Monday, October 02, 2006

Getting Ready for Surgery

The decision is made. Snickers will have her left rear leg amputated. She has been walking on three legs and the bad leg is sometimes held at an odd angle to keep it out of the way. She will yip if she bumps it the wrong way. The option is to keep her on pain meds, which could ruin her liver.
We need to give her a pain pill the night before and the morning of surgery, and no food or water after six pm. She will have a two week recovery, so I will be off work the first week and Bob will be off work the second week. The surgeon will remove the leg between the knee and the hip. This will leave a small stump so that Snickers will have better balance of her hind end when she walks. The muscle will be wrapped over the end of the bone to help protect it from injury.
The surgeon wants to keep Snickers over night, but I am encouraging her to let me take her home. I know that Snickers will want to be home. Both Bob and I have experience in ICU, and so we feel we will not be shocked or be too emotional to care for her. The surgeon is hesitant because some dogs will lash out and bite when in pain, but agrees to see how she is at 5pm. She will call me during the day to give me updates.

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