Waiting is the Hardest Part

Today I dropped off Xanadu at 8:00 am, expecting to hear about his recovery by about 3:00 or so.  Instead, at 3:00 I received a call from a nurse, and was informed that due to a few unexpected emergency surgeries, Xanadu’s amputation was put off and he had not even started yet and wouldn’t start for at least an hour.  I was surprised by this news; and felt terrible that Xan hadn’t eaten since 11pm last night and had gone without his usual 6-8 hour dosage of tramadol and 12 hour dosage of rimadyl and gabapentin, all day long.  To think of him waiting all that time not knowing why he was there was heartbreaking.

At 4:15pm, I received a second call informing me that he had been anesthesized and was being shaved and I would hear from Dr. Staatz in about two hours.  By 6:30, I started getting nervous.  By 7:00, I was jumpy and had butterflies.   At 7:15, the phone rang and I nearly jumped out of my skin.  It was Dr. Staatz – Xanadu had made it through the surgery just fine and was in recovery! Hooray!!  After some post-surgery acupuncture, Xanadu is now resting comfortably with a fentynal drip.

The hardest part of today was waiting for news.  I was totally comfortable dropping him off and I felt good about the decision to amputate, but at 12-1/2, Xan is no spring chicken.  I just wanted to know that he made it through the surgery.  I heard from the nurse around 10:15 tonight with an update.  Xanadu is very groggy, but is awake and has opened his eyes to acknowledge those who pet him.  I’ll call for an update in the morning and he will likely come home tomorrow afternoon.

Now for the recovery….