Lazy Izzy

well it’s been a rough few days for everyone. On the up side Izzy got her bandage changed and the incision looks good with very little drainage. After Izzy’s dr visit on Wednesday we started Metamucil, which Izzy hates. So we tried to get it in her with food but she stoped eating, guess she figured out we were hiding meds in the food. Then on Friday I thought of magnesium you can buy it at the grocery store for .98 after I checked to make sure it was safe for dogs we waited until she wanted to go outside, not for a potty break, just to lay in the sun, and I got it into her with a big syring, she really didn’t like it and who can blame her but it worked and about 5 minutes later we had our first poo !!yay!! The dr also gave her an injection to help her sleep and sent us home with more of the injectable meds to use at night because Izzy wasn’t getting much sleep and neither were we. This has worked well but I’m concerned that she will be overmedicated. But at this point she is still healing so sleep however it comes is helpful for healing.

Yesterday was our worst day yet Izzy wouldn’t eat or drink and would do a high pitched whining howl anytime I left her side which our other dogs would then copy so we had several episodes of concert howling, I’m sure our neighbors appreciated that, not. I wasn’t sure if she was uncomfortable, scared, overmedicated or just over it. So I decided to stretch her oral pain killer to the maximum window and watch her. She did seem to calm somewhat towards the end of that window so I think she needed her head to feel normal for a while. Unfortunately the meds are still necessary though so today I’m going to try waiting until she tells me she needs them instead of the clock telling me it’s time that way I can get an idea of her progress from her viewpoint. Today she seems to be resting pretty comfortably with just the once a day pain med.

It’s been a rough couple of days for Izzy.  The pain got ahead of her Tuesday night so that was rough. We had an appt with her dr on Wednesday and she got her bandages changed. I wasn’t prepared for the size of the incision but I was surprised by how normal her new tripawd body seems to me. Maybe it’s just that I love her so much. While the bandages were being changed the dr gave her an injection of pain killer which helped her a lot although it did knock her out for the rest of the day and night. Everything looked normal with her, no fever, no seroma, but no poo the either. She has until tomorrow to poo on her own or the dr will send something home to help her. We are also on day 2 of her not wanting to eat which is making it difficult to give meds. But she is resting comfortably and healing.

Izzy’s surgery was five days ago, and were waiting for a poo. She is very tired today and we all overslept so we are late on her pain meds schedule and she woke up crying. She was awake until 3 am and the pain meds seem to make her pant heavier than usual, which make me worry so there is no sleep happening for me until she reaches her pant plateau. Now she has decided to lay in the dirt outside and she isn’t moving anywhere. Have I mentioned that Izzy is stubborn, even by St. Bernard standards. so she is laying in the dirt, outside, and still no poo. She had pumpkin with her dinner yesterday so I’m hoping. And it’s warm outside so I’m going to let her be where she wants for now ( it’s not like I can do anything about it right) and hope she decides to come in before she gets too knocked out by her meds. The only problem is that if I don’t watch her I’m not going to know if she poops and she won’t usually poo with an audience. So I’m playing lookie loo out the windows hoping for some puppy poo ( and that’s something I never thought I would be saying) and for her to come inside on her own and I’m hoping for a nap too!

What a day! I’m not sure how you lose a 120lb dog but I did it .twice today. One minute she is sleeping so I drift off next to her, the next she has wandered off somewhere and I have to go hunt her down. But on the bright side she is moving pretty good. Until I try to get her to go to the bathroom, then she becomes dead weight that we have to lift out to the backyard and lay her in the grass. She sure does know how to work it! Lol  she prefers to lay on the floor and on the side she had her surgery on rather than any of the dog beds something her daddy gets concerned about but I’m pretty sure if it hurts she will roll over and get onto a bed. Izzy is just amazing us. And I’m doing pretty good at letting her find her own way around and not helping her too much. I’m more concerned with how her pain meds are affecting her balance right now and I’m sure she get more mobile as she needs less pain management, right now I’m keeping to her maximum schedule for them since it’s only about 48 hours post op. Rome wasn’t built in a day after all. I am so grateful that her recovery is going so well so far and staying optimistic that the trend will continue. Although I sure am regretting that I haven’t made it to the gym in a couple of months because hauling a huge dog around ain’t easy on the muscles!😁

Well yesterday went better than I had hoped for. The vet called several times with updates and Izzy did just fine although they did keep her sedated and out of it throughout the day and night. Today we got to go visit and it went dso much better than I had feared. I had tried to visualize how she would look on three legs but it was still a bit of a shock. This was probably because she was still getting her legs under her and fell down trying to get to us as fast as she could. Once we had her in our arms though all was right in our world. It was just so wonderful to be able to snuggle in the sunshine with our baby girl.

Once we got her harness on her and fed her some well deserved chicken nuggets she was ready to go and go and go! She took off for the fence in the courtyard and wanted nothing except out of there.

we stayed with her for a couple of hours until it was time for more meds then carried/dragged her back inside to her kennel. She really didn’t want to go. The hardest part was leaving her again and when she tried to get up on her own so she could follow. I wanted to take her home today so badly. But the dr called this evening and said she is doing great and can come home tomorrow morning. So the house is ready. We made a new memory foam bed for her in the living room another one in the bedroom and one more in the kitchen. Rugs taped down over the floors and everything we can think go to make recovery easier for her done. Can’t wait to bring our girl home!

im not expecting this to be easy, but I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as the anticipation leading up to surgery. I know there will be ups and downs good days and bad days but today was a good day and I’m grateful  for it.