hope your puppers is doing ok now!!

:hug:

I really hope you've gotten some good news about your baby. Without sounding too condescending, I'm proud of you for staying true to your goals during such an emotionally stressful time. :hug:

I know this feeling all to well. 12 years I have lived here in the country.. My dog is 15. 3 months ago he was attacked by something. It didn't seem that bad at first, but when we got to the vet the next day the news was horrifying. He looked like a cactus with all the drainage for all the wounds and rips and tears he had to have stitched up. Within days he started to smell like rotten meat. It wasn't until one vet appt we found out. He was rotting. 3 surgeries later he had a foot of skin more then a finger width deep removed due to being severely damaged. The nerves under his armpits were damaged and there was no way to tell if he would ever walk again. The prognosis was heartbreaking. I couldn't look at him without crying. For all the pain he was in, all the meds he had to take, all the vet visits he had to go to I thought for sure putting him down would be the best thing for him. My Friend had convinced me it was the best thing and the vet was only greedy in wanting to keep him alive.

Thank god my Vet had faith and my husband had faith when I didn't. 3 months later Jack is 110% normal. The skin and wound he had to have removed is still healing. but now it is less then two fingers in width and length and so far he has absolutely No scaring whatsoever. Jack is truly a Miracle Dog. A saint in dogs clothing. Even the arthritic hip he had has healed with the meds he was on. We change his bandages every 3 days and every 3 days I am amazed by the miracle of healing. I wouldn't have imagined a foot of skin 2 inches thick could heal and grew fur back and never be noticeable. If possible Jack is spunkier then ever and takes his job as guard dog very seriously.

For awhile there he was afraid of the woods and whatever was in there that got him, but now he is as bold as ever.

Animals are amazing at what they can come back from.

Oh my...do we have an update?

Thank you all *SO* much for your encouragement and support - I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me. My DH and I are complete opposites in how we handle stress... I freak out and have a meltdown at the beginning then buckle down and just face things head-on from there on out. He tends to be very calm and controlled but then has the occasional day where the emotions just hit him all at once and he gets withdrawn and depressed. I guess it works in our favor that we both don't go on the emotional rollercoaster at the same time, but all of you are helping so much in keeping my mental state balanced. Thank you.

It's been quite a ride so far with Roxy. We visited her yesterday and she was overjoyed to see us.. I think on top of everything else I was crippled with guilt that we basically came home, saw her for 5 minutes, then "dumped" her at the vet for several days. I was probably projecting more than anything, now that I think about it, but still. Her prognosis so far has been beyond baffling.. the ER docs are amazed that this little bundle of fire and energy didn't just keel over the first night after eating that much gum.

We got our hopes up last night though, one of the night doctors told me that if her glucose level kept holding steady as they weaned her off the drip that she would be able to come home today... they dropped it from 15mg to 10mg and her blood sugar dropped from 98 to 43 within an hour :( 120-130 is normal, anything below 60 is a "Hmmm.." point, < 40 is dangerous and < 30 is critical. In other words, she isn't quite able to hold her own yet, so she's being held another night and they'll reevaluate her tomorrow.

I'm torn between hoping and praying for her to come home and wanting to keep her there for as long as possible - I keep thinking that if we get her back tomorrow, we might come home from work and she'll be unconscious or dead because her sugar level crashed or her liver failed during the day.. ugh. Just trying to think positive and keep my head up for now :/ She'll be having another blood panel done in about 3hrs so we will know more then.

:hug: to all of you!!

Ksquared - OMG poor Jack! I'm so glad that your husband had faith in your vet, that must have been absolutely devastating though. :( I'm so glad he's doing okay now. :hug: And you're right, it really is amazing at what they can bounce back from. I'm counting down because we're coming up on the end of the "critical period" where Roxy's liver is at the most risk, so with any luck she gets through this relatively unscathed. I can handle giving her pills everyday if I have to, I just would die inside if I lost her. Although I think I died inside anyway when the receptionist gave me an additional estimate for the next night's care :tired:

envelope - I've heard of him but haven't listened to any of his stuff before, honestly. I'll have to see what I can find out, right now every little bit of advice helps! Thank you for suggesting him, and congratulations to you and your hubby for being debt-free! I can just imagine how liberating that has to feel! :)



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Edit: Forgot to add.. been staying true to my plan. :) I went to the gym last night with a friend at 8pm, and then tried my first Spin/RPM class today at 11:30..OMG my legs and butt are on FIRE! Even my arms hurt! I didn't think your arms would hurt from a Spin class but that shows you how much I know lol.

I spent the evening cleaning out the fridge and preparing food for the week too to ofset all the back-and-forth to the vet that we may end up doing....made a giant crock-pot of steel cut oats, cleaned out all the limp-but-still-useable (don't you hate those?) veggies in the fridge, tossed them into a big pot of water and then pureed the heck out of it to make a surprisingly tasty soup, and made several batches of southwestern chicken that I portioned and froze as well. So at the very least I have NO excuse to stop at Taco Bell or McDonalds on the way home because I'm "hungry and there's nothing in the fridge to eat". Yay for trying to be proactive! I feel pretty accomplished at least :)

Good luck!!!! Sending you some from PA

Best wishes to little Roxy!! and congrats to you for sticking to your plan! As for the debt...it does suck, but hopefully they will work out a payment plan with you. I'm doing it with 2 hospitals for my husband's accident last October, he'll be paid off in a couple years :devil:

I might start another thread about animal insurance...? as we all love our furbabies so much and money shouldn't be a barrier to treatment.

don't feel sorry for not visiting her. She doesn't understand you are "visiting" and thinks she is going home every time she sees you.

Hope she makes a quick recovery. You posting here may have saved a few dogs lives. I had no idea sugar free gum could kill a dog.

I just wanted to post a quick update - Roxy comes home tonight!!! :cheer::cheer::cheer: The vet said she did get a slight fever spike last night but that's a normal reaction to having had a catheter in for over 72hrs, so they switched legs and gave her a dose of antibiotics, but she's FINE! :D:D:D We'll have to keep her on pills for her liver for a month and her antibiotics for a week but thank god that's all. DH and I have decided to mark 08/01 as her birthday from here on out since she was adopted from a shelter and I have no idea when her birthday is otherwise lol.

THANK YOU for all your support and encouragement. 3FCers are beyond amazing :hug:

Woo hoo! That's beyond great news! Yay, Roxy! And how amazing are you that you stayed on plan all this time? Now come the post-chaotic episode challenge. And I have no doubt you're up for that one as well. =)

Chantelle - That is awesome news!!! I can't even imagine the horror of emotion you went through! I know our little white furball is just like one of our kiddos (3 kids, 1 white furball, lol) and they are helpless just like the kiddos...depending on us for everything. I think calling Aug 1st the new birthday is very fitting!!!! It's the miraculous rebirth! How wonderful?!? Something in your gut told you "danger" and you and your DH followed through... you should feel no guilt, as you were the ones who SAVED that lil pup's life! *hugs* I am so glad to hear it is all going to be ok....and great job staying on plan! That's incredible strength!

I'm so glad your pups is okay!

Im SO glad Roxy gets to come home!! That would terrify me. I have a 10month old furbaby of my own, who is my whole world (well..along with my kids lol) I wouldnt know what to you do..but you are amazing! You handled it and even stayed on plan!! Good for you! So proud of you!!

I'm so glad Roxy is doing well! I know all too well the horror and deep sadness you were feeling. I am so impressed that you handled it all and stayed on plan...I haven't been able to do that when my furbabies have been seriously ill. :hug: to you and :hug: to Roxy.