Piggie Post - Small Pet Select Hay Review

Greetings

I hope everyone has had a great "wheek-end". Today I have a very special post for y'all! A few wheeks back my guinea pigs were asked to be, well, guinea pigs for Small Pet Select, an up and coming hay supplier. They wheeked with excitement over getting to try some tasty new hay! 

For those of you who don't know, piggies need to nom on hay around the clock. They need a constant supply of it. It helps with their digestive systems and their teeth. I buy 25 pounds of hay every two months or so, just to give y'all an idea of how much these little squirts consume. 

First off... my review! 

 

I'm a graphic designer so I started drooling as soon as I saw their website. They took the time to make site pretty and functional, which I realllllyyy appreciate. Once their box of hay arrived I started drooling again because they took the time to design to their packaging. Then I opened the box to find a handwritten letter using their customized stationary. I have to give massive kudos to companies that understand that graphic design is important. Now, on to the hay itself. The quality of the hay was excellent, it was green and it smells fresh. It's nice and soft which is fabulous. It is a million times better than any hay you could ever buy in a store. Also, if any of my readers are buying their hay from a store STAHP! Store bought hay (like Oxbow or Kaytee) is hard and terrible, not to mention your pig can get a wicked eye-poke from it. I also like how the box that the hay comes in can be used to store the hay as well. The hay I currently buy comes in a garbage bag. I also approve of how you can buy Small Pet Select Hay in bulk. For anyone with a multiple pigs, buying your supplies in bulk is a MUST. The price of their hay is fair and comparable to the other leading hay retailers. 

So does Small Pet Select have the owner's approval... HELL TO THE YES! But do the piggies like it? 

Mama, Frida, Nellie, & Maggie got to nom on the hay first. When they normally eat hay, they eat it like it's laced with crack. When I gave them the Small Pet Select hay they acted like it was laced with a Charlie Sheen amount of drugs. It was a hay frenzy. The happies were off the charts! Nellie was particularly fond of the new hay. She was shoving other pigs in order to get more of it!

 

Aggie was next to sample the new hay. Aggie is weird. She cautiously waddled to the hay, took a nibble, and ran to the other side of her cage and hid. She doesn't appear to particularly care for her new hay. Me thinks she is reaaaaaaallllllyyyyyyyy fond of the stuffI usually use (she inhales that stuff). 

I've been using the Small Pet Select hay for a few days with them to see how they act once the newness of the amazing hay wears off. The Quartet continues to consume copious amounts of hay and they are all very content piggies. Mama Pig loves her hay so much that she sleeps either next to the hay or with her head in the hay. Aggie is still weird, she eats the hay, but she doesn't love it. 

Overall: Four out of five pigs agree, Small Pet Select Hay is one of the best hays around! FOUR STARS! 

Piggie's Tippies - If you have piggies or any small animal that consumes hay... this stuff is freakin' delicious! 

Staples: That Was Easy

Oh Hello!

It's kinda amazing how well that slogan summarizes my day. My post-op appointment was today and I finally got those damn staples removed!

I'll admit I was slightly nervous about having the staples taken out, purely because I didn't know what to expect. Was I going to be attacked with a scary looking staple remover? How much was it gonna hurt? All those fun feelings. I had a general idea that today was gonna be on the painful side so I took some stronger pain killers before I left for the doctor. It actually wasn't too bad. The only thing that hurt was when my doctor took off the bandage. Picture removing a giant waterproof bandaid from your lower back to you bum... OUCHIES! Once the bandage was removed I got the chance to see my scar before the staples being removed. My first thought was "HOLY MOLY THAT'S A LOT OF STAPLES". 17 staples to be exact, on my ass. Then the doctor approached me with some creepy looking pliers and I braced myself for the worst. I totally watched him remove the staples, because I walk on the wild side. Much to my shock, it totally didn't hurt. Some of 'em stung a teensy bit, but that's nothing. Before I knew it, the 17 staples were gone and I got to take a real gander and my fancy new scar. It kinda looks like an idiot tried to steal my kidney but was off by several inches. The scar itself looked like it was about 5 inches long, vertical with a slight curve. Part of me thinks its gonna heal keloid but it's waaaaaaaaay to early to tell. I'm kinda tempted to get a flower tattoo using the scar as the stem. Admit, it would be awesomeeeeeeee. Just to freak some of y'all out... here's a picture of some of the staples.

I also gave my doctor the picture of Fanny with the google-y eyes. He got a kick out of it. It's a shame that most people don't draw faces on objects removed from their bodies, a cryin' shame.

I'm feelin' pretty good right now, I was FINALLY able to take a shower and FINALLY get rid of that leftover iodine. My scar feels kinda weird though... it's at that point where when it comes into contact with anything it's like "BAD TOUCH... oh wait... it's my skirt... never mind". Now I feel like I'm almost completely recovered. All I need is a few days to let my scar really heal, and I'm good to go!

Tomorrow is gonna be a super exciting day for Crippie, I'm hosting my Scentsy Open House Fundraiser. If any of my local readers wanna stop by, just message me for details! Maybe I'll see some of you guys there!

Crippie's Tippie - Check out my Scentsy Fundraiser y'all! 

BUDDIES!!!

Hi Everybody!

I hope all my readers are having a lovely week, and enjoying the awesome late summer/early fall weather. I haven't done anything special over the past two days but my recovery is progressing swimmingly. I am now able to practically walk unaided! Yup, you heard me right, I can walk a week and a day after hip surgery! I kinda need to hold on to wall or something sometimes, but still, I CAN WALK! The limp is hardly noticeable and it doesn't hurt at all. There is kinda a weird weak feeling in my hip, that's about it.

I cannot even begin to describe how blessed I am that my recovery is going the way it is. I've had my share of nightmarish recoveries. Up all night crying in pain, been there. Not being able to walk for year, done that. This recovery has been so freaking easy. My pain levels were a 3 AT THE WORST. I wasn't completely immobilized. I was able to sit down (I was slightly worried about that). It's been like a summer vacation with a little restricted mobility and staples in your butt!

I have to mention that this surgery has been completelyyyyyyyyy different than any other surgery I've had. Why? Because I've had so much support from my family and friends. I'm completely shocked at how many people wished me well on facebook, here, and in general. Friends told me to feel better (and sent sympathy cards). Some of my coworkers have even texted me get well wishes... how sweet is that! Even some of my relatives that had gotten "used to" my surgeries sent cards, many cards! I remember being 13 or 14, having a surgery and having so very people caring about me and how much that sucked. This is a complete 180 and it feels amazing!

Ain't it something how a little gesture like a card makes a difference? Now imagine what a slightly bigger gesture could do. Ya see the main reason I am hosting my Scentsy Fundraiser is to help kids who are about to walk in my shoes. The MHE Coalition does so many things for people with my disorder, one thing they do is send "Care Packages" to kids having surgery and their siblings. These packages are filled with toys, candy, all kinds of goodies. What a fantastic way to show a kid that's going through a hard time that there are people out there who do care for them, and that everything will get better.

Now, Scentsy makes a product called "Scentsy Buddies" which are stuffed animals filled with a selected scent. These guys are soft, cuddly, adorable, and soothing. They would make for a terrific addition to the care packages. I would absolutely love to buy a bunch of Scentsy Buddies and send them to kids all across the country who are recovering from surgeries. Do you want to help? You can donate a Scentsy Buddy too! How? Just contact me at crippies_corner@yahoo.com or kthayer.scentrep@gmail.com for information. You can even choose which animal and scent you want to send, or you can just leave it up to Crippie!

There's a super amazing special going on now that if you buy one Buddy YOU GET ONE FREE! We can double the amount of children we help for nothing! C'mon comrades WE CAN DO THIS!

Crippie's Tippie - If you know someone that's going through a tough time, let 'em know that you care. It means a helluva lot.

Out And About

Aloha!

I sincerely hope that none of my readers had a case of the Mondays today. My Monday was certainly not dreary.

Let's start off by saying that I've pretty much been in my room for a week. I was starting to feel a little bit like this...

But today I was finally well enough to get out of the house! YAY CRIPPIE! I ventured out and ran some errands with my mom. We obtained a new heat pack to replace my beloved NPH. I have decided to name this one Daniel Radcliffe, because... well... he's yummy. The journey to get the heat pack was a rather small one and I was kinda sore afterwards, but our next destination was to get food for the pets and the thought of seeing some piggies perked me up. So off to the pet store we went. Oh my lawd did they have some cuties! I finally got to see a texel (curly haired pig) in the fur. Holy crap was it adorable!

It was hard to get a good shot of it because of the cage, but you can see the walking wig. It's also hard to tell in this photo but this piggie is being stored in an insanely small cage with horrible bedding, no hay, and crap pellets. My local petsmart treats their pigs better than this (THATS SAYING SOMETHING)! It's disgusting, utterly disgusting. I'm tempted to go back one day and tell the owner to use some damn carefresh at least. On the bright side, all of the pigs are in separate cages so at least there won't be any accidental babies. If any of my local readers go to this local pet shop (email me if you want to be sure of which one) mention to the owner that the pigs, rats, hamsters, bunnies, gerbils, etc need better bedding. This my friends is why I strongly advise against buying a pet from a pet store.

Apart from that general anger towards the pet store, my outing was very successful. I got a heat pack and the dogs got some food (I don't buy products for the piggies there, because, well, they suck), I got to see some insanely cute pigs, not to mention I was not in my bedroom for the entire day. It's funny, to a lot of people this day could have been ordinary, even lackluster. But for me it was pretty exciting. Even if I wasn't recovering from surgery a venture to the pet store would have made for a fun day. Me thinks this could mean something negative about my life, but I'm gonna take this as I good thing (SHOCKER). I see the good in the mundane (and potentially negative) aspects of life. I figure this is the life I've got... so I might as well enjoy it.

Crippie's Tippie - Don't let negative situations overtake the positive ones

Such A Card!

Ohaiiiiiiiii

Glad to see that you guys enjoyed Fanny's picture as much as I did. As soon as I saw it I thought "LOL MY TUMOR LOOKS LIKE AN ANIMAL".

I'm definitely starting to feel better. I was able to move around a little easier, which is good because I was starting to get a little stir crazy just being in my room for the past few days. Tomorrow I'm going to run some errands with my mom, I cannot even begin to tell you guys how much I am looking forward to getting dressed and getting the hell out of the house. I also started eating normal things today. My tummy did not like that... but that was probably a blessing in disguise if you catch my drift.

On a sad note, my heat pack NPH died today. It just stopped working all of the sudden, I don't know what happened! I wanted to memorialize it on twitter but I had a feeling #RIPNPH wouldn't go over well. Definitely do not want to be responsible for killing Neil Patrick Harris via twitter! Maybe I'll obtain a new one tomorrow.

Today I wanted to share with y'all one of my totally awesome get well cards! This one comes from my friend who is so generously hosting a Scentsy Fundraiser at my house on Saturday! Gotta love friends with a twisted sense of humor :D

             

Ain't that a purdy card? This card is awesome for several reasons. First, it's really pretty and I appreciate the good design. Second, RIP Fanny... claaasssssiiiiiiccccc. Third, IT SMELLS LIKE FABRIC SOFTENER! It's a totally unique "Sincerely Scent" card from Scentsy! From a graphic designer's perspective these things are amazing. They're customizable, original, and fabulousssssssssssss! You can learn more about them HERE! 

Crippie's Tippie - Don't kill celebrities on twitter, and spread the word about my Scentsy Fundraiser! 

On The Mend

Hey Y'all

Thank you guys soooooooooooo much for all the wonderful get well wishes, they are very much appreciated.

Sorry I haven't been up to posting, I was rather heavy-headed until most of the anesthesia was out of my system. All things considered though this has been one of my easiest recoveries to date. Here's how everything's been going...
-The pain has been practically non-existant, a little sore at times, but nothing compared to a Fanny flare-up
-I think I've eaten my weight in bread and butter
-Spoonfuls of honey were useful when my throat hurt
-Helen has been protecting me from everything she deems evil
-I've received a bunch of awesome cards... I've gotta share some of the best ones with y'all
-The staples used to seal the wound ache sometimes
-I can bare some weight on my leg :)

I also asked for pictures of Fanny since she was a unique little mofo, and without further ado I present them to you guys... LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I GIVE YOU FANNY!!!!! If you have a weak stomach and or no sense of humor, look away.

Why yes I draw google-y eyes on pictures of tumors, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT!  Now that I'm feeling better I should be able to get back to blogging regularly :)

Crippie's Tippie - Drawing faces on your tumors is an excellent way to freak people out

Bye Bye Fanny!

Yo!

It's Crippie in the flesh, tellin' y'all that my surgery was successful. Fanny the Ass tumor has been removed and I was home by four! I can put some weight on my leg so moving around and getting up the stairs was a breeze. As far as the pain goes, on a scale of 1-10 I'd probably say I'm a 2. It feels so weird not having a massive tumor on my butt!

As far as the nerves went, I did get the shakes while I was in the hospital and I threw up just as they were wheeling me into the OR. While that wasn't particularly fun it was better than surgeries prior. I was promised super happy fun drugs early on, buuuuuutttttt that didn't happen. I had a little "discussion" with some of the nurses on how it makes no sense to give me super happy fun drugs moments before knocking me out. They said I needed to be coherent when discussing things with all the doctors and nurses, boo. I really could have used those happy drugs.

One funny story today... when I was checking in the receptionist was going over my info, the following convo occurred...

Lady - Name?
Me - Nicole
Lady - Birthday?
Me - December 4th
Lady - And Russian is your primary language, right?
Me - 0.o um... noooooooooooooooo
Lady - Good thing I asked, we were gonna set up a Russian translator for you
Me - 0.o
Lady - That explains you lack of accent I guess
Me - Da

Now I have a question for my crippled comrades. My doctor closed the incision with staples, I've never had staples before. Do they hurt, tighten or itch while I'm healing? Are they a bitch to remove?

Well I guess that's it for tonight, I'll try to blog again tomorrow. I also have some pictures of Fanny... maybe I'll post 'em!

Crippie's Tippie - If you know you're gonna get sick, keep a basin by you at ALL times in the hospital 

Take A Load Off Fanny!

I've been waiting for foreeeevvvvveeerrrrrrr to use that line!

TODAY IS THE DAY FOLKS! Fanny's departure will take place in less than 12 hours! I have passed the dreaded midnight deadline and gotten all my crap ready. Now for the big question... am I nervous?

Not really, no. I'm doing rather well actually. Usually I start getting the chills and shaking violently at this point. While I'm not looking forward to today AT ALL... I'm not really nervous. We had a little discussion with the nurses at the hospital today and we mentioned that I tend to get violently ill before surgery, and I haven't been able to get happy meds in a timely fashion. The nurses said that they can get me my happy meds sooner! Definitely made me less anxious about everything. I've got my special anti-nausea patch so hopefully that paired with my lack-off nerves will mean that maybe I won't hurl before surgery... that would be sooooooooooo lovely.

Fanny is scheduled to be removed at 9. I have to be at the hospital around 7:30 or so, which means I have to leave the house at 5:15 in the morning... funness. If all goes well I should be home later today. I'll try to keep y'all updated either through my facebook page, twitter, and eventually here. If I'm not feeling up to blogging tomorrow I'll ask a relative to update y'all :)

I just want to take a moment to thank all you guys for supporting me for the past couple of months with this whole Fanny saga, I reaaaaaalllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy appreciate it :)

Crippie's Tippie - When the hospital calls you in the days prior to your surgery, be vocal about all your concerns... they can probably make everything easier for you :)

Occupy Crippie

Yo!

L'shana Tova to all my Jewish readers out there!

Alrighty, Fanny meets her demise the day after tomorrow. I might be a teensy bit nervous. My tummy was a little upset today, one of the signs that I'm kinda nervous. That being said, I'm still very much looking forward to this surgery. Fanny has been killing me the past few days, the pain in my hip has traveled up my back... boo. I am really not looking forward to Tuesday, I know it is going to suck sooooooooooooo much. But this time next week I'll be on the mend. I just have to keep reminding myself that it will be over before I know it.

In terms of final preparations, I just finished pimping out my polio crutches (pictures tomorrow), and I STRAIGHTENED MY HAIR!!! My unruly mane got an at home keratin treatment because my hair is a bitch and a half to maintain, straightening it makes it easier to take care off. I came to realization that I look like I'm 16 when my hair is straight like it. Luckily it got a little wavy overnight, so it looks better now (another picture tomorrow I reckon).

The pre-surgery jitters were kept at bay today by the theatre! I went to see an incredible production of "The Sound of Music" with the family. "The Sound of Music" is without a doubt my favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, and "Edelweiss" is probably my favorite show tune. It's absolutely haunting, especially considering it is the last song Oscar Hammerstein wrote.



Surprisingly this was the first time I'd ever seen "The Sound of Music" on stage. Boy howdy was it marvelous. The production was astounding, it's in a black box theatre, so the space is crazy limited. Yet they were able to craft fantastic sets and they still managed to make the theatre seem huge. The actors were terrific, I absolutely loved Maria and Mother Abbess, and of course the children were freakin' adorable. The only problem is that I can't get "The Lonely Goatherd" out of my head. The piggies seem to enjoy it when I whistle it though.

Crippie's Tippie - All my local readers should check out Just Off Broadway's production of "The Sound of Music" in Newburgh 

NOMS!

Ohai Y'all

Hope you guys had a super fantastic Friday! I spent Thursday and today working and further bracing for surgery. Yesterday I started to makeover my crutches (pictures soon) and today I got my disability forms and I formulated my post-op grocery list.

After surgery I'm usually sick to my stomach and I lose my appetite for about 3-4 days. What food I do eat is usually on the bland side. I figured I'd share my list with y'all... maybe it'll be useful to someone

1) Ice Pops - If I need to be intubated during surgery, my throat will hurt like a mofo for a few days. Ice Pops (or Italian Ices) definitely help sooth a sore throat. Unfortunately ice cream is too heavy to do any service here :(

2) Ginger Ale - It has a tiny bit of flavor, and it helps with tummy issues... gotta love it

3) Coca-Cola - NOT PEPSI, Coke syrup helps with nausea

4) Bread & Butter - A classic "my tummy will kill me if I eat, but I have to eat" meal

5) Saltines - The classic "I think I'm gonna hurl I need to eat something" cracker

6) Turkey - When my appetite starts to pick up, Turkey is bland enough to not upset anything

7) Cereal (I like Cheerios) - Great for when you want a little nosh

That's about it there, do you guys have any post-op noms you wanna share?

Fanny will be removed in about 4 days, and I'm still not nervous. It's probably because I've been occupied with work, and said work has been really enjoyable. Keeping busy definitely helps the nerves. I'll be veeerrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyy busy on Monday so hopefully that'll keep the jitters at bay. If not, Monday night I'll take a handy dandy valium and that should do the trick! I have some potential plans to keep busy this weekend, gonna try and get out of the house for as long as possible... cause I'm pretty much gonna be spending the next 3 weeks at home.

I need to start coming up with things to do while I'm stuck in the house. Can any of you guys recommend and good movies or TV shows to watch? I have just been informed that the best show of the 90's "Dinosaurs" is on Netflix in it's entirety, that should take up a few days ;) The main thing I'll be doing is spreading the word about my Scentsy Fundraiser. If you guys could pretty please spread the word with me it would mean a lot :) You can now grab the button for the fundraiser and put it on your own blogs! (again, if anyone has a charity they want me to promote, hit me up)

A word to my local readers, I will be having a physical scentsy party on September 29th. Email me if y'all would like some info on that!

Well, that's about it for tonight, have a great weekend everybody!

Crippie's Tippie - Never underestimate the power of a glass of ginger ale and some crackers for an upset tummy