Dave's New Camera & Austin's Adventure

Dave got a new camera for our anniversary and his upcoming 42nd birthday. So today, being a beautiful spring day in Colorado, we took Austin and went to a nearby park of sorts. It's a little spot off of I-25 and Meridian with little ponds and gazebos.Pictures from the park ... We let Austin off the leash since we were alone at the park and he would run up ahead and then come back. He seemed to have a great time. Then came the funny part! Dave was taking some pictures and I was across the pond from him with Austin and Austin decided he wanted to go see his daddy so he decided to run across to him. Well, that was an adventure because there was a pond which Austin apparently didn't realize and he's NEVER been in the water outside. You should have seen his face! It was like, "oh my gosh ... what do I do??!!" I was scared to death thinking he'd drown, but Dave assured me from across the way that he was a dog and all dogs know how to swim. So we watched Austin quickly turning himself around and swimming back to the shore on my side. It was the funniest thing!! Here are a couple of pictures of the pretty area as well as our wet Austin. Hope you enjoy!
Shaking the water off ...

Chris & Dave w/Austin

Chris' Back/Hip Pain

Well ... not much fun to hear negative things, but I've been asked by several people what is up with my hip/back problems. So here's the latest ...

• Last Monday: MRI ... went fine ... I wasn't scared like I thought I'd be
• Last Wednesday: met with orthopedic surgeon ... he informed me they'd taken the MRI incorrectly. Was supposed to be my back AND hip (since that's where the pain started), but they only did back. GRR! So needed to reschedule for ANOTHER MRI. This MRI showed, however, that I have a disk herniation between L5 and S1 with ganglions (whatever those are) toward the hip. So since he didn't have a full MRI, we don't know if the hip is causing back pain, vise versa, or both. Gotta wait. In the meantime, he referred me to an anesthesiologist for an epidural injection for the back pain (I know, no big deal for you since you delivered Charlie, but I'm scared to death!). The doctor can't get me in until April 17th to top it all off so pain in hip, buttock and lower back stays for now! GRR again!
• This Monday: had second MRI ... they had to inject dye in my hip at the point between the groin area and leg. Because I'm so inflamed, it hurt REALLY bad! And I've been a wreck ever since. GRR!!
• Orthopedic surgeon can't get me in until this Friday to review the MRI and make decisions ... hip replacement, back surgery, pain injections, all of the above? Won't know until Friday so I'll update you then.

On top of all this, as I said on my last week, I opened Sammy's crate Thursday morning and he just laid there. Then once he got out, he walked completely to the right. So I was certain he'd had a stroke. Dave came home from work and we took him to the pet ER ... ends up he pulled his back in the same place mine is messed up. Guess he didn't want me to feel alone! :) He's on 3 meds ... 2 are the same as what I take! He's doing a lot better now though. Thank goodness.