Girl4, Boy5,and pain

Girl 4 has been with me for awhile, but on Monday, she went to a new home.
She just melted my heart.....so very cute, she was!!

She was such a sweetie and there were many tears when I had to say goodbye to her.

Here she is enjoying the "KONG" :  this is a hollow rubber toy I fill with peanut butter or Vegemite. They all love the PB and Vegemite and work very hard to get it from the inside.

I only had to wait one day for a new companion and here he is, Boy5, my first boy pup.

He is by far the biggest one yet, weighing 30.7 kg, which to me is 67.68 pounds.  WOW! I have given him treats and he is SUPER gentle with me.  He is also like a bull in a china shop knocking things over with his tail wagging, so I have had to  put a few things away for now. All good though!!

He adores the bunny (shown) and the teddy bear (as seen with girl4)  and loves to bring them to me.  I have been taught to say "thank you" when this happens and here is why:

Both girl4 and boy5 are in a new program as service dogs.  Girl4 is being trained as a wheelchair assistant. Boy5 will go live with an autistic child. As service dogs, they are learning to open doors, turn on/off lights, put items in a shopping trolley (as directed by a pointer), fetch keys, etc. If you are interested in this subject and would like to learn more, just google "service dogs" and you can view videos on YOUTUBE of their amazing talents.

I only expect boy5 to be with me x8 days until next Wednesday. His loving family is on holidays.
He is a joy to have around and I will enjoy every moment except I think that  tonight I will put him outside while I prepare his evening meal.

It's a bit hard to see in this picture, but while he is watching me, he drips drool from both sides of his mouth all the way down to the floor. Both sides...solid from mouth to floor...please enjoy this visual with me!!  This puddle is actually  bigger than a dinner plate!!! It was gross but sent me right into a fit of giggles too....so very cute!!

Last, about the pain.  I've had many blood draws since I became so unwell in 2010 and they don't worry me much anymore.  Last Friday, I went for an early morning draw and the pain was excruciating this time!

As soon as the blood lady put the needle in, it felt like an electric shock from my elbow to my wrist.
It was so bad, I cried, and she wanted to take it right out, but I said I didn't want to get stuck again either so she left it in as she only had to fill two tubes.

I don't think I have ever cried for a blood draw until now!!  After, she gave me a patient information sheet and told me I should go buy a lottery ticket since this is so rare.

Here is what the sheet says: "There are other rare complications of venipuncture but you have to be unlucky to suffer one of these. For example you may have a tiny branch of one of the sensory nerves of the arm actually running over the surface of the vein. Rarely the needle will hit this tiny nerve on the way into the vein.  This may cause a sharp electric-shock type pain as it happens. This may be all that happens, however, a tingling type of pain may persist for one to four weeks as the nerve heals. This is inconvenient and unpleasant but it eventually heals up".

Because of this, I have not sewed since last week.  Just call me unlucky for now :)
xx debbie