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Abbreviations
Abbreviations for this trip
OTR = On the Road (OTR6 = this trip, my sixth road trip)
L&E = Leben and Erde, my dogs
PB or PBA = Prudhoe Bay (Alaska)
DNP = Denali National Park
D or D90 = My Landrover Defender 90
OTR = On the Road (OTR6 = this trip, my sixth road trip)
L&E = Leben and Erde, my dogs
PB or PBA = Prudhoe Bay (Alaska)
DNP = Denali National Park
D or D90 = My Landrover Defender 90
Leben
I got Leben (German for "life") and Erde (German for "earth) in May 2001. Two months later, when they were four months old, I tossed than into my Defender and we headed to Alaska. The main purpose of that trip was to spread my previous dogs Sonntag's and Kessie's ashes over the tundra of the North Slope at a site Sonntag and I overnighted at on our trip to Prudhoe Bay. (The site turned out to be in one of photos in the National Geographic story about Sonntag in January 2002.) Before we got to Alaska, we took a side trip of a few thousand miles to Inuvik, NorthWest Territories, Canada, and while en route Leben started limping. After consulting with a vet at North Pole, Alaska, and Sonntag's own vet, Dr. Jodi Korich, we continued the trip. When we returned home, Leben was diagnosed with an ununited anconeous. The vet performed an ulnectomy and six months later his anconeous was declared united. Unfortunately, a year later, when he started to limp again, he was diagnosed with a fractured coronoid process and OCD (loose cartilage) and was again operated on. He underwent additional surgeries for the loose cartilage again in 2005 and 2010. In 2010, he was also diagnosed with a hyper-extended carpus, the result of a poisonous spider bite, and worse a brace for the next two years.
Shortly after his 2010 surgery, I noticed that Leben was always sitting down at every opportunity and his rear legs were beginning to splay on slippery floors. The vet could find nothing wrong orthopedically with him. I again asked to vet to look at this in 2011, but the result was the same. In May of 2012, I noticed that Leben was beginning to lose control of his defecation function and he was having trouble running after a few feet, always favoring his right rear leg. On July 11, 2012, an MRI showed he had two serious disc ruptures in his mid and lower spine. In looking at the ruptures on the MRI, it could not be determined if they had calcified (which would have reduced the chances of a successful surgery), but it was clear to me that he would probably would become paralyzed over the next two years unless something was done to arrest further decline. Although Montag's (my first dog) and Sonntag's similar spinal surgeries were unsuccessful, I decided to go ahead with Leben's surgery because in case case we would be catching it before he became lame or paralyzed. The unknown was whether the disc ruptures had calcified.
On July 17th, the day of his surgery, Leben was able to leap up into my vehicle and walk on his own. The operation lasted four and a half hours. Unfortunately, the ruptures ha calcified and there was little the vet could do except proivde some decompression of the spine by opening up a window to the spine and chip away at that calcified stuff for most of the time. His recovery from the surgery over the next few weeks was pure hell for him in me. That alone was reason for me to decide never to put any dog of mine through that surgery alone. Eight weeks after he surgery, Leben could get up on is own and barely walk except with a serious wobble. Since his healing period had ended, not knowing what the future held for him, I loaded him and his sister Erde int my Defender for another road trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and if all went well, to Banff in the Canadian Rockies. It was a lot easier to manage Leben on the road then it would have been at home. Then, one morning at Pukawasa National Park on Lake Superior, Leben could not longer get up on his own or walk. The operation had paralyzed him by chipping away at critical nerves and exposing others to the wear and tear of normal activity. We ended our trip at Thunder Bay and headed for home, where I ordered two wheelchairs for him from K-9 Karts (East) and Eddie's Wheels. It took Leben weeks to adjust to his new situation, but eventually we both made it and life goes on.
In retrospect, it was a serious misjudgment on my part to put Leben through that operation. I should have taken my chances and waited to see if he became paralyzed on his own and , if he did, put him into a wheelchair right away. The odds of that kind of operation being successful are very low, unless you get to it within days of the disc rupture. I did not know this before because Montag and Sonntag were already lame or paralyzed when they received their surgeries. Leben's symptons started to show up two years before his surgery so he was really not a good candidate for the operation. He was also not a good candidate because of his age, size, and other issues (front carpus and elbows). In the future, I will know these things.
Leben has adjusted quite well to his new life. We do everything he did before, just a little more in moderation and little different in style. But the truth is, when I push him around in one of his two strollers, I actually think he enjoys it and thinks that he is finally getting the treatment he always deserved. If the latter is the case, he is right.
In 2002, the National Geographic article about Sonntag labelled his trip, "An Incredible Journey," and it was. This upcoming trip for Leben (and Erde) will be just as incredible, just a little bit more difficult for one of us.
Shortly after his 2010 surgery, I noticed that Leben was always sitting down at every opportunity and his rear legs were beginning to splay on slippery floors. The vet could find nothing wrong orthopedically with him. I again asked to vet to look at this in 2011, but the result was the same. In May of 2012, I noticed that Leben was beginning to lose control of his defecation function and he was having trouble running after a few feet, always favoring his right rear leg. On July 11, 2012, an MRI showed he had two serious disc ruptures in his mid and lower spine. In looking at the ruptures on the MRI, it could not be determined if they had calcified (which would have reduced the chances of a successful surgery), but it was clear to me that he would probably would become paralyzed over the next two years unless something was done to arrest further decline. Although Montag's (my first dog) and Sonntag's similar spinal surgeries were unsuccessful, I decided to go ahead with Leben's surgery because in case case we would be catching it before he became lame or paralyzed. The unknown was whether the disc ruptures had calcified.
On July 17th, the day of his surgery, Leben was able to leap up into my vehicle and walk on his own. The operation lasted four and a half hours. Unfortunately, the ruptures ha calcified and there was little the vet could do except proivde some decompression of the spine by opening up a window to the spine and chip away at that calcified stuff for most of the time. His recovery from the surgery over the next few weeks was pure hell for him in me. That alone was reason for me to decide never to put any dog of mine through that surgery alone. Eight weeks after he surgery, Leben could get up on is own and barely walk except with a serious wobble. Since his healing period had ended, not knowing what the future held for him, I loaded him and his sister Erde int my Defender for another road trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and if all went well, to Banff in the Canadian Rockies. It was a lot easier to manage Leben on the road then it would have been at home. Then, one morning at Pukawasa National Park on Lake Superior, Leben could not longer get up on his own or walk. The operation had paralyzed him by chipping away at critical nerves and exposing others to the wear and tear of normal activity. We ended our trip at Thunder Bay and headed for home, where I ordered two wheelchairs for him from K-9 Karts (East) and Eddie's Wheels. It took Leben weeks to adjust to his new situation, but eventually we both made it and life goes on.
In retrospect, it was a serious misjudgment on my part to put Leben through that operation. I should have taken my chances and waited to see if he became paralyzed on his own and , if he did, put him into a wheelchair right away. The odds of that kind of operation being successful are very low, unless you get to it within days of the disc rupture. I did not know this before because Montag and Sonntag were already lame or paralyzed when they received their surgeries. Leben's symptons started to show up two years before his surgery so he was really not a good candidate for the operation. He was also not a good candidate because of his age, size, and other issues (front carpus and elbows). In the future, I will know these things.
Leben has adjusted quite well to his new life. We do everything he did before, just a little more in moderation and little different in style. But the truth is, when I push him around in one of his two strollers, I actually think he enjoys it and thinks that he is finally getting the treatment he always deserved. If the latter is the case, he is right.
In 2002, the National Geographic article about Sonntag labelled his trip, "An Incredible Journey," and it was. This upcoming trip for Leben (and Erde) will be just as incredible, just a little bit more difficult for one of us.
TRIP TRACKER
Click here for the lastest planned journey.
The trip so far is shown in the links below.
Legend:
Black line is outward bound leg of this part (2) of our journey
Blue line is return leg (by sea shown with hash marks).
Green line is part 1 of this trip.
Red lines are prior "Been there, done that" excursions.
Click here for day 59 (final) track
Click here for day 57 track.
Click here for day 56 track, October 9
Click here for day 55 track, October 8
Click here for day 53 track, October 4
Click here for day 32 track
Click here for day 22 track.
Click here for day 14 track
Click here for day 9 track
Click here for day 5 track
Leben and Erde's road-camping travels prior to this trip
The trip so far is shown in the links below.
Legend:
Black line is outward bound leg of this part (2) of our journey
Blue line is return leg (by sea shown with hash marks).
Green line is part 1 of this trip.
Red lines are prior "Been there, done that" excursions.
Click here for day 59 (final) track
Click here for day 57 track.
Click here for day 56 track, October 9
Click here for day 55 track, October 8
Click here for day 53 track, October 4
Click here for day 32 track
Click here for day 22 track.
Click here for day 14 track
Click here for day 5 track
Leben and Erde's road-camping travels prior to this trip
About this blog
I keep this blog really for my own purposes. It is a large paart of my journal for the trip so I can recall what took place before, during and after the trip. This is why a lot of stuff appears here that is not normally found in a travelogue. I also keep a written journal (some of it in Russian so no one can read it but a Russian, and even they would have a hard time understanding what I wrote) in which I record thoughts others would have no interest (or reaon) in reading. On the road, in the evening, as one of my last chores for the day, I make my entries for the journal and only then do I write the postings for my blog. Sometimes, I don't have time for either my journal or the blog, or I am just too tired to keep it.
If you have chosen to read this blog, do not expect to see any expert descriptions of the flora and fauna I encounter all the way. I am no David Thoreau, and do not pretend to be.
Nor should you expect to read any insights I might have on the state of America like John Steinbeck had when he wrote his Travels with Charley. First of all, most of my trip will be through Canada, althouhg Candadians would argue that Canada is part of America, North America. Second, for all the good America has, I am trying to escape certain things American on this trip, mostly the pollution caused by our dysfunctional politicians just down Pennsylvania Avenue, on which I live. Third, I do not have time on this trip to chat with people about anything other than logistical things like where I can find a good campsite up the road.
Finally, those who are expecting me to wax poetic about my profound thoughts on this trip will be greatly disappointed. I am more concerned on these trips about the health of my dogs and not of the nation, about the destiny of my tent, and not the destiny of mankind. I have no time to ponder the meaning of life, as I am struggling daily to ponder the meaning of the poorly written instrctions for something I brought along. If I spent anytime trying to answer the question, Who I Am?, I would be justly faulted for having too much time on my hands.
So, this blog is about nothing more than a recoding of progress made on the road that day, problems encountered and solved, and whatever other trivial thoughts are bouncing around in my head, late at night, in a tent, when I am tired and anxious to get a good night's sleep before the routine of life on the road repeats itself again and again and again until the trip comes to an end.
If you wish to be notified by e-mail when I add a new posting, send me an email at ed@otr6.com. If I do not know you, please tell me who you are and what your interest in this blog is. Please note that I often make changes or add updates to individual postings, so the posting you read in the e-mail may not be the most current version. Google does not send out notifications when changes are made to postings.
If for some reason in the future I must limit the readership of this blog, only those on the above notification list will be given access. To get access after that, send a similar e-mail to ed@otr6.com.
To get your name off the notification list, also send me an email.
NOTE: Whenever I am in a remote location with no one around or no cellular communications available, I send a satellite phone message to my blog posting the coordinates of that location. The subject of those postings are "Via Inmarsat." To find out more about this click here.
If you have chosen to read this blog, do not expect to see any expert descriptions of the flora and fauna I encounter all the way. I am no David Thoreau, and do not pretend to be.
Nor should you expect to read any insights I might have on the state of America like John Steinbeck had when he wrote his Travels with Charley. First of all, most of my trip will be through Canada, althouhg Candadians would argue that Canada is part of America, North America. Second, for all the good America has, I am trying to escape certain things American on this trip, mostly the pollution caused by our dysfunctional politicians just down Pennsylvania Avenue, on which I live. Third, I do not have time on this trip to chat with people about anything other than logistical things like where I can find a good campsite up the road.
Finally, those who are expecting me to wax poetic about my profound thoughts on this trip will be greatly disappointed. I am more concerned on these trips about the health of my dogs and not of the nation, about the destiny of my tent, and not the destiny of mankind. I have no time to ponder the meaning of life, as I am struggling daily to ponder the meaning of the poorly written instrctions for something I brought along. If I spent anytime trying to answer the question, Who I Am?, I would be justly faulted for having too much time on my hands.
So, this blog is about nothing more than a recoding of progress made on the road that day, problems encountered and solved, and whatever other trivial thoughts are bouncing around in my head, late at night, in a tent, when I am tired and anxious to get a good night's sleep before the routine of life on the road repeats itself again and again and again until the trip comes to an end.
If you wish to be notified by e-mail when I add a new posting, send me an email at ed@otr6.com. If I do not know you, please tell me who you are and what your interest in this blog is. Please note that I often make changes or add updates to individual postings, so the posting you read in the e-mail may not be the most current version. Google does not send out notifications when changes are made to postings.
If for some reason in the future I must limit the readership of this blog, only those on the above notification list will be given access. To get access after that, send a similar e-mail to ed@otr6.com.
To get your name off the notification list, also send me an email.
NOTE: Whenever I am in a remote location with no one around or no cellular communications available, I send a satellite phone message to my blog posting the coordinates of that location. The subject of those postings are "Via Inmarsat." To find out more about this click here.
One reason why I am making this trip
Step 1. Click here. Memorize the big number you see.
Step 2. Click here. Memorize the big number you see here too.
Step 3. Subtract the big number in step 2 from the bigger number in step 1.
That's the reason.
Step 2. Click here. Memorize the big number you see here too.
Step 3. Subtract the big number in step 2 from the bigger number in step 1.
That's the reason.
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