Brandy had her surgery yesterday at the Dallas Veterinarian Surgical Center (Kathryn--of course I remember you!! Even your French name--which was Jacqueline of course!--thanks for your comment about Brandy!).
My sweet baby came home today and looks pretty darn rough. We didn't realize just how intense this surgery is. Let me tell you what, I know now. She had a steel rod implanted into her bone to help her learn to not use her ACL. They found she also had a torn meniscus and had to repair that as well. The surgery was close to two hours long and she has to undergo physical therapy. Most likely, she will never walk the same, but she will have more function than she ever would have if she didn't have the procedure. For the next 14 days, she has to wear the head cone to keep her from licking the staples. For 10 weeks, she has to be walked on a leash to go outside to potty, has to be confined in a small space for sleeping and either crated or in a small space when no one is around. No running, jumping, or using any stairs for over 10 weeks. And physical therapy. We have an appointment in 10-14 to have the staples remove and discuss physical therapy. She takes four medications twice a day for the next month or so.
In my mind, all this was completely worth it for my Bee Bee. I could have taken my friend Dana's suggestion from our lunch the other day and "just amputate the darn thing," but I think having the leg fixed was a better option. Dana cracks me up sometimes! Thank goodness Brandy had this surgery now and not when things are really busy at work! At least I have the time in the evenings to be with her and we're not too crazy right now.
It wasn't easy to hand over a credit card and make that payment (yes, $3K for the surgery!), especially during the holidays. Andrew and I had a trip planned in January for our birthdays to San Francisco and Monterey. I silently said goodbye to that trip at the vet's office after they took Brandy back for the surgery. But really--I'll take my dog any day. It's just tough watching her like this. All she wanted tonight was me, so I spent the evening on the floor with her while playing Legos and watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with Maggie (side note--that was much better as a child!). She hates, hates, hates the cone, and Andrew and I have tried to let her go without when she's with us. Poor thing has been whining and crying. Her only highlight of her evening was the giant amount of peanut butter I gave her with all her pills!
Tell you what...she's a sad little sight right now. Andrew says she looks like a plucked chicken. Maggie responded with, "Bee Bee--no chicken!! BIG boo boo!!"
I mean, really, how sad is this??
Maggie had to get in on the picture taking action. As I was taking a picture of Brandy, she was telling me, "No, Mama, say CHEESE MAGGIE!!"
Adorable even with the big cone. Maggie has been so sweet to her all night. She was sticking her face inside the cone and giving her "big kisses Bee Bee." She would tilt her head and say, "Oh, Bee Bee--Doctor! Poor Bee Bee."
Poor Bee Bee is right.
12 comments:
Glad she is ok! You should invest in pet insurance for the future! It sounds like you are going to need it! :-)
Our cat Belle who was our very first baby (we had her for years pre-kids) got very sick last December. The hospital bill was over 2k. I don't regret it even though we didn't get to take Belle home with us. :(
Here is to Brandy feeling better soon. Animals are important members of our family.
aww poor Brandy! Maggie looks so beautiful in that picture!
give your bee bee a big hug from me....our pets are our children...(both of our children are out of the house)...we just love them to death and they love us the same....
We have 2 cats who are deaf so they have to stay inside. One of them got outside last December and was out for a total of 2 hours. When we found him and brought him back inside, he was really shaken up and didn't do much for a few days. We noticed his belly was really red, but thought he must have just scratched it. It started swelling really badly. We took him to the vet for x-rays and they aspirated a bunch of fluid out of his abdomen. The fluid came back so he had to have an ultrasound, then a surgery to put tubes in so the pocket that was retaining fluid would stay open and drain (all over our floors I might add). The fluid still came back so we had to take him to a vet specialty hospital where he had surgery to remove the entire mass in his abdomen. No idea how he got hurt. But the total for all of his stuff was close to $4000. We had to take out a loan and people told us we were crazy, but our boys are our babies and we never thought twice about it! We were supposed to keep him in a small space and not moving and he had a cone on his head for 10 days, too. He was miserable and wanted a lot of attention, but almost a year later he's doing great! It was so worth it. And even thought we're STILL paying off that loan, we would do it again in a heartbeat. We just tell him he is the world's most expensive cat and he owes us MANY years of love and affection. So glad she's okay, and I know how hard it is to see her looking so miserable. Hope the time goes quickly!
Ohhh, that just breaks my heart. My dog was injured two years ago and was made a "cone-head" and he hated it too! Sending lots of **healing** vibes for your beloved canine and I hope she recovers quickly. I sometimes think the being a Vet is a license to print money **harumph** That Maggie is such a cracker, I'm sure she will keep your spirits up!
Awww, poor Bee Bee. Sweet girl.
It could be worse. She could have a moron there throwing a ball for her to go fetch.
Awwww... Get well soon Brandy!!
My in-laws have a sweet golden named Sampson and he has to have a fatty cyst removed from his back and had to wear a cone. It was sad days!!
Did you vet offer you payment options? Most will let you pay over time!
The picture of Maggie...OMG stunning...she looks like a little model!!!
Oh poor Brandy, she looks so miserable! I hope she gets to feeling better soon. :(
Maggie of course is too cute for words!
If you eventually do make the trip to California, Monterey is boring, except for the aquarium. I would love to meet you if you make it up north of San Francisco though.
Jen (the california one)
poor Brandy!!! i would hate that cone thingy too!! get well soon! and Maggie is just soooooo cute! dun you love this stage...i have a 2 year old plus girl, and she is just a joy! :)
Poor Brandy! We have a "conehead dog" too, but Monday her staples come out (my other dog bit her though, nothing as serious).
At the Humane Society where I volunteer we sometimes have the ACL surgery done on dogs, it's hard, but they are so much better for it when it's over.
I'll be thinking about sweet Brandy and hoping she recovers quickly!
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