Crap. Double Crap.

The first fail came when I realized that a large majority of the internships I was interested in started in May. The second when my dog started to limp.

Let me elaborate.  In order to graduate, I must complete a minimum of 10 weeks of internship.  My plan, of course, was:

Fall quarter: Epic climbing trip
Winter and Spring quarters: Finish up course work
Summer: Internship

In my exuberance in thinking that I could once again take Fall quarter off and have everything work out perfectly, I failed to spend the few minutes it took to go online and see when the internships I wanted to do started.  Well, I did that the other day and realized that most of them start in May.  And Spring quarter doesn't end until the second week of June.  Recognizing that it would be foolish and irresponsible to jeopardize my chance at the internship I really want, I decided that I would indeed have to take classes Fall quarter.  So as of Sunday, the plan was to take a shorter (about six weeks) trip, probably mostly to Squamish, starting on August 1, and return in time for the start of school in late September.  Then, I would finish my coursework in March and have until May to climb.

The plan wasn't as awesome as the original, but it would certainly work.

Star with her party beads

That was the plan as of yesterday.  Today, things took another interesting turn.  I decided to take Star to the vet again as she has been having some limping problems, mostly exercised induced.  The vet decided that she would need X-rays, so I had to leave her there.  A few hours later the vet called and told me words that I hoped I would never hear.  Star has a partial tear in her ACL.  And she needs surgery.

Noooo!

I went back to the vet and saw the X-rays and the vet explained everything.  Apparently it is nothing that could have been prevented, but due to Star's bone structure it is something that was bound to happen, and could have happened at any time.  The vet recommended that Star have a Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, otherwise known as a TPLO.  Basically I think they chop out part of the bone, put in a plate and a bunch of screws and tighten everything up.  Does that sound expensive to you?  It is!

The good news is that the surgery is very effective, and Star will able to go back to her 100% normal, functioning self.  There is also a very low risk of re-injury after the surgery.

Out climbing with Star

So now it looks like we might get a couple weeks in Squamish before Star's surgery is scheduled, and then it will definitely be time for me to get a job and put climbing on the back burner for awhile.  I'm just glad that they will be able to fix my Star Baby, and I hope everything will go smoothly.