I've been remiss in following up with the vet visit but before I go on to describe it and the day, please let me thank the Lord for my vet. and for the great staff at her clinic and to my Lord, praise be goes to Him for Mack's healthy stitches inside his mouth!
It was the most amazing thing to see and I was thrilled that she let me observe the procedure, even though I was a bit scared about it all. The inside looked as good as the outside, even better. They had to put him out but they used half the dose they normally do which meant that he was going to come out of it pretty fast so I went in and she opened up his mouth, tested the area in the back of his mouth and said it was just a fold of gum they used to close the area. The stitches were all in tact and he had pink gums going all the way from the front to the very back of his mouth, as healthy as can be. What a relief. He started to wake up and move around and his little feet were moving like he was swimming or walking along. The vet. said he would do that for a short time but that if I kept him in my lap and wrapped him up, he'd gradually come to. It was scary in that you want him to be awake right away and not have his head loll to one side or appear as if he wasn't breathing. But we sat there for about a half hour and suddenly he lifted his head and started sitting up. He turned his head towards me and looked as if he was trying to say how did you get here? It was pretty funny. He really was in shock that it was me holding him when it was someone else just a minute ago for him. He was ready to go by the time we left there with more antibiotics and a substance to put on his food that will aide in healing and immunity building.
Finally we came home and he ate something about an hour later and that was good since his appetite has been great. He gobbled his food down and took his pills and he was good to go. We're not sure what he is hearing but it turns out that at times he appears to hear some things, but not all. We are testing him with whistles and he acts like he hears and then just today which is one day after the vet. had him out, I was telling him to sit in a normal voice and sure enough he did it...so this is a mystery to us. Perhaps the hearing will return, perhaps it is due to fluid in the ears, the fact that he has swelling in his ears and jaw and just recovery from all of the medications. I was loathe to keep giving him the NSAIDS since that can effect hearing as well, so we stopped those and will give them to him as needed since that is what the original vet. said to do. Those were in the orders we took home with us and we just feel that maybe seeing how he does without the pain medication will give us an idea of when he may exhibit pain or not. If we can gauge it from his behavior we'll know when to give it to him and not just give him pain medication every day. The vets at the university said their goal was not to have Mack on any pain medications at all and to stop them when we felt he was doing better and we think he is doing better. Our vet here wanted us to continue giving them for the inflammation but it's been nearly a week now and from what we can see there isn't a ton of swelling in his face or his jaw, so we decided to hold off on the pain medication for a while. It can be rough on his stomach and if we ever need it to work we don't want him to become inured to it. They can build up a tolerance to the pain medications just like we can so it was a decision that both Bob and I felt we could make safely since the other vets thought he could go without them within a week. I think once the stitches are out any pain he has will not be due to the surgical site. He might have pain from his knee and being older but not a chronic pain like he probably had with a tumor in his mouth.
We are thrilled he is doing so well but we are also very guarded about his future but we are with him and he is with us and that is what matters most. The best Christmas present I got this year is having him home with us. That is what a great gift is all about, the gift of life.
One little dog's life and I feel blessed. Thank you Lord again for my little Mack. He is a wonder and a trouper and all these things wrapped up with a bow!
Merry Christmas little Diggie Dog, you go boy!
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