RIP My Sweet Missy

News was good.  I heard from the vet assistant about 3:30 that she was out of surgery and waking up.  Breathing a sigh of relief as I headed up to Bothell for dinner with Char.  Got a voicemail when Jon the vet was leaving for the day at 6:45, that her blood pressure was up and color was good he was heading home and would update me in the morning.

Then the call an hour later with the bad news.  Jon didn’t even get home when one of the techs called to say her breathing was very labored.  He turned around, by the time he got back they had intubated her and were doing CPR,  she did not make it.

There is no known reason tonight.  It feels raw and wrong.  At least I was trying, I opted for the surgery to give her more time and what I thought would be quality life.  I didn’t know when I dropped her off this morning that I wouldn’t be bringing her home.

Thank you random crackhouse pit bulls

Missy is at the vet.  Today is the day her front passenger side leg is being removed.  I should have a call around noon with the update on how things went.

Her vet received two pit bulls last Friday from a crack house.  They were there to be put down and had no owners.  He was able to “practice” this surgery twice on the cadavers over the last three days and he was feeling more confident than ever.  He is sure he can cut the surgery time down simply because of the practice.

He is taking the whole scapula and she will look quite Frankensteiny for a bit.  I have decided to not send the limb off to pathology to confirm the cancer.  It is not like I would do chemo anyway so we will just go with the amputaion and hope that its curative and that we get lots more time together.

Forty-Seven

What a fun birthday.  The weekend was a perfect mix of friends, fun and alone time.

I woke up this morning to tons of birthday texts and emails.  I had received a bunch of cards already.  Dale gave me a yoga gift certificate.  Katherine and I finalized Hawaii plans for April, and when I got to work my cube was decorated….  Streamers, cards, notes all over my white board, chocolate.

Turning 47 wasn’t so bad, I am going to dinner with friends tonight.  Life is blessed, sometimes very hard, but still blessed.

Sad state for Missy

Missy went to the vet on Friday.  It was supposed to be just for blood work before her surgery however the splint on her leg had caused a big sore.  They kept her all day, put her under shortened the splint and sent her home with a cone of shame.  I can tell from her panting and pain level that this splint being shortened is not supporting the break as well…..or who knows something worse.

Needless to say she was pretty low-key all weekend and stuck to me like glue, often running into me with the damn cone.  Also running into the wall or the side of the door (had to start opening up the slider the entire way) as she is not used to the cone being on her head.

There was hand feeding and such just to get her to eat.  Very sad, very frustrating.  Katherine brought an inflatable donut that Sophie uses, softer sides not as over the face but Missy can still kind of get to the wound.  I ended up using both, one for during the day and the donut at night so she can sleep.

Tuesday she goes in early for the fentanyl patch, at least then the pain will be addressed before the amputation on Wednesday.