Well Sunday September 4th, was day 5 of Mary’s recovery. As you know it was a holiday weekend, and we spent it just relaxing with our girl. We had noticed a little bit of swelling in her front leg on Saturday, but nothing too alarming and we just figured she over worked it, and after she rested it went down a bit. Sunday was a different story. That paw swelled up so big it looked like a bear paw!!! So at 7 pm we drove her to the emergency vet (45 min away) in Tustin. There are closer ones, but they are yucky and they don’t seem to care about your pet. They see dollar signs when you walk in, not a sick patient.
We were really worried! Was it a blood clot? Did she fracture her leg with the added weight and stress? Is it sprained? When we got there we had to wait a bit, but they brought her a bed and everyone was really sweet. When the doctor came in she examined the leg it wasn’t hot or red so it wasnt a blood clot, the bones felt normal so no breaks or fractures. What then? Her compression garment that they put on her after surgery ( that we are constantly adjusting ) was impairing the blood flow! It refuses to stay put! Ladies you can relate if you have ever worn nylons! Anyways, after some ingenuity and cutting we were able to secure it to her collar and cut the arm hole a bit more, to avoid the problem. we are still constantly adjusting it, but the arm hole is much better! Whew… Glad it wasnt as serious as we thought 🙂
If any of you are in southern California I would highly recommend veterinary surgical specialists in Tustin. They were the ones who diagnosed and treated Mary’s cancer. They are Amazing! Especially Mary’s doctor, Dr.Craig she is awesome. The staff there is wonderful, they treated us like we were their only patient. I am sure they must have been annoyed with the hundreds of phone calls we made over the past 2 weeks but they were always kind and helpful, and we never heard any frustration or irritation in their voices. Thank you for that, we had a lot to learn and ask in a week!
A special thank you to Advanced Critical Care in Tustin, for your kindness and concern. You were all so wonderful 🙂
A very special thank you to all of our 3 legged friends and families for your warm words and support 😉
And one last special thank you to our family, you have all been so amazing!
Keep paw-raying,
Mary the big red dog 😉
Hey Mary’s mom–keep this in mind. Unless you paid 59 cents for Mary’s surgery, you’ve already bought and paid for those millions of phone calls! Seriously.
We did not have any kind of compression bandage, but I’m sure poor Mary was feeling all tingly in her toes from the impaired circulation. Glad you got it all worked out. We still need more pictures! She’s a pretty girl and we want to see her!
Shari
Yes I agree 🙂 those calls ended up being about 100.00 a min lol 😉 worth every penny 🙂 I am gonna post new pics today, and a new video prob tomorrow 😉 so stop by soon 😉
Warm wishes Dakota and family 😉
P.s.
Dakota has an amazing smile 🙂
Glad to hear Mary is doing better! And I can second the treatment from Advanced Critical Care in Tustin, we’ve had a few of our dogs there over the years. Most recently Bernie, for eating things he not supposed to! We’re lucky, we live about 8 minutes away from them!
Your really lucky to be close! We have been to a few of the local emergency vets in our area, and let me tell you gross!!! One of them smelled so bad Mary couldn’t even stand it I mean it was filthy!!! And then the other one didn’t even have a doctor… Only vet techs! Their doctor was on call, but only for “emergencies”!!! We were like, ” why else would someone be at an emergency clinic at 1 in the morning?” and then another one for my chihuahua, charged us like 750.00 for benadryl and doggy imodium… I thought that was pretty cool 😉 but advanced was clean and the staff was attentive and caring. They didn’t try to do a bunch of unneeded tests, and really listened. It ended up being just a little bit more than a reg vet visit. That was a plus since we are flat broke after the biopsy, surgery and house preparations!!!
Bernie, This isn’t bizzar foods! If it looks good Don’t eat it !!!
Hope all is well,
Mary the big red dog 🙂
Please consider sharing your recommendations in the Veterinary Specialist Referrals Forum.
Mary, Mary and family,
Thanks for the kind comments earlier and for taking the time to look over Fortis’ blog. It really means a lot to me. I hope within all my ramblings you were able to find some benefit. Although very emotional for me, Fortis’ year as a Tripawd was more amazing and beautiful than I can begin to describe with words. I pray for you and Mary a journey that is as blessed as the one Fortis took me on. Take it slow and cherish each and every moment.
It’s great that you are able to take Mary to such a highly recommended clinic. I’m glad that you got Mary fixed up and that she’s feeling better. Blood Flow is important 😉
Give the Big Red Dog a hug for me. Looking forward to the photos and videos.
Brett and Spirit Fortis