SuperSICK.....
Hi Everybuddy, sorry I've been away. My small surgery wound from last Tuesday got bad buggies in them, and I got SuperSICK on Thursday. I had fever that was over 40 C (104 F), I couldn't even lift my head up. Mum rushed me to the emergency Thursday night and I spent two nights there. My Auntie Janice went away for a month, and then the clinic was closed for Bun Bun Holiday, so I had to stay at the emergency clinic.
Mum came to visit me Friday morning. The vets at the emergency clinic told mum I would not eat, so mum brought me a Rotisserie Chicken, and something else!!
(mum: She was feeling pretty crummy then... didn't really respond to seeing me or Meatball. I later found out she was on heavy sedation as well. Her surgical incision had to be partially opened up to drain the puss out. It was very red, swollen, and hot to the touch.)
Mum got really sad about her SuperDALE being sick, so she came home and updated her Facebook. That was when all the healing vibes, AireZENS, Wirey kissies, power of the paws, and prayers started to hit me, and I decided I HAD to get better!!
Friday evening, mum came to visit me again, she brought me din din, as well as breakie for them to feed me Saturday morning. She also brought me my Truman,
My wound was less red, but still very swollen with drainage,
Mum said goodnight to me and went home,
Next morning (Saturday), I woke up and I TOLD the people at the hospital to GO GET MY MUM, I WANT TO GO HOME! So they called mum to come get me. Mum was very happy because she thought I was feeling good enough to be voicing my opinion.
Little did she know, they had given me a drug to make me sleep because they said I was "upsetting the kitties". So when mum came to pick me up, I could barely stand.
(mum: to make a long story short, our experience at this emergency clinic has been a nightmare. So many things happened that should not have at this clinic. The last straw was when they sedated Sunshade without my authorization, and never said anything to me until I asked why she could barely stand. The sedation drug carries serious, potential life threatening side effects. It was very ignorant and irresponsible for the emergency vets to dose Sunshade, a 12.5 yr old who had never had this drug before. Not only that, they dosed her every 4-6 hours during the 36 hour stay she had with them. When they brought Sunshade out to me, she could barely stand, nevermind walk. I had to carry her from the clinic to my car. Once we got home, I could not get her out of the car for the longest time because she was just flat splayed out in the car.)
Once we got home, and just slept for hours and hours,
Mum noticed that my leggie was swollen too, so she got worried and called my Auntie Jen (mum: vet tech). Auntie Jen got worried too so she wanted to see me as all of the vets were not reachable. Even though MY clinic was closed over the Bun Bun Holiday, Auntie Jen said to meet her there and she would open the clinic for me to get checked out.
She shaved my swollen leggie to have a look at the swelling,
That's some infection to cause swelling down my leggie too,
Auntie Jen did hydrotherapy on my wound and leggie, gave me pain meds (mum: because the pain med the Emergency clinic gave was contraindicated for Sunshade's health conditions!!), stuff to clean my open wound, and she put another catheter in for me so mum could continue to flush my system with all the drugs I was pumped with.
We came home and set up home IV, and I continued to drift into hours of deep sleep... I didn't want food or water. Not even pepperoni sticks!!
Sunday went by pretty much the same with me being on IV and sleeping, not eating or drinking....
However, I'm a very lucky gurrrrrl! My Facebook/blog fans and mum's friends, Facebook friends were all so incredibly nice. Day after day, they continued to send me prayers and healing vibes. The medical/health professionals offered advise and directions for mum. Last but not least, my little fans drew me get well pictures!!!
This is from Marisa, look at the happy colours :-) I'm wearing the flower headband that Marisa's mommy made for ME!!
This one is from Mila! Do you see what Meatball is saying beside me??
Sooooo after all the prayers from all over the world, I thought I better start to get better and WAKE UP today!
At first, I was having a hard time waking up... but I refused to go into the x-pen, so mum let me stayed out and put the IV beside me, (mum: She was still pretty weak and couldn't really move on her own without help.)
Then I decided I had had enough of the dog beds, I wanted MY queen size bed!! I shared with D-Guy considering he was up until 5am looking after me and the IV so mum could sleep some,
Then I moved to MY SuperBEAN-BAG,
Then to the cool hardwood floor,
And then....
I WOKE UP!!! (mum: today was the first time in days that I actually saw glimpse of my girl through those eyes. I was so happy to see "Sunshade".)
I still didn't want to eat though... So armed with all the wonderful suggestions mum got from Facebook, she left home to go buy food to make me yummies!!
Well, as soon as she left, I told D-Guy let's go let's go!! Let's go shop at Bosley's before the worry woman comes back!! So I took D-Guy to Bosley's, got a small chewy, ate it, and then, I POOOOOOO'd!! (mum: She hadn't pooed since Friday...)
On the way home, mum drove by us as she was coming home. She stopped the car, I spotted her, and trotted over to say HI!!! (mum: first time since Thursday night that she actually reacted upon seeing me :-)
Once I got home, I asked mum what should we do next??
How 'bout some foodies?
Mum said let's send a video message to all our worried friends, so we made a video!
(mum: it was so strange! It was like I came home to a complete different dog. She was 80% back to normal, wanting to eat and acting more like the cheeky Sunshade I know. Maybe it was my worried energy that put her off afterall.)
Evil-mum then said I had to go back to the x-pen to continue IV. She wouldn't let me stay out to do IV anymore because I was moving too much. Is this how you treat an extremely ill patient that finally came around???
I said I want OUT!
Alright... I guess it's ok if you come in with me then...
Mum showed me all the wonderful messages and comments our friends have left us on her Facebook page,
Oh look, Auntie Sue wrote something! Dr. Finley too just wrote something, and Auntie Ellen just tagged mum's name! (mum: she was watching the rolling feeds LOL!)
There's that handsome Trapper's head profile... he's going going and gone...
People were sure worried about me weren't they mum???
Well, I'm SuperBACK!!! I'm working on my thank you note here. There are so many people that wrote us privately, and/or on Facebook. Thank you SO much. I am typing as fast as my SuperTOES would let me, I will get back to all of you :-)
(mum: I just can't say enough THANK YOU's! The out pouring love, concern and support we received during this difficult time have been astounding. I can't tell you how many people I have never heard before messaged me to send their get well wishes to Sunshade. I also can't believe how many family members and friends of our FB friends got involved and asked for Sunshade's update everyday. It really is amazing how much we care about one another, and their animals and yet most of us have never met before! This truly is a special group of people, and I'm honoured to be part of.
Special thanks to Nhi and her family for being there every step of the way, offering emotional and medical support for me and Sunshade. We are forever indebted to you. I also want to thank our amazing vet tech Jen for stepping up when none of the vets were reachable. She took the time out of her Easter break to open up the clinic to make sure Sunshade was doing ok, and that she was comfortable.
As far as Sunshade's wound is concerned, it is now being treated as an open wound, or healing by second intention. It won't be sewn up as we need the infection to be healed inside out. Even though this all started out very scary with Sunshade being almost none responsive, I am hopeful that she will make a full recovery.
Lastly, the little black growth that started all this turned out to be a very very benign skin tag. So yes, I am kicking myself for insisting on a margin surgery and now Sunshade is paying the price.... Please continue to keep Sunshade in your prayers (I know you will :-)).
We feel terrible that we've put a damper on many people's Easter Holidays, but all your words of comfort have been a tremendous help me during this difficult time. So THANK YOU all again!!)