This was a bad weekend. A stressful weekend, a weekend that I'll probably never forget. That little puppy up there had to have emergency surgery. She ate part of a towel last weekend, which isn't that unusual for her. What is unusual is that she stopped eating. My dog is a vaccum cleaner when it comes to food. She doesn't chew, she just inhales. So, when she wouldn't touch her food, we started to get really concerned. And when she wouldn't walk down the stairs, I knew something serious was happening.
We took her to an emergency vet in York, PA on Friday afternoon. She had blood tests, xrays, and they indicated she needed surgery. The doctor called half way through and told us that he needed to remove 2-4 ft of her intestine because she had such a bad blockage and it was causing her insides to kink. We had 5 minutes to decide what to do.
Some of you may never understand this decision. You may look at it from strictly a financial perspective. We looked at everything. The odds were stacked against her statistically, but we knew that she had the fight and the energy to make it through. I didn't care how my lifestyle was going to change. I didn't care about cleaning up after her more or buying different food. We told him to proceed. She was in surgery for 7 hours. She didn't eat all of Saturday. Finally, on Sunday,when she was given less pain medicine, she inhaled her food again and we got to take her home.
That was this weekend. Today, we spent the whole day together and she is doing great. I don't regret one decision. She is happier now, more comfortable than before, and just wants to play. The next few weeks may be tough, but I know that her lifestyle isn't compromised and that I made the right decision.
Lilly is a special dog. She is empathetic and affectionate, she's gentle and spunky. She's my first dog as an adult and it didn't seem right to give up on her at 10 months old. She has so much to do and to see. I'm so grateful for the chance to play with her again, and I'm so thankful for the doctors and techs who helped her this weekend. I was very close to loosing her.
From now on, everytime we take a hike together, play in the snow, go for walks along the pond near my apartment, and cuddle in bed, I'm going to remember this weekend and cherish the time that we have that much more.
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