The first couple of days have been rough. Having a living being you are incredibly emotionally attached to in such a condition is tough to watch. The drain in his shoulder has definitely helped reduce a lot of the swelling that was there initially. The rod that irritated him and caused him so much discomfort is gone. It’s hard for my fiancée and I to see him draining a mixture of fluid and blood. We tenderly assist to him round the clock. I am so grateful I have the time to devote to his recovery 24/7 even though my fiancée returns to work Sunday. It has been a week full of support and that is what has gotten us this far. From family to friends reaching out to total strangers moving me to tears by sharing their experiences support and encouragement, this whole experience has taught me it takes a village. But the drain comes out Monday! A small amount of bruising is noticeable today and his breathing is heavier. We have spaced out his pain medication more to make sure he always has something in his system. His vest is in the mail from Amazon, I searched three legged dog harnesses and found a sturdy vest with a handle with great reviews. When he has healed enough to go for walks he will have a safety net so to speak so we can help him learn. Before his break he loved to jump into things. He loved to race around as fast as he could with other dogs. Even when he had a cast on you would be surprised how fast he could run. A more memorable day of his recovery that encouraged all parties was a day when I took him to one of his daily bandage changes before his leg was amputated. I got him out of the car and he saw another dog playing in the snow (it was a safe area and because of the rod in his shoulder he couldn’t wear a collar because it shifted his skin in a weird way and put too much pressure against the rod and skin) and immediately had to RUN over scaring his dog mom (i was afraid he would slip on the ice) to say hi and to try to play. Even given everything he still happily trots down the hall to the door to go outside wagging his tail happily. He has given us encouraging kisses along the way as if to say “it’s ok”. His two feline companions, Josie and Loki, both sunbathe with him regularly. It’s hovering around zero degrees farenheight where we live so our trips outside would be brief even if he was 100% which provides just a tiny little sliver of comfort. In trying times you really need to stop and enjoy every small moment together, every time their ears perk up, every lazy day in the sun, every single time they happily paw at you. Cherish it. Photograph it. One day you’ll be so thankful you did. All the photos I use on this blog are ones I have taken post op unless noted. One hard thing to cope with is knowing even with everything Royal may miss out on some of the long hikes we would go on off the trails in the woods. We took him on a camping trip this summer up by the Great Lakes where we pitched a tent by the river. Royal loved being able to run with us. Now we will be sticking to paved paths for his sake. Our more memorable hike was a 10 mile adventure along a river by our campground where royal outpaced us (he is a VERY high energy dog normally that needs and gets LOTS of exercise with daily adventures to an outdoor fenced area where he can run freely, sometimes with other dogs). My fiancée and I were winded from all the hills and Royal was always ready for more. The first two pictures show Royal on our vacation pre op. We have always used a harness with a long lead (a light chain was used when hiking so it wouldn’t catch and break so he could have a longer leash). He loved to sit in the Canoe with us and patiently watch the passing wildlife. My fiancée proposed to me on a separate trip to the area in the same place Royal is sitting in the second photo (with Royals help of course). Some people in our lives think we’re crazy for going through all this. We’re over 5 grand in at this point and some people ask why. He’s like our kid. When we adopted him from the humane society (we joke that although his adoption fee was a few hundred bucks he still lives up to his name-you have to stay positive in all things to get through something like this) we agreed to take care of him NO MATTER WHAT. We’re his furever home and I wouldn’t change a thing. We have done everything we can for him every step of the way and he will still lead a long and happy life. He will make a fantastic Tripawd. He is already learning to get around just fine. We are incredibly proud of our resilient pup. The “crash” so to speak from the anesthesia does make both my fiancée and I nervous but I am confident we can get him through the rest of today and tomorrow without incident.
