I was 2 1/2 years old, and it's just gotten zanier since then.

As overbooked as the trip may be, though, I'm really looking forward to it. I miss my family and don't get to see them enough, since it's an 11-hour drive up there. It is really, really nice of the s.o. to do this for me.