recovery day #1
In support of old cliches, “today is the first day of the rest of our lives.” Lyndon came home from the hospital today! The surgery went really well, the vet said that at one point his heart rate went up a bit, but that it quickly corrected itself without any assistance needed. Yesterday I was totally inconsolable… the word “mutilation” kept running through my head and my guilt was at 100%. It helped to dig myself into work to distract myself, but in between tasks I fought not to want to go rescue him before the surgery. Then when the surgery was done, my only thought was, “Oh my God, what have I done?!”
Today I was expecting to be horrified, guilty and down right ill. I was so nervous in the waiting room that I thought I was going to vomit, and then… there he was. He came hopping into the room all excited and looking around and doing fine. The incision site was not nearly as aweful as I expected. A lot of the pictures I had seen of other dogs was much worse. I’m kind of wondering if the difference was that those dogs got staples and lyndon got sutures. He had an oozy spot where they had been giving him local anesthetics through a kind of cathater all night, but the vet said it was supposed to be that way. The surgeon also left a small muscle pad on the back of his hip so that when he sits it won’t feel awkward. I was so happy to see him up and about that the scar didn’t really bother me at all.
Since being home he’s gone potty, eaten his normal food and taken a nice nap. I’ve decided that i’d like this blog to help other people who have to go through this process, and so I’m going to add pictures every day of his recovery (other dogs’ pictures helped prepare me for the shock, and I think having seen others it made it suprisingly happy to see that his wound was not as bad). 
November 11th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Awww he looks so cute and happy. Glad he made it alright. Today is marmadukes recovery day one too!!! Lyndon looks like he’s adapting just fine. Here’s to a great recovery.
November 12th, 2010 at 4:17 am
Lyndon looks GREAT!
Good wishes on a speedy recovery!
November 15th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
yes, the guilt was pretty bad for me too. I shocked the vet when i said, “Oh the leg is gone” when they carried her out to me for the first time, which eluded them to think that i changed my mind and they didnt know. ha ha terrible!
the worst part is how they shave the area. the uneven, crooked line. not even attempt at a decent fade. I see Lyndon’s got his whole heiney shaved like Mousie’s.