Would it be appropriate or possible to have someone else there to take the picture, to get the look on her face when she realizes what it is, as you'll be busy with the giving? ole joyful

I think by saying that I don't always see eye to eye with my vet it may have caused some confusion. My vet is not the one who would do the surgery. She does do some surgery at her practice, but not this. Also, because Flanagan injured his leg on a Sunday I called a vet referral only hospital. We do have a world famous 24/7 animal hospital here, in Boston. But I had such a horrible experience with them when my Tibby got suddenly sick, and he died in that hospital, I would never bring another pet there. This vet knows how terribly wrong things went for Tibby and she gave me this vet referral hospital in case of an emergency. When DH talked with our vet, he asked if it would be the VR hospital that would need to see Flanagan. She said no... it is a great hospital, but very, very expensive. I do have to say, in all fairness to our vet, she doesn't charge very high prices. A visit is 30 bucks and she charges the same amount for a same day visit. As to the rimadyl? I do have concerns about this. Out dog, Toby was put on this.. I knew the risks but he was really suffering and it was like a miracle drug for him. But, I had to have liver tests done before even putting him on it, and then had to have liver monitoring done. I asked about this when Flanagan and Bridget were neutered and spayed. I mean, I asked here, on this forum. I don't know why there doesn't seem to be any of the precautionary protocols don't seem to apply now? I did a search of this site for LP before I posted... and it was mentioined in a answering post by Meghane... she said to save your money and not spend it on a very expensive MRA. Anyway, there isn't any money for an MRA.. the vet said surgery would probably run between 1,000 and 1,500. That would just about cover what we have in savings. Don't get me wrong, I would do everything I could to save Flanagan or Bridget... we had about 2 hours to get up 2,500 for Tibby before they'd do an emergency surgery. And that 2,500 was an estimated one third of the total price if he had made it off the table. We had no idea where the rest of the money would come from...but we knew it would allow us to make payments. We are in no position to go on a fishing expedition. When Toby was old with many problems we had to insist to this doctor and her staff that everything had to be run by us, first. No surprises.. which on 2 occasions happened and we were shocked at how much we owed. For the visit.. IOW's, we were expected to pay it that day. We did it once and tried to again explain that we can't pay 3 -4 hundred dollars at one time. Anyway, I do appreciate that you've answered me. And the good wishes are great.. but, what I really need is what to expect if we were to get another opinion, and/or what are the other alternatives to surgery? Can this get better? And, yes, Flanagan's knee does keep going out... it is different now, though. It only last seconds before it's right again. But since my first post, I have noticed this bowing of the leg that someone above mentioned. The problem is, I saw his other leg bow at the same time that the injured knee went out. Yesterday. He looked totally confused... and all he was able to do was sit down...the injured one outstretched, and he had that weird pacing look on his face (except, this time he couldn't pace) he stayed down for almost 20 minutes and I could tell he wanted to get up.. he was listening for his daddy's car.. he knew it was time for him to get home. I'm still, somewhat, confused. I did read that continued LP will cause long term damage and we don't want that. Is there something else I should, specifically, ask for that might get him past this without surgery? I did read about the manipulation that someone mentioned above. I don't want to cause him pain and I aslo don't want him to bite me. Don't get me wrong, I've never before worried about him biting or hurting me. But, yesterday the vet caused him terrible, terrible pain...people in the waiting room said they had to leave it was so bad... she had his foot/pad upside down and was pulling it backwards. My DH was frantic... he said it was horrible to watch.. vet then said Flanny needed to be muzzled. At that point he didn't want anything to do with anyone. The vet then made my DH take him out of the office, yes, the office, not just the exam room, for a long walk? When he told me this, I was like WTF? A walk? A LONG walk? He's limping, he's has an injured leg!! Anyway, she said he was too leery at that point to trust any kind of contact, even from my DH, so bring him back after the walk to start fresh? Again, I guess it's a good thing my DH took him instead of me...there would have been angry words, I think. Also, the rimadyl may be helping with his pain but it is not slowing him down. The vet said to keep him quiet and rested, limited movement. I don't know why she didn't give him a pain med that would make him sleepy. When Toby was on the rimadyl it did make him sleepy.. but he was and old dog and had lots of age related problems.. so maybe rimadyl doesn't act like typical (narcotic?) meds? Thanks again and any new thoughts and advice would be, most, appreciated. He's my boy and he's the sweetest dog ever. It is heart breaking to see him like this. Silly

Geez, that is so grade-school. No you did nothing wrong. It is only natural you are closer to the the sister that includes you and her brother in her family plans. It's probably better you weren't invited up north, I have a good idea that you would have been probably made to feel out of your element anyway. Good for you for having a nice time with SIL, ignore the rest of them. They need to grow up. ~Cat

my sister claims that she was scared of me since i had gone for a walk and two times people had yelled obscenities at me while walking she tries to justify it furthermore she was criticizing me everyday about what i ate whether it was a soup or salad or rice and beans she would say its not healthy. I finally asked her if she could please stop giving me a hard time about my diet. She responded by screaming and cursing at me. It sure seems to me she was not scared of me. If you are scared of someone are u going to try to start a fight and scream and curse at them? my parents have always favored my sister. I apolgized to her three times that night and she refused to even speak to me. She is the one who should have been apologizing to me but i did so to try to keep the peace. How am i supposed to deal with this situation? The sister who read my journal and copied it had an altercation with my other sister and they were not speaking to each other for a year. Why cant my parents admit that she was wrong. I never thought of reading thru her personal papers on her desk or on the kitchen counter. I am deeply hurt by what she did but even more so by my parents reaction. If i was successful with a good job I would seperate myself from them but due to me not being successful in society and having problems with depression they always blame me and my mental illness. Does anyone think it is right to read someone's personal journal? I would appreciate as much feedback as I can get on this problem?