Wednesday, August 26, 2009

What a surprise!


I can't stop with the !!! We are ecstatic about how well Dixie is doing today. When we got to the hospital, they let us visit with her. I couldn't believe my eyes. She was standing in her kennel! When we opened the door, she tried to escape. She's like, "Let's bounce!" She was still vocalizing a lot, but probably just because she was happy to see us. The doctor show us how she can walk and go potty. It's really amazing.

The vet is pretty convinced that all her vocalizing and crying was due to dysphoria from the morphin-type of drugs she had been getting intravenously. Dysphoria is an extreme mood change such due to trauma that can bring on sadness, anxiety, depression, irritability or restlessness. The vet believes she doesn't react well with such intense drugs and she was totally confused and freaked out. They don't believe her crying necessarily had to do with pain. She was basically have a really bad trip.

Then we took her from the ER to our vet, with a little McDonald's on the way. She liked that. I did too. They removed the bandage and say it's all healing nicely. There is minimal bruising. They gave her a shot of Rimadyl before we left and ordered us back on Friday to check her drain, or remove it. (On a side note, the doctor at the hospital and our regular vet went to veterinary school together in Fort Collins, CO. That was pretty cool.)

Right now she's passed out in an old Land Rover shirt of Adam's. She can get in and out of the car, walk, pee, lay down. It's amazing. Outside she saw a lizard and tried to take off to chase it, but she was on the leash. In time, I'm sure she'll be after bunnies and lizards like before.

Today has brought on a huge sigh of relief. Dixie is such a strong-willed dog. She's going to kick butt as a tripawd! I'm so happy to share this experience with everyone. We love you all, and Dixie loves you too. Come by this weekend and visit with us!

PS: Our stupid A/C still isn't working! It's 88 in here right now. We have all the fans going at full speed. Adam broke down and called the repair guy. We hope it isn't too pricey. We've spent a lot of $$$ in the past 24 hours!

2 comments:

kimmylouwho said...

I'm whistling "Dixie" right now cuz I am so happy!

Kristin Brown said...

Hey guys, wow I'm so sorry to hear about all this happening to your family. I read the blog and am really glad to see Dixie is doing so well. If it's any consolation, I've been working with a lot of people post-amputation lately, and it really is remarkable what the body can do in response to a surgery like that. And since I can't differentiate dogs from people, I think that applies! I'm sure she'll be back to her normal self in no time!

We've also had our share of bad puppy news this past year, as Kaia has developed some hip dysplasia. He's doing okay for now, but the vet warned he'll need a double hip replacement in upcoming years (read-big$$$).

Anyway, Ryan, Race, Kaia and I have you guys in our thoughts, and we hope the best for Dixie!!
-Kristin