Eko Update

Boy oh boy was I recently lulled into a false sense of security, one minute all was going well with Eko in his recovery on his new low fat diet then BOOM, when getting up one night to visit the smallest room in the house I stepped into a cold wet puddle

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel sitting in the boot of my car wearing a green drying coat to keep him warm as it was all I had in the car when I collected him from the vets still wearing a cannula in his front leg after a day visit requiring fluids

I cursed assuming it was urine from one of the dogs that I'd not heard asking to go out and hopped my way to the

December Already 😲

So much has happened since our last post that I've not been able to keep track of the time, when we last spoke Eko was recovering well from an acute case of pancreatitis and my dad had  finally had his cataract surgery, has since made a good recovery and things were starting to settle down again

At the end of October Paleo Ridge launched Paleo Senior to the Paleo Plus range which we were excited about as they will really benefit Boris and his specific dietary requirements as a senior boy of 10 years old with chronic arthritis 

Image Descriptions - Two head and shoulders shots of Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel looking very majestic holding in his mouth the distinctive and artistic new packaging of the Paleo Senior Turkey and Lamb Dinners. Boris is looking at the camera standing amongst a small clump of trees out in the woods and is slightly damp from the wet grass he'd been running through previously 

Paleo Senior is designed to meet the distinctive needs of senior dogs by using lean high-quality meat cuts enriched with nutrient-packed green leafy vegetables, this low-fat formula is also enhanced with Reishi mushrooms to support the immune

Where have we been?

So much has happened and life has been extremely hectic of late, between Eko suddenly and unexpectedly becoming very unwell and my dad's health problems I've been the most tardy of bloggers of late for which I can only apologise

September started off fairly quietly and finding some much needed time to tidy up at the  allotment which has been pretty much neglected this year due to being so busy caring for my parents

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Image Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in the shed on the allotment looking at the camera, I've added a comical gnome doormat just inside the door that says "Welcome to our Patch"

On one of his recent trips over from

Bitter Sweet

August is always a bitter sweet month for us as it's the month we lost the original star of this blog Badger Boo

Who'd have imagined all those years ago that people would be remotely interested in what Badger got up too when I started writing an online diary for myself on Blogger

Being new to social media I had no idea how it all worked, I didn't even have a facebook account, I just started writing and people started to find my original blog

Image Description - A Blue Roan Cocker Spaniel laying on his back on the floor with his mouth open, clasped between his front paws is a mans hand caressing the side of his face

It wasn't long before I realised Badger needed

Sunday Funday

Eko's excited it's training day today, it's been a few weeks since we were last able to attend, if there's one thing Eko loves above all else it's learning new things

This past year or so has seen a massive change from what this account originally started out as, to log Badger Boo's daft adventures and then Boris's life as my assistance dog

Image Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel looking up at the camera as I look down on him as he stands on a woodland path, his face looks very cheeky as he's in the mood to play as I recall

I hadn't realised just how much stress I'd

Silent Sunday

Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel laying amongst a field of daisies with just his head visible as he looks slightly to the left. The daisies are small white flowers with multiple petals and a gorgeous yellow centre and are a native plant of the UK 

Back home at last

Dad is finally home at last **does a happy dance** 

In total dad spent 10 very long and unpredictable weeks in hospital after he fell and broke his hip back in April

The outpouring of love from people all over the world asking after dad and wishing him well has been absolutely staggering, I read every message, email and comment to dad whilst he was in hospital and I'm sure it's this outpouring of love that helped my dad to fight and make it through some very dark times

Image Description - The day Andy Awford ex player and manager of Portsmouth FC came to visit dad in hospital and really made his day, it was also the day I discovered just how much trivia dad knows about football. Dad is sitting in a hospital ward on a blue chair beside his bed, Andy is sitting on the right hand side of the frame and both are looking at the camera smiling

Not knowing that many of my dad's friends and acquaintances anymore I joined the local facebook group in my old home town, I shared what had happened and why dad hadn't been seen out and about for a while on his regular morning walk to Tesco's for the daily papers

All my life people have joked that everybody knows

Where does the time go?

I can't believe we're halfway through May already, things have been so hectic since my dad fell and broke his hip last month, yet I seem to have achieved the square route of nothing at all

Dad's currently still in hospital, there are plans to move him to a smaller more local cottage hospital at some point, but soon after his admission to the Royal Surrey it was noticed that dad was having some difficulties swallowing liquids which would set off a massive coughing fit and he was at risk of getting food and/or liquid in his lungs

I reminded the consultant of dad's esophageal cancer diagnosis as we were told this may happen in the future, that if it did we were to contact the oncology unit to see about the possibility of a stent being fitted to enable dad to eat and drink more comfortably, at this point dad was put onto a zero oral liquid and small bite diet

Image Description - My dad sitting on a wooden park bench between Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel on the left and Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel on the right, it's a rare photo of my dad smiling as he has masked face symptoms these days and isn't aware when he's not smiling 

Dad went downhill really fast that first week

Round up catch up

Although we've been AWOL for the past couple of months I had started writing several posts but never got around to finishing any of them, so I thought what better way to bring you up to speed than to put a few short posts together in one longer post for a quick round up-catch up as I sit here in A&E at the Royal Surrey County Hospital with my dad in the wee small hours 

Unfortunately my dad took a tumble earlier today and dislocated his hip, we had hoped that was all it was as the paramedics took him off to hospital, but x-rays revealed a fractured hip and dad needs surgery to fix

As I post this I'm currently waiting to see the Doctor for more information the information my dad gave me is very sketchy because of his Alzheimer's, he'd already been x-rayed and told he needed surgery before I even got to the hospital in my car, soon as I know more I'll update you

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Jan 24

Boris knows he's handsome and is always camera ready, which is really lucky after a long old day at the eye clinic with my dad yesterday

The worst part by far though was the 90 minutes it took us to get out of the hospital car park and onto the A3 due to the sheer weight of traffic also trying to exit the

Sorry we've been AWOL

Apologies we've been so very tardy about posting recently, the truth is I've been really struggling with my own mental health for the past couple of months

Something happened which made me realise that all was not well in my world and that I couldn't ignore it anymore when I hadn't been in to check on my parents for three days

They weren't totally abandoned as mum has carers that come in first thing each day to help her get washed and dressed, but I just couldn't face another day trying to cope with these two strangers who look like my parents and live in their house, but aren't the people they once were

Nothing prepared me for becoming my parents caregiver, it was forced upon me because I'm the only one near enough to do it. My life has been turned upside down and my own health struggles make things really difficult as I never get the time to just stop and rest up for a few days

 I'm absolutely exhausted with the constant worry

Paleo Plus Rebrand

 Introducing the beautifully rebranded Paleo Plus range from Paleo Ridge and wearing a very sleek black and gold jacket that's colour coded for each meal

It's the pup equivalent of the little black dress/tuxedo and adds that little bit of class to every meal without having to dress for it

Image Description - Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel sitting in front of an Ivy covered fence. Next to him stacked up are all the meals in the Paleo Plus range in their new black and gold sleeves, Boris is also holding the Special Diet sleeve in his mouth to look cute

To celebrate the launch of this beautiful new rebrand Paleo Ridge are offering 10% off every Paleo Plus product

Belated Happy New Year

It's been a busy few weeks here at Crazy Towers since I last posted and my dad has had to have another two blood transfusions because he's severely anemic again

I recently found out that the severe anemia dad's been struggling with as well as the constant breathlessness are yet more side effects of the radiotherapy treatment dad had for his esophageal cancer in march of last year

Photo Description - Eko the Golden Cocker Spaniel and Boris the Black Cocker Spaniel standing side by side with their front paws on the back of a wooden bench out on the common. Both are looking at the camera and wearing their turquoise fleece jumpers as the temperature has really dropped here in the South of England

This was news to me as I must have completely missed the part of the conversation