So, this particular day was a Wednesday. I chose this day to take Frankie to the vet to get a quote on a surgery he needed to remove a rather icky, oozing, black growth on his ear that we fear might be cancerous. It was also a kind of chilly and rainy day but that's not why Frankie was shaking when we walked into the vet office. Frankie hates the vet. HATES it. He is terrified of the vet. But, much as it kills me to see Frankie upset, we had to be there. Well, a few minutes after they took Frankie back to re-examine his ear they came back out with a quote for me and said that they could do his surgery right then. I was not expecting this, but, when I thought about it I figured it might be best to get it over with as quickly as possible. Dogs and surgery are no fun what with cones and medicine and stuff like that to worry about.
So, I left Frankie at the vet and was only a little surprised by how I was instantly afraid that he wouldn't make it. All they were doing was cutting a little notch in his ear to remove the growth and then send it to be biopsied, but, he had to be put under for that and well, I am a bit scared of anesthesia. I was much more worried than I probably had a right to be, but I love Frankie so much it's ridiculous.
When I got home alone I walked in the door and surprised myself again by expecting him to come running up to the door. The house seemed so empty and sad without a wiggling, happy Frankie to greet me. I did some work on the computer and then did a workout video. I found that I missed the constant scratchings on my closed door to get in and out. Life without Frankie, even for a few hours was just not as good.
A few hours later they called and he was ready to be picked up! He made it through the surgery! I was very happy. Frankie was still very drugged up and a bit spacey though. And he had a huge cone collar on that he didn't know how to maneuver in.
Once home he moped about in the collar looking up at me as if to say "Why are you punishing me?" It broke my heart. A few hours later I had to go to my rehearsal so I left, but the second I got home I freed him from the collar for a while. I meant to just give him a little break but he instantly got on the couch and went to sleep, finally comfortable to stop moving now that he was free of the cone. I later moved him to my room where he continued to sleep soundly on my bed except for the constant shivering. My poor baby was shivering so badly. Apparently this is common after surgery but I found the need to bundle him in blankets. He stopped shivering and eventually I had to go to bed. I was afraid to not put the collar back on in case he accidentally scratched his ear, but, I also didn't have the heart to wake him and make him uncomfortable again. So, I didn't put the collar on but I was so nervous I woke up every two hours to check on him.
He did so well that we ended up leaving the cone collar off again today. If he starts to seem bothered by his ear we might have to put it on again, but for now he's doing alright and is supervised by someone at any given time.
This was the first time a dog that was MINE has had surgery under my care. It was probably more traumatic for me than it was for Frankie.
He's doing much better now. Thank goodness. Now, we just have to wait for the biopsy results.
1 comment:
My poor little man. He's still really cute, even in his cone.
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