Crap... Crap, Crap, Crap!

This is of course my latest little drama in life, and of course will be continued...

I woke up Friday morning. Got the dogs ready to go for their morning walk. Leashes on and such. I got out the door and realized something was wrong with Buddy- he wasn't using his hind legs so brought him inside and definitely decided something was wrong, called the Veterinary hospital. they said to bring him in ASAP. So I called work and left a message that I would be late and rushed Buddy to the vets'. Dr. Le took a quick look at him and figured he had a slipped disk in his spine, and referred me to a veterinary neurologist to get an MRI. Unfortunately, there isn't one in the immediate area so I had to go to south Tacoma. So off I go to Neurologist's office with a shaken up little dog in the car. Shaken up?  Well not really- Dr. Le had the foresight to give him a shot of morphine first to relax him. Not one for his owner but hey, someone had to drive. Long story short- I got down to the vets in Tacoma- 28 mile trip- and they couldn't have been nicer... the attending vet agreed with Dr. Le's assessment, and said he had already called their neurologist who would see Buddy and give him an MRI, and if it was indeed his disk, surgery. Well you know me... I fall to pieces usually when any of my animals is seriously ill, but this time I held it together long enough to sign the surgery papers and arrange payment (I am thinking of changing Buddy's name because his surgery cost the price of a used car so his new name will probably be Subaru or Mercury). I went in to say good bye to Buddy, took one look at him there in his cage with those sad eyes looking up at me like he was saying not to leave him. Then comes the sad feelings and the tears and my bravdo went away. SO anyway go to work late waiting to hear from the vet's office so they call as I am underneath the cafeteria dishwasher trying to unplug a drain and my cell phone rings. The call came from Dr. Hicks, the neurologist, explaining that Buddy's disk was indeed compressed and his spine was swollen and the surgery would indeed lessen and eleviate the pain and get him on the road to normal again, and he would call me when the surgery was over and let me know how things went. I went and finally took a coffee break and realized I had been running since 10:00 am and hadn't eaten anything or checked my blood sugar or taken my medication at all. Great, I thought, now get yourself sick dumbass. Anyway, Chris one of my co-workers and decided a pizza would be capital for lunch- he went and picked it up, paid for it and everything. So lunchtime comes and I finally ate something and get the call from the Vet- Buddy came through just fine and was resting comfortably. Thank god for Veterinarians and their Techs and Aides I thought because in the midst of this crap day they really did their jobs and kept it (and me) together. And on a brighter note, I visited Buddy Saturday morning and while he was groggy and wearing a "collar of shame" and had his entire back shaved with a nice scar, he came outside the cage to see me, and when it was time to leave, growled at the tech when he put the lead on him to go back into the cage - that's when I knew he was on the way to recovery.

UPDATE-Sunday 9/30-
Just got back from visiting Buddy at the Vet's Hospital in Tacoma- They let me take him out for a walk! There he got to see Romeo, And they said he can probably go home tomorrow!