A dislocated knee, a pigeon and Bentley’s big week

Monday 20th July

The week started off well.

At 5:30AM, I was lying on my back on the beach next to a dead jellyfish with a dislocated knee, courtesy of Bentley, my blind golden retriever, having the zoomies and slamming into the side of my leg. He hit the sweet spot and popped the knee in and out of the joint, which is an old injury from a violent assault back in my police days. It hurt so much I wanted to vomit.

But you can’t lie about being lazy next to dead jellyfish all day. I had three dogs off the lead and a new pigeon I’d taken in the day before with injuries either from a cat or a sparrowhawk, or maybe a sparrow-cat.

I’d got the injured pigeon in and cleaned and dressed his injuries, given him meds, and needed to get home and clean him again, and also finalise Bentley going in for eye surgery the following day.

The rest of the day was spent hobbling about in a knee brace. I did manage to write a chapter in Mike Humber Book 3 though. And the pigeon was showing good signs of recovery.

I phoned the doggy eye surgery place and confirmed they were still all good to take Bentley in. We’d all agreed that if the surgery went well, I could collect Bentley in the late afternoon. The lady then said I couldn’t take Bentley until around 7pm, so I duly changed my ferry bookings.

Tuesday 21st July

The big day arrived. After months of planning, Bentley was finally going in for cataract surgery.

During the consultation, they’d said cataract surgery was instant, and he’d be able to see straight away. My daughter came and sat with the dogs and cared for the pigeons while I took Bentley over to the mainland to the clinic.

I’d wanted to stay with him until they’d sedated him, but they just don’t allow anything like that.

I went back to the island. The eye surgeon called me later and said they’d identified a degenerative retina condition during pre-op checks, and they couldn’t say if Bentley would see, or how much, and that he’d likely lose full vision within 6 to 12 months. I’ve noticed that a lot of vets won’t offer guidance and simply present the science. That makes it hard. The vet said if it was a spaniel, they’d go for it, as spaniels’ vision can last for years. I said to try it.

The vet then called me at 1pm and said the operation was a success, the retina issue wasn’t anywhere near as bad, it was all good, and I could come and get him.

We’d planned for a 7pm pick-up, so we duly rushed about to get over. Isabella came with me. We were both beyond excited.

We got to the vets expecting the instant vision we’d been told about. Bentley came out, doped on meds and still completely blind.

Sadly, thereafter, it was not a good experience.

They gave us a sheet saying if his eye was cloudy, red, blind or swollen, then to contact them immediately. We said his eye was still all of these things.

‘Yeah, okay, well, phone us later if you have concerns.’

That’s all they kept saying. It was surreal. We were given a bag of meds prescribed for a Labrador and ushered out. Some of the meds haven’t got the duration of administration on them, and we don’t know what they are for.

The vet wasn’t available. There was nothing on Bentley’s notes. In the end, we just had to leave.

But then it snarled up at the ferry port because we’d changed our original booking to a later one and then couldn’t get a boat home for a while. We took Bentley into the ferry port café while waiting. The lady behind the counter got cross and said we weren’t allowed to bring in the dog water bowl for him. I said he’s blind, he’s just had surgery.

‘Yeah. And I’ve just mopped the floor!’

I bought a bottle of mineral water and used an empty cardboard coffee cup. I was also still hobbling on my knee and had to carry Bentley everywhere. He shouldn’t have been discharged, really. He was not fit to go home.

We’d had such high hopes, and by the end, Isabella and I both felt quite crushed.

Wednesday 22nd July

The pigeon was already perching. He was eating, drinking and engaging with the other pigeons in the pigeon room, albeit through the bars of his cage. His wounds had scabbed already. He was pooping fine and flapping his wings, all of which were great signs.

I took Bentley to my local vet for a check-up and discovered there were specific checks I should have done on his eye the previous night, but we hadn’t been told about them. The vet was lovely and said she’d try to clarify his meds, healing times and the conflicting information about his retina.

The rest of the day was spent at home. Bentley bounced back to himself by the afternoon and was trying to do zoomies and go nuts like he normally does, with me limping after him, trying to get him to slow down and rest.

My friend Sue, who helps run the FB fan group and was a nurse for humans, reassured me that cataract surgery takes time to heal. She’s been great.

I did manage to write another chapter in MH#3. That’s going well. Super enjoying it. I love writing Mike Humber.

Oooh, and I had a good chat with a publisher about The Undead print rights. That’s pretty cool. Super early and no idea if they will take it, but imagine seeing The Undead in bookshops. That would be awesome.

Thursday 23rd July

Bentley was starting to see! He was tracking my hand in the upper parts of his vision. I did a video chat with Isabella to show her. She was overjoyed after the issues we’d had the other day. She was going to London for an end-of-term school trip. I sent her some money and said don’t spend it all at once.

‘Okay, Dad! Promise!’

I think she spent it right then while still on the phone.

Bentley had the zoomies again and crunched my right knee this time. Which was nice of him. He’s so happy though. I wouldn’t have him any other way.

Had a good day of writing. Another chapter for MH#3 was done. Started throwing in the twists and turns. Poor Mike. He is funny though.

I checked and saw The Ender was still number one and had been since release. Extracted was number one in another chart, with Rebirth behind it at number two.

I also had a notification from META telling me to monetise cos of the traction my pigeon and doggy videos get. I’ve got zero interest in that though. I love sharing animal stuff, but I’m a writer, not a content creator. I also suspect they are throttling my book-related posts, showing them to fewer people, to encourage, or coerce, me to post more animal content.

Friday 24th July

Bentley was gaining more vision and processing it too. He can track my hand a lot better. He’s trying to focus, and the cloudiness and redness are easing back a lot now.

I got a new book through the post. The Dark-Eyed Apocalypse by R.L. Kiebre. Rickie, the author, had submitted a brilliant book to The Undead Presents. Great writing, but I could see Rickie was itching to tell his own story and go nuts with creativity. He’s gone on to develop that book into a post-apoc series. It’s very good.

The pigeon I had taken in on Sunday had made a miraculous recovery.

He flew perfectly during the test flights, so into the garden we went and, after one last cuddle (super-docile, cuddly pigeon), he flew off to go and do pigeon things. I hope to see him again. They normally avoid my area for a few days, but they very often come back for seeds.

Another chapter done on MH#3. Love this new story.

Saturday 25th July

Bentley can see so much more now. He’s tracking, focussing and even looking at things. It’s massively rewarding. He still has no vision in the lower half, but he can see shapes and motion in the top area above his head. I just hope it continues to recover and improve. Although he does keep walking into the back of my sore knee. Naughty sausage.

By Saturday afternoon, all the back-end work we’d done for The Ender had kicked in, resulting in a lovely surge of sales which drove it up super high in the charts. Number one in a bunch of genre charts, and inside the top 650 for the whole country, which is amazing for a debut author. So pleased for S.G. Lawrence. Such a nice chap and so well deserved. It’s a great book.

The evening was spent watching Britain’s Strongest Woman, while again trying to stop Bentley from having zoomies in the lounge. (Lucy Underdown won. A serving copper. She also holds the world deadlift record)

So there we go. That was my week. Lots of doggy/pigeon shenanigans, and being urged to become a pigeon influencer and make a fortune with pigeon videos. Quite a few publisher meetings. Quite a bit more accountant stuff. Books are high in the charts. The Ender is doing well. Bentley is gaining more sight by the day.

All in all, it has been a productive, somewhat painful, but otherwise happy week, and a pigeon has had a second chance at life too.

Thank you to my super-supportive readers for the care you have shown Bentley, and for reading my books and The Undead Presents.

I hope your week has also been mostly free of f*ckwits and also full of love.

Much love x