... and Brodie

On June 25, 2025, Brodie passed away peacefully at home.

He is finally back at home now and that makes me feel a little better.

I don't know what to say ... but I just miss him a lot.

2017: The Year of the Surgery

... 2017 was quite the year.  But not in a good way.  2016 was "Championship Year," 2017 will be known is the "Year of Surgery."

Brodie had torn his ACL in his left knee (awhile ago).  And he has been re-tearing it over and over.  We finally decided to speak with a surgeon to get our options.  The first surgery was done in February.  It was an 8-week rehab.  So, to make it more awesome, we moved our mattress from the bedroom into the living and lived it up studio apartment style!  Who needs a 1-bedroom ...

The surgery was a success.  He was toe touching a couple of days after.  And using his leg to hold up himself the day after that. He seemed to be a fast healer.

A couple of days after the surgery

Takin' it easy

One week later

... But, the weekend before his surgery, we went out to play at the park. Well, he torn his other ACL.  We talked to the surgeon and discussed the option of having both legs done at once. The recommendation was not to do it because he is pretty big (45 lbs). So, we scheduled his right knee surgery in early May. So it looks like we were going to live the studio apartment life for another 8-weeks! The rehab for this surgery was far easier then the first one.  Not just toe touching, but using his leg the day after the surgery.  We had a talk with him and told him no more for the rest of the year ...

The other leg!

So, that brings us to probably most stressful days of the year. On July 17th, we believe Brodie 'did something' and hurt his back.  Maybe he jumped off of the bed or went down the stairs. Over the course of the day, he got worse and worse. It appeared he was having issues with his new bionic legs.  In the evening, Crystal and I decided to take him to the emergency vet. (Thanks Matt & Adrianne!!! No Thanks Uber driver jerks). The vet determined he was in pain in his back.  She said, "It may be a slipped disc and we should be able to use conservative management." We got some pills for his back pain.  

Overnight he didn't seem to get very comfortable and he pretty much kept Crystal and myself up all night.  In the morning for his walk, he seemed to degenerate further.  He was having more problems walks (more slowly) and had a lot of problems getting up the stairs. In the afternoon, Crystal called our vet to arrange an appointment for a check-up. The vet suspected it may have been a pinched nerve and asked her to give him his anti-inflammatory. He could no longer get up.  His back legs no longer worked.  I immediately left work and headed home to take Brodie to the emergency room again. (Thanks Chenzhi!)

Since the progression was so sudden, they had assumed it was a burst disc and time was of the essence to save his mobility. So there was a CT scan and emergency surgery. The surgeon discussed what she had seen in the CT scan and said, he needs major back surgery. It was the disc under his L1 vertebrae and it exploded sending material all down his spinal cord.  Luckily the surgeon stayed late to perform the surgery. The outlook for a recovery could not be determined so we had to wait.  The morning after the surgery we did get some positive news where he was moving his legs. However, we are very cautiously optimistic that he will regain functionality of his legs. We got to see him in the afternoon, and he seemed to be in good spirits. He was able to move around on his front legs and you could see a slight wag in his tail.  We picked him up the next day. This was a 12-week recovery. So yes, studio apartment again - we just put the bed back into the bedroom a few days ago! We purchased a play pen for him and he was confined to it 24/7. We put it in front the window so at least he could look outside.  After about 6 weeks, we allowed the playpen to be open if we were home (and awake) so he could walk around.

I want to give a big thanks to Sage Medical Centre in Campbell. If Dr. Vitale and the rest of the staff did not stay late, Brodie probably would not be walking today.

Brodie isn't really sitting right

The day after the surgery

Its was a pretty large incision

Play pen in front of the window

We moved the pen beside the bed once he was able to be let out

Now, not to be left out, we had Tucker's teeth checked in November ... and yes, you guessed it. Dental surgery! He had 35 of 38 of his teeth removed.  His teeth were so bad and apparently he was in such pain.  That would probably explain anger (maybe).

Yup, 3 left!

Check out that one tooth!

So bright and healthy!!

But the end of the year, Brodie was walking and Tucker was eating and using his 'teeth' the best he could. As of right now, both boys are happy, healthy, and both have their personalities back (yes, Tucker seems to be still angry).

Here's to a happy and healthy 2018!  With no surgery for anyone!



*There will be a non-surgery recap in a few weeks (maybe).  But 2017 wasn't all bad news ... there were some good times!

Highlight of the Week (June 4, 2016 - June 10, 2016)

Highlight:
5-year anniversary weekend!! Yes its been five years! Kept it low key, went and saw a movie (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) at the Sketchy Mall.

Sketchy Mall in all of its glory!

Anniversary Breakfast Table (Well, before I made breakfast)
I had to get pink roses because there are no florists open in the area on Sundays ... seriously
(Had to get organic flowers from Whole Foods - well I'm assuming its organic)

Honourable Mention:
Attended Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals!!!! And Tucker did not pee in the house either!!  Metallica played the National Anthem which was pretty awesome (see previous post)! Sorry its in Flash, but that's what Blogger does I guess?

After the game!

View from the seats

Lowlight:
Normally a 10-15 minute drive to the SAP centre took 45-minutes on Monday.  Not only that, witnessed an accident on the way to the game ... just not good.

Random Moment:
I was reading this National Post article and I saw this picture!  Thats Bulgarian Brodie!

From the National Post!
Its BRODIE (or his doppelgänger)

Side-by-Side Image

HIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111

PREHAIRCUT!

TUCKER HERE!!

THIS IS AWESOME! EVERYTHING IS AWESOME! WHEEEE!! LOTS OF TOYS!!!
I LIKE TO PEEEE!!!  AWESOME AWEOMSE AWESOME!!

PEOPLE SAY I HACKED MY PERSONS ACCOUNT! AWESOME! TOYS!!!!! BUT MY PERSON IS AN IDIOT AND DIDNT LOG OF OUT BLOGSPOT!  AWESOME! I LOVE TO PEEEE!!!

I GOT A HAIR CUT!

I LIKE HANGING OUT WITH MY BORTHER AND SLEEPING ... BUT IM HYPER IN MY SLEEP!!!!! AWESOME!!! EEEEEE!!!!

TUCKER OUT!!!

woof

hi

man this is hard work

brodie here its been about 6 months since i moved out here and boy things are sure different down here. my persons are now in this tiny place but there are super big windows so i can look outside. they finally got a desk and setup this super big computer so now i can sneak on it to send you all an update. right now, they are still sleeping so i think i have some time.

so what has it been like? well, my fellow furry friends, warm. so very warm. there is no snow down here and as a canadian i really miss it. other then that, its like spring and summer all of the time

got to meet santa again

about 2 months ago my persons took me on a car ride. we went to this place where there were birds and other dogs. i met this little dog, they called him "brutus" and we seem to get along. my people seemed really happy about it. the strange thing is that after "brutus" and i met, we went for a little walk. my people talked for a little bit and then went back into the place with the birds. i thought this "brutus" guy was going to be left and we would go home. but he was coming with us!! i figured, well maybe he needs to be taken care of for a little while. so i just shook it off. we all piled into the car and drove to the place where all of the toys and food and what not. my people picked up another bed? why! i have a bed and its super comfy.  but you know, you can never have too many beds. we got back home but they didnt drop this other guy off. he WAS COMING UP WITH US!? i did not know what to think. my people were talking and asking each other things like, "franklin?" "lincoln?" "tobias?" "tucker?"  i did not like tobias or tobie for short, it confused me. eventually, they stopped using "brutus" and called him "tucker." i figure he would not be around for long so whatever.

apparently he may be staying

so tucker said he was born and raised in california which is strange because californians are supposed to be super laid back. i have really been trying to fit in here, so i have been super laid back, except when it comes to food and treats. tucker is not laid back. its a myth. almost all of my friends back home are way more relaxed than what he is. every little noise he is up and barking. i'm like cmon man, chill. i thought you were from california. he said that he did not get to come inside often with his other person so he had to stay outside. poor guy. he gets cold super easily and he really hates the rain. i cannot imagine if he ever saw snow.

anyways, its been 2 months now and i figured he isnt gone by now i should make the best of it.

our typical day

oh hamburgers .... i think someone is waking up! i gotta go ... peace love and happiness (thats what we californians are supposed to say right?)

Stop the bad news!

2014 hasn't really turned out to be a good year for me so far. However, we have some awesome good news. Crystal and I have a new addition to our family. Meet Brodie Jacob Leopold Marui!  (Yes, we actually gave him two middle names).

We adopted him from the Stratford-Perth Humane Society. He was born on August 23rd, 2010. According to the humane society, he is a Basset Hound, Welch Corgi mix.  However, with his colouring, we suspect there may be some German Shepherd in him.  He has a massive head and neck! So we needed to get a harness for him for his walks. He is well trained (sit, lay down, stay, high five) and house trained - yay! He loves to play with his squeaky toys and to run around the house with them. He seems to dislike water (puddles and rain), so I'm not sure how he is going to react with the pool. He is very friendly and seems to only want bite when he is in a playful mood.

Since I'm unemployed, I've been hanging out with the little guy. Crystal is a little jealous ;)

Queue the pictures!

For all of you puzzle fans out there ... I promise I will have a puzzle update in the next few days. I Promise - "Its not like I have anything else to do."