Oh July....

I am OVER you already!

And it's only July 8th!!!

But wait- for once it's not because I am counting down until the end of deployment.  (Although that might be a teeny part of it...)

This month is already the most stressful month so far since my darling dearest left.  

This deployment- for the most part- has been smooth sailing.  

Except for one 85 pound thing. 

For some reason, I had myself convinced that this whole surgery thing would be cake.  I mean, how bad can it really be?

HA!!!

My mom was nice enough to come down to help me out.  Thankfully I had come to my senses and realized that, as stubborn as I am, and as much as I would LOVE to prove to myself that I can do ANYTHING..... it would probably be a good idea to have her here for help. 

After the surgery, my mom literally held my poor dog down in the backseat of my car, for the entire 2 hour trip home.  (Thanks VDOT for having construction on 95 north at 4:30 in the afternoon!) Mocha cried and whimpered and whined because she was just in so much pain.  When we got back home, we couldn't even get her out of my car.  Luckily, my wonderful neighbor came over and got her out for us.  I have no idea what we would have done if he weren't sitting on his porch!  We immediately put her in her crate and gave her the meds that were prescribed.  She cried and whine for another 2 hours, before finally falling asleep.

I was pretty much on the verge of a complete and utter meltdown.  I felt like the worst person in the world, and was confident the dog would hate me forever for doing this to her.  

Turns out that Thursday night was the worst of it.  By Friday afternoon, she was starting to perk up and eat a little bit here and there.  I thought that it would all be smooth sailing from there.

My mom left to go home to PA Wednesday when I left for work.  I should have known that military wives' Murphy's Law would kick in as soon as she left.  I really don't know why I was so surprised that everything went straight to hell.  I should have expected it really!

I got home from work, took the pup out, and noticed some blood coming out of her.  Seriously?!  So I called the vet who did the surgery, and she said that she was concerned, and suggested that I take her to our regular vet in the AM.  Well, there was NO way I was waiting until the morning to take her to the vet.  There was something wrong with her NOW, and so off to the emergency vet we went.

Now, please keep in mind, my dog is not supposed to be putting any sort of weight on her leg, or jumping and moving it suddenly.  I have an SUV.  I had to lift my dog into the car by myself.  I think sheer panic and adrenaline kicked in- because somehow I managed to do that-twice! 

We arrived at the emergency vet as soon as they opened.  The vet there explained that the painkiller she had been given can cause GI tract irritation, and bleeding, so that was what it was from.  I'm just so thankful that's all it was!  We were prescribed a 3rd antibiotic, and sent on our merry way.

Enter the longest night ever.  Since I was completely freaked out that something would happen to her in the middle of the night, I slept on the couch downstairs with her.  I was awake at 1am, 4am, 5:30am, and then finally at 6:30 when my alarm went off.  I have never heard such grumblings coming out of a dog's stomach. 

I can't complain much though.  She is already back to normal, and recovering quite well from her surgery.  So really, if this is the worst I have to deal with, I will take it.

At least things can only get better from here!!