I was thinking about collars too, have you thought about getting some fleece to make a tubular collar. It can also be stuffed with the pillow stuffing, also can be made as wide as you need.
Yes, that's actually what I was thinking about as an alternate collar that I want to make...something a bit less wide on his neck, but with more stuffing in it...kind of like putting a hemorrhoid donut on him. (hmm...guess that's not a good comparison.) I'll fix the collar he does have now sometime this weekend so it's sewn together properly and the velcro is attached, and will try and make another collar as well. The collar in the pics make Yofi look a bit like Don Cherry. All he'd need to complete the look would be a goatee and a garish jacket.
I am so sorry for all that your going through right now. I am glad is still his Yofi self with or without the Cone of Silence. Very nice job on the collar, I agree with Peg, Yofi is lucky to have a fantastic slave like you.
Great pictures by the way!
You, Yofi and your sister are in my daily prayers.
Thanks Dave.
My sister goes to talk to her doctor on Friday about the surgery she had; to say she's scared would probably be quite an understatement, although she'd never admit it. She's off work this week and next, or is supposed to be...though yesterday she showed up to attend a meeting. :nonono:
On my end of it, what I'm finding hard - working in the same place as her - is that some female coworkers took it upon themselves to start organizing...they are holding meetings and get-togethers to discuss a 'plan of action' on how to help my sister (drives to treatments, making meals, etc.). While their intentions are all wonderful, what they don't realize is how much it's bothering me. It's like I can't get away from it...every day when I go into work they are talking about what to do, etc....and suggesting what I can do. It feels as though they are stepping over boundaries...like they are telling me what I should be doing for my own sister. It also feels like they are treating my sister like an invalid even before she knows how serious the treatments may or may not be, and I think that bothers me too, because I don't want them acting as though she is helpless...I do know when I went through treatments, I didn't want to be treated that way. Unfortunately they've also sort of crossed a boundary beyond my own scope; in the past 8-10 years at work there have been at least 8 women who were diagnosed with cancer (myself included). In every case the social committee organized a card and gift basket from staff, acknowledging what they were going through. However, for my sister, these women not only organized meetings, are planning meals, offering drives for her; today they sent out an email to all of the staff saying that more can be done and they want suggestions. Upon reading this my supervisor became upset, saying that they are going way overboard, and she feels it is making the others who did go through cancer recently (she did as well, the same year I did) belittled, and that they shouldn't be telling the entire office what to do. I'm not sure how accurate she is on this, but I hope it isn't upsetting others. I do know that what they are doing comes from the heart, and they are wonderful for doing so, but because of the office (and family) dynamics, it's a sensitive subject, and whether or not I'm justified, I was upset....probably just because they are making it a constant reminder for me, and because I don't want to view my sister they way they seem to be... as helpless.
For myself I tend to laugh at some of it because when I think back to what I went through, it is quite funny. I will spare the ugly details of symptoms here, but..I was off work for 5 months, had 7 weeks of intense radiation, could barely talk, was on liquid morphine for pain, had one of the worst cases of mouth sores the doctor had ever seen, couldn't eat anything but liquids for about 3 months, and was exhausted constantly. However, not having a car I had to rely on public transit, so was taking 3 buses a day, each way (about 45 minutes each way) to get to the hospital for radiation. My dad and stepmom had come up to stay at my place to help me out, and accompany me back and forth to the treatments; but after two trips to the hospital they decided not to go because my dad was having problems with his leg. There also wasn't enough room at my house for them to stay, so they stayed at my sister's house...and since they didn't want to go back and forth between houses every day, they stayed at my sister's place for the duration and cooked and cleaned for her. I think I may have seen them all of 3 or 4 times the entire time they were here. Meanwhile ('back at the ranch'
) I was going through treatments, going home and doing my own cooking and cleaning. Oh yeah, and I also had my kidlet pets to take care of as well...cleaning and scooping litter boxes, walking the dog, feeding them...
Oh yeah, and last year I was talking to a coworker who had worked there for at least as long as me, and when I mentioned the time I'd been off work she said, "Why did you have to take time off?" Then when I reminded her about the diagnosis I'd had, and that I was gone for 5 months, she said, "Really?? You weren't here for 5 months????" LOL...she sat two cubicles away from me and didn't even notice I was gone.
LOL! You know, after writing all of this down I'm sitting her smiling at how funny it all was. :biggrin:
Anyway.................................:biggrin:
As for Yofi: The collar that I made for him isn't on him all the time. He still does wear the cone, but that's at night and when I'm at work. Whenever I'm here he wears the collar. I'd leave it on him all the time, but am not fully convinced he won't be able to take it off when he's not supervised. I do think though, that he finds it a break from the cone. At the very least he's not banging into things with the collar on, whereas with the cone he keeps hitting the wall or the sides of the cage. In the doorway of the cage there's a little 'lip' along the bottom, and every time Yofi would go to enter or exit he would always hit the cone on it. What's cute though is that he's learned - after he bumping into it several times and getting somewhat stuck - to lift his head just enough...so now when he goes into his cage he usually stops first, pauses, lifts his head and then continues on. Who says bunnies aren't smart?
He still has the infection on his upper leg too, but it appears to be starting to dry up. I'm praying that it doesn't come back once this round of antibiotics are done, because I got the sense from the vet the last time I spoke to him that he isn't keen on renewing the prescription. Yofi's been on antibiotics now for over two months(?) I think...and was off and on them for a while before that. Vets around here don't like to keep a rabbit on antibiotics because of potential damage to internal organs with longterm use, so I don't know what will happen if - even after keeping Yofi away from the site - The Cone or The Collar's efforts fail to keep the infection from returning. One day at a time, I guess. In the meantime, if/when I get another collar done, or at least finish up the one he already has, I'll take some pictures.
Now off to bed...I'm starting a TeX course tomorrow (UGH) at work. Two half-days a week for the next few weeks, and I'm already under a lot of pressure because I'm overworked. If only I could teach the dogs to type...oh, and read...and catch spelling errors....and respond to emails...and access ftp sites....and create pdfs....maybe they could go to work with me and help out. Nah...Izzy would just eat anything he couldn't figure out.
