Beginning Week Five

It has been four weeks and two days since the leg surgery. The stitches have been removed and the cone has been off for two weeks, The surgical wound is fully healed. Her leg is better now than it was that fateful day back in March when she pulled up lame in front of her vet's office. She walks without a limp, and is ready to run and play like the old days. Unfortunately, we still have two months of "no running, no jumping" to go.

I have been surprised, however. by how well she has adapted to this new new normal - new normals have been coming at us with increasing rapidity. Just this morning, when I was getting ready to turn her back toward home, she turned herself and trotted happily in that direction.

I reckon that the old days of two and a half hour walks are gone forever. Maybe it's harder on me than it is on her. I like to walk. I also need the exercise. I'm turning into a big old toad.

Another New Normal

Post-surgery Grace has taken some getting used to. No running, no jumping, short walks on a short leash, anti inflammatory and antibiotic meds twice a day, pain meds three times a day. Ice packs on the leg followed by physical therapy. She, of course, is milking it for all it's worth. She sleeps on my side of the bed while I sleep in the recliner. She has refused to eat unless she is hand fed. She whines for no apparent reason while we rack our brains trying to figure out what she wants. Carmen cannot stand the whining, so Grace pours it on when she is home. Pretty good thinking for 'just a dumb animal.'

She is walking pretty well. She limps only slightly, and resists turning back after only three or four minutes, which used to be earlier than her first wee-wee. We have discovered, in fact, that she CAN get all of her business done in less than ten minutes. Who knew?

She is whining now, and I have to stop this foolish waste of time and get back to what matters: doing the bidding of Princess Grace.