To the ANGELS on Earth
who helped Heal Pheona;
Pheona got through
surgery well. She had an epidural to block the pain and "the plan"
was for her to spend the night at the hospital but she came home last night
around 9 pm. She was able to walk some and was so anxious about being away from
us the surgeon thought being home would be better after all. They called us as
we were heading up for visiting hours to ask if we would be OK bringing her
home after our visit. We got a wagon for her to ride in and she rode all the
way, except for the last 2 blocks. She did a little potty and walked home like
she was in a hurry. We had to slow her down because she was still so unsteady!
I am sure she just wanted to make sure we weren't heading back to the hospital!
They left a bit of nub
and she has a lot of stitches. They didn't go into her rectal wall, as doing
that would leave her fecally incontinent but it also increases the risk of not
getting all of the cancer cells. They basically said a fecally incontinent dog
has no quality of life because the pooh starts to burn their skin and causes
health issues. It could also be a health hazard to humans to have pooh
everywhere. Since coming home she has had a little trouble holding it, a few
small "turdles" have escaped but most likely because that area is
still numb from the epidural. She is able to hold most of it until she gets
outside and it should get better within a few days.
She doesn't seem to be
in unbearable pain, but she is obviously not feeling the best. They have her on
a morphine patch for 3 days and she also has some morphine-like pain pills. The
poor thing is pretty doped up, but I am glad she seems to be fairly
comfortable. I had been so focused on raising the money for surgery I hadn't
thought much about how much pain she would be in after. She has only cried a
little, mostly to let us know she wanted help up on the bed or to go out.
Luckily she is so well
behaved she doesn't need the "cone of shame", at least not so far.
She wanted to lick at her bum once but we told her no and she listened. When
she is less medicated we might have to put it on, but for now she is happy to
just rest. I have a feeling she is going to be her old self in no time! Doctor
has her on restriction for 2 weeks and we are sticking to that, even if she
seems to feel good.
We will hear in a few
days what the biopsy results say about the grade and stage of the tumor.
Because of the location they used the kind of sutures that need to be removed
and plan to leave them in a little longer than usual. She will be seeing them
for a recheck and suture removal in about 3 weeks. Since the oncologist and
surgeon said to wait a few weeks to do her vaccinations we have an appointment
for around the same time to get her up to date with them too. The oncologist
said that since one is a rabies vax, which is required by law, they can give me
a "note" that excuses Pheo until she is more healed. Hopefully by the
time she can get her vaccines she is feeling her peppy old self again!
I am blown away by the
outpouring of love that has been washing over us for several weeks now,
especially from our local community. I hope the future holds something very
special for everyone who donated, shared and cheered for us, you are amazing.
Thank you all again, so very much. Pheona is going to be OK and be with me for
many more years now, thanks to wonderful people like you. We literally owe you
her life. There are just no words to express my gratitude. Thank you from us
both.
Love,
Julie and Pheona the
tail-less wonder dog!
P.S. The gofundme site
is continuing to run a “stretch goal” as we still need help with some supplies,
her aftercare and upcoming routine maintenance issues like the vaccines. <3
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| The bumbum still has a bit of a tail nub. The stitches aren't visible in this one but they are a straight horizontal line between the tail nub and her anus. |
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| Really wasted when we picked her up but she was able to walk about 2 blocks. She really hated the wagon, I'm surprised she rode for as long as she did. |
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