Saturday, November 21, 2009

Recovery

Holy crap. Who knew that it was going to be this difficult? The doctor sent us home with a list of rules and so far I'm not doing that great with them!

1. She is supposed to be confined to a small area so she's not up wandering the house. Okay, well we tried to get her to stay in the front room and she wasn't having any of it, knocked down the baby gates, freaked out her brother and proceeded to walk around, or hobble.

2. She is supposed to be separated from her brother. This is so he doesn't lick her wounds, but he's really not that kind of dog. He really could care less about her staples and really just wants to know why we keep yelling at him every time he goes near her. See above, baby girl busted herself out of "jail"...not successful.

3. She is supposed to be wearing an E-Collar, the ones that make your dog look like they stuck their head through an old fashioned record player. Well, she was miserable, kept running into things and was too out of it to figure out how to maneuver. ie; she was trying to walk by the TV, her collar got stuck on the fireplace, and she just stood there....trying to move forward. SO, I took it off. I couldn't handle it, now I'm just watching her like a hawk to make sure SHE doesn't lick or bite her wounds.

4. She is only allowed to go outside on a leash to potty three times a day. Well...it's 10am and she's already been out twice. Once to tinkle and once to poo. To say that she is not happy with being on a leash to potty is an understatement. I'm sure she is thinking, "really, a leash in my own backyard??"

5. She is just supposed to lay there, not moving, just resting. Okay, have you ever tried to get a 102lb dog (side note - YEAH, she lost 16lbs in two months before her surgery!!) to just be still when they don't want to? I finally gave up, let her roam where she wanted until she exhausted herself enough to take a nice long nap. (I also gave her a pain med to help the process along.)

When I took the pups out to potty (mind you Fido is confined to the house as well since I can't leave the dog door open) Fido wanted to play. It looked like he was going to pounce on her. You know...when they put their upper half on the ground and their butts are shaking in the air, ready to play?? Yeah, poor thing was very sad that he got yelled at...again...for doing what comes naturally to him as a dog. Ugh, it is exhausting!!! AND I hate it when she is moaning (really, she was moaning) and whimpering and I have no idea what hurts or what to do...it sucks.

Not that it is the same as having a kid who can't talk, but really...it feels similar. The best part? She has 2 weeks of NO movement and then an additional 6 weeks of minimal movement. 8 weeks before we can begin to rehab her leg. 8 weeks.

And then we get to do it again on the right leg.

4 comments:

TisforTonya said...

yeah... it might not be the same as having a mute child who isn't allowed to move... I think it might be worse! When my baby girl was just 2 1/2 years old she was immobile for about 5 days and SCREAMED whenever we tried to shift her weight... I seriously considered putting her back in diapers. At least she was able to be entertained by coloring and videos... I somehow doubt that will work for the pup.
Hang in there!

Martalu said...

oh, I can't imagine getting those 2 to do anything! They're so big! Poor things. Yeah, Fido too. I'm sure he's confused. And poor little girl Fifi. Well good luck with all that lady. Luckily time flies by, and in this case, it's a good thing. :(

Anonymous said...

Poor dog! It's not like you can explain to her why she can't act like a dog. She's lucky to have such a dedicated human(s) to take care of her. Hope you both get through it, that's a long time in a doggy's life.

The Sports Mama said...

One question, and you have to be honest....

How many times have you just laid down next to her wherever she's at, thinking you're just going to lay there for a minute and comfort her.... and fallen asleep with her?

I still do that with my boys when they're in pain. Helps us both, I think.