It was exactly 2 weeks before Christmas and I was driving Sadie to her annual dental surgery. I always dreaded to put Sadie “under” because she was a slow one to recover. Nevertheless, I knew how important clean teeth were to a canine. I knew the diseases that could develop if bacteria were on the teeth. So, I made it a point to take care of Sadie’s teeth! To me, that was taking care of her heart, too. She had the cutest little teeth.
Sadie had been through an interesting year --- we all had. The dream that we had spent the last 4 years of our lives in preparation for became a reality that January. There were so many blessings, but in the midst of a very busy life, our health broke. I developed chronic migraine headaches, and the 4-month process to diagnosis seemed to last an eternity. In the midst of a nasty flu season both my husband and I had taken quite a beating. Due to complications, it took me over a month to recover. Sadie had become increasingly irritable when it came time for grooming. The previous fall, she had bitten a groomer. During my illness, I missed a couple of days brushing her and she became quite matted. I took her to a new groomer and we thought everything was fine, but on her next visit, Sadie bit her, too. So now we were left without a groomer. (Note: Because of Sadie’s history, she did not trust most people near her face. That made finding a groomer very difficult). Growing older, Sadie also was developing lots of “old age spots” that also made grooming a challenge.
My husband had just been released from the hospital 3 weeks before after an emergency stay, and after I dropped Sadie off we were headed to a follow-up MRI. He was facing surgery, and this MRI would give us more information. Later that week we would have appointments with a surgeon and a new family doctor. It was a stressful time, to say the least. One good thing about it was that we were able to work from the house during his illness, and that meant spending more time with Sadie. Now, we could handle that!
The day before her surgery another vet in the office called to say that there was a problem with Sadie’s blood work; the CBC clotted in the tube and there wasn’t enough blood for any readings. Now, it could be a stressful experience for Sadie to go to the vet. She didn’t particularly like having her blood drawn. I sure wanted that reading, though. One vet thought I should have the test results prior to surgery, but Sadie’s vet promised to take another sample while Sadie was “under” so as not to stress her out. During her pre-op exam, her vet also advised me that her mammary gland was swollen and it would be best if a sample was taken “just to be safe.” We also decided to have most of her “old age warts” removed. I dropped Sadie off, and then picked up my husband for his MRI. On both fronts, I had cause to pray for my loved ones.
When it was time to pick up Sadie, she was more perky than usual. I asked if the CBC was re-taken and was taken a bit off guard when the vet told me, “Oh, I forgot. My head was in the clouds this morning.” Sadie lost a front tooth in the surgery, and she looked like a cute little kindergartner. Sadie’s recovery was better than she had ever experienced. And that made us relieved. The only issue I needed to watch were her stitches on her abdomen. I wanted to make sure she did not bite and chew, so I slept with a hand on her belly for 10 nights until her souchers were removed. We received the pathology report and it was good news! No cancer. Her cells were reactive, so we'd need to keep an eye on her lymph nodes, but for now there was no immediate cause for concern.
I was now in PT for my knees and was grappling with an auto-immune disorder. But I was determined to get well and be healthy! We headed into Christmas with my husband and me on the mend, and with Sadie as cute as ever. I’ll never forget her sleeping and playing under my in-laws’ Christmas tree that year. Little did we know what the next week would hold.
Sadie had been through an interesting year --- we all had. The dream that we had spent the last 4 years of our lives in preparation for became a reality that January. There were so many blessings, but in the midst of a very busy life, our health broke. I developed chronic migraine headaches, and the 4-month process to diagnosis seemed to last an eternity. In the midst of a nasty flu season both my husband and I had taken quite a beating. Due to complications, it took me over a month to recover. Sadie had become increasingly irritable when it came time for grooming. The previous fall, she had bitten a groomer. During my illness, I missed a couple of days brushing her and she became quite matted. I took her to a new groomer and we thought everything was fine, but on her next visit, Sadie bit her, too. So now we were left without a groomer. (Note: Because of Sadie’s history, she did not trust most people near her face. That made finding a groomer very difficult). Growing older, Sadie also was developing lots of “old age spots” that also made grooming a challenge.
My husband had just been released from the hospital 3 weeks before after an emergency stay, and after I dropped Sadie off we were headed to a follow-up MRI. He was facing surgery, and this MRI would give us more information. Later that week we would have appointments with a surgeon and a new family doctor. It was a stressful time, to say the least. One good thing about it was that we were able to work from the house during his illness, and that meant spending more time with Sadie. Now, we could handle that!
The day before her surgery another vet in the office called to say that there was a problem with Sadie’s blood work; the CBC clotted in the tube and there wasn’t enough blood for any readings. Now, it could be a stressful experience for Sadie to go to the vet. She didn’t particularly like having her blood drawn. I sure wanted that reading, though. One vet thought I should have the test results prior to surgery, but Sadie’s vet promised to take another sample while Sadie was “under” so as not to stress her out. During her pre-op exam, her vet also advised me that her mammary gland was swollen and it would be best if a sample was taken “just to be safe.” We also decided to have most of her “old age warts” removed. I dropped Sadie off, and then picked up my husband for his MRI. On both fronts, I had cause to pray for my loved ones.
When it was time to pick up Sadie, she was more perky than usual. I asked if the CBC was re-taken and was taken a bit off guard when the vet told me, “Oh, I forgot. My head was in the clouds this morning.” Sadie lost a front tooth in the surgery, and she looked like a cute little kindergartner. Sadie’s recovery was better than she had ever experienced. And that made us relieved. The only issue I needed to watch were her stitches on her abdomen. I wanted to make sure she did not bite and chew, so I slept with a hand on her belly for 10 nights until her souchers were removed. We received the pathology report and it was good news! No cancer. Her cells were reactive, so we'd need to keep an eye on her lymph nodes, but for now there was no immediate cause for concern.
I was now in PT for my knees and was grappling with an auto-immune disorder. But I was determined to get well and be healthy! We headed into Christmas with my husband and me on the mend, and with Sadie as cute as ever. I’ll never forget her sleeping and playing under my in-laws’ Christmas tree that year. Little did we know what the next week would hold.
