On the drive back from the vet, I had to keep reminding myself that Chloe would be fine.  Her vet is a good guy, but somehow that didn’t prevent me from worrying about any complications that might occur during her surgery. I knew that I had a long wait ahead of me so I did what I could to keep myself occupied. With a newly cracked windshield (about 10″ long!), I certainly had a convenient diversion. After advice from my dad about which company to use, I managed to schedule an appointment for that afternoon at my house. No extra charge and I didn’t have to leave my car anywhere but parked across the street (my car has room for my dog in the back, and I certainly wanted to have it safe and  fixed when I picked Chloe up). Since this scheduling only took about an hour, I still had another 5 hours to kill… I tried watching tv, browsing the web with my computer, but I still couldn’t help wondering how she was doing or where she was in her surgery. After the window of time passed where the vet technician told me I would be contacted I started to get nervous. I knew that the vet had a few surgeries that day, but still I had to wait some more. Another 2 hours passed and I FINALLY got a call!

Her vet that performed the surgery told me that Chloe was just waking up. I asked him, “So did it go well?” (intended to mean, there were no complications?). He replied and told me that he doesn’t really like doing this type of surgery, but that what needed to be done was done. Well I certainly could not have been in that field for that exact reason. But yes, the surgery went smoothly and depending on her condition the following day, I might be able to take her home. He also told me he would call again before he went home to give me another update.  So far so good, but more waiting…

That evening the vet called and informed me that she is doing remarkably well! No residual bleeding, she doesn’t seem to be in pain (probably so stoned she has no clue) and that she is resting in a warm soft area. We had already discussed the fact they wanted to keep her overnight to monitor her condition and the vet assured me that two technicians would be there overnight with her. Tomorrow, they would try to walk her in a sling and if she started walking “comfortably” I could take her home. What the definition of “comfortably” is, I have no clue. She was still using all 4 legs pre surgery so I don’t exactly envision her walking around perfectly. He would call with another update in the morning.

So the next morning I get another call and was told that Chloe did well last night and that they were starting to wean her off the pain meds. She seemed to be handling the pain well considering the amputation (such a good, tough girl!). My dog was apparently still too high as a kite to walk, so they would try again in a few hours to see how she fared. The vet also told me that since she was still using all 4 legs before her amputation that she would take more time relearning how to balance. He explained that because this surgery is mostly performed on dogs with bone cancer, their affected leg is usually very painful causing them to start relying more heavily on the other three. This gives them the advantage of having more experience pre surgery and once their bad leg is gone, they pretty much take to the three legs right away. No marathons for Chloe for quite some time (not that she ever ran one with 4!). Unfortunately because of this fact, he wanted to keep her for another night. He was very optimistic about her condition and confident I could take her home the following afternoon before they closed. Another night, sigh. I suppose I now have time to “prep” the house for her. He recommended having her in an enclosed cushy space, so I decided I would barricade myself with her in the living room (carpeted!). Even though I do not have baby gates, I do still have all my packed boxes from moving back home from college (still packed because I am waiting to move up to grad school). Cheap barricades!

So yet another night at the vet, which means more waiting…