Knee Surgery: January 4

It was officially time for the dreaded ACL surgery. Emmie was used to her visits to the vet but she didn’t know what was in store for her (neither did I). I dropped her off early in the morning for the surgery date and overnight stay. I was really starting to feel that she had been dealt an unfair hand. Chemo & Knee surgery – it was too much! Venting aside, negativity wasn’t going to get me anywhere. My girl is tough and I knew she would do well. Thankfully, later in the day, I got a full post-surgery report from the vet. All went well but in addition to the Extracapsular Stabilization they also repaired a tear in her cartilage. Knowing that she was well medicated & cared for I didn’t mind leaving her in the vet overnight.

I was able to pick her up late on January 5th. I was anxious to see her and knew she was ready to be home. When she came out of the back room she looked rough, pathetic is a better term. Her entire back leg was shaved in addition to a patch above her tail and on her front leg. She was clearly in pain and didn’t give me any trouble when I carried her out to the car. As many of you know, aside from the occasional not eating, Emmie is a go with the flow kind of dog. She was far from herself after the surgery and I was feeling so bad for putting her through this. I was hopeful it would be fine in the long run but was doubting my decision to do surgery now rather than wait until post-chemo. Once home, she was very slow going but thanks to the pain meds she started gradually moving around. Our vet schedule was about to get busier as we added in the rehabilitation appointments. Water treadmill, fun!