Nothing But Love in Her Heart

So far so good…Fallon’s fast asleep now, and I hope this portends good, comfy times to come for her.  Honestly, we were talking last night and it seems like a long time since we’ve seen her sleep so comfortably.  She’d lay down with her head up, eyes open, panting—she hurt.  Now the nasty bone is gone, and the surgery pain is something easier to deal with—and temporary.

I’m a little intimidated by the meds and treatments and the various times they need to be given.  I’m trying to work it out on paper so it makes sense and I don’t miss something important.  Then I’ll put alarms in my phone or something as reminders.  I’ll figure it out.  She’s on Tramadol up to 3 times a day, Previcox once daily, but the dose changes in 6 days, and Cephalexin twice daily, 2 different capsules to get the dose perfect for her.  Then she needs her incision examined, warm compress over the incision site and pads changed over the incision site, all these 4 times a day.  I’ll do those all together.  Her remaining front leg is swollen, and we’re to massage it at least twice a day.  She likes the leg massage a lot.  A friend with vet tech experience advised we elevate it. Will do

Over all, I’m personally overwhelmed, but Fallon’s pretty chill.  Biggest problem is her laying down, she will circle and circle for 20, 30, 40 minutes before she lays.  Once she’s down, she may land in a weird, uncomfortable looking shape.  Eventually it works itself out and she sleeps really soundly, really peacefully, and that’s been a long time coming.

Other aspects are going well.  She is eating awesome.  We’re supposed to double her food intake  for 2 weeks, and it doesn’t look like it will be a problem.  Maybe sister Maggie will get a round butt from all the extra treats.  She goes outside for peeing, walks pretty well—shaky sometimes, but gets where she needs to go.  We have one step to get in/out, she negotiates it like a champion.  I am impressed by her stability while peeing, she has this down.

Maggie clearly missed Fallon.  She has stuck close to her since she’s been back.

We’ll see how tonight goes.  We’ve made her a nice area downstairs, and I’ll sleep downstairs too for awhile.

It’s just good to have her home.

Fallon is asleep with a jerky in her mouth–maybe so Maggie wont steal it. Maggie has stuck close.

More to come…

The hospital called. They would like to keep Fallon one more night.  She’s made many gains, but is still panting as though she’s got a significant level of pain.  She will be able to continue on more substantial pain meds this way.  They also referenced her bandage on her incision, and how it needed to be changed frequently, they would like that better in control.

My heart was saying I can handle all that at home.  But my head was saying these guys know how much we want her back, they wouldn’t broach the subject if they didn’t feel it would be an enormous benefit.

So she’s staying one more night.  I hope that’s all.

She’s made greyt gains.  She’s walking more confidently, going to the bathroom without a problem, finally eating their food—so lots looks really, really good.  We’re going to visit at 3pm.  After that, hopefully the next time we see her will be to pack her suitcases and load her into the car to go home.

I appreciate all the support, you guys…we’re still on the roller coaster but I think the end is in sight and the new normal will start making itself known soon.

Fallon’s doing better, her doctor just called.  She *might* be able to come home tonight.

We visited last night and took some tasty yogurt, scrambled eggs, and bacon  She ate some yogurt and some eggs, no bacon (I would have prioritized differently), and seemed more relaxed.

When the doctor called tonight, he mentioned that had continued through the night, she was continuing to eat a little and was more comfy.  She has significant bruising (greyhounds are delicate creatures), and her incision is weeping a bit.  They wrapped her chest differently to give it more pressure.

He asked how much home nursing we would be able to/want to provide.  I said we can do anything.  I just think she’ll be more comfortable here.  It would entail putting warm towels on her incision, etc.   I can do whatever.

We left it that I’d call in the early afternoon, if she continues on a positive course we might be able to bring her home this afternoon.

Fingers crossed!

Chasing kitties again soon?

More to come…

Fallon is taking a little longer to heal.  She has been uncomfortable and whiny.  She hasn’t eaten yet.  The surgery was only a tick more than 24 hours ago, the doctor told me some dogs pop right back, some take longer.  He is not worried.  I am worried.

I visited around lunchtime today and brought 3 of Fallon’s favorite treats, but while she seemed interested, she didn’t eat them.  I did see her walk today.  They are helping her with a harness right now, as she’s a little shaky, but she did really well.  She gets up and down greyt, as long as she’s on her correct side. We just cuddled on a blanket until I had to leave.

I’m going back at 9PM and bringing bacon and scrambled eggs.  I might stop for some deli meat.  I’m trying to think of other things she loves to eat.

She might come home tomorrow.  I hope she can.  I think she’ll make great gains at home.  She needs to eat and feel more comfy first.   I miss her.

Fallon and Maggie

More to come…

Our girl’s on 3 legs now.  Our doc just called to say the procedure went well, she’s awake, a little whiny, on lots of pain meds now.  Their plan is to wean her off IV meds and hopefully she can come home tomorrow afternoon

I can’t wait to see her and hug her.

The doctor gave us all sorts of info, but all I was hearing was she was awake and it went well.  Someone will call to check in on how she’s doing between 7 and 8pm tonight, and the doctor will see her again in the morning and call us with an update.

I can’t wait to see her and hug her.

It was a rough day after dropping her off this morning.  She was the 3^rd surgery today, so I knew it would be later that they called. I was a bit of a useless mess today.  Doing better now 🙂

Here’s Fallon and her dad in the yard a few years ago, both happy:

More to come…