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Wednesday 2 January 2013

The First Week After Amputation ! Part 4

            If you haven't gone through an amputation, then these posts may help you, which hopefully is the case as its the reason, behind starting this Blog in the First Place. On the other hand if you have been through this,  then you will probably recognise what I'm talking about, and will be  laughing at a lot of the Garbled Messages, that I'm trying to put over to you all  :) 

         You may also have advice on how you coped the first week, and if you have tips on things that I haven't covered, then please contact me or post a comment, on the bottom of this Posting. Then maybe together we will be able to help others, who are attempting to deal with an Amputation for one reason or another.  That is the soul purpose of these posts, and if you enjoy or laugh at my story telling along the way then that is also a added bonus :D 


       Laughter is how I coped with the Most Scary of Times :D


               Getting back to the task in hand, I will continue with Fizzly's tale ! When I had left my children cuddling my Fizzle's.  I had removed myself into the kitchen, as I the enormity of everything suddenly hit me ....... This will happen and when it does as I said before,  please try to do it away, from your beloved pet and children,  as both will react badly to seeing their Mummies as an emotional wreck ! 

         So I gave myself a pep talk, dried my eye's, and I hopefully managed to hide my emotions from my Children, though probably couldn't hide it from my Fizzle's, as she was always more aware of everything regarding all things me.  But to her credit she looked up at me,  as I walked back into her room with nothing more, than a cheeky smile and a wiggly tail ! The children looked up from their snuggling positions, and sat up ready for our next move ....... Whatever that was :)

         You will find that you are running on almost a fog~like state for this first few days and indeed weeks .... especially if like Fizz and I, you have the added bonus of a Cancer reason behind your dogs leg removal but we will leave that for another day ! In my last post I mentioned that your pets toilet needs, play a big part in an stress free first week, and as I stated before its something that ,I had not even contemplated before the moment she actually arrived home !!   

         But right at this moment her toilet needs needed dealing with because, it was time for my Fizzle's to answer the call of nature if you know what I mean  :)  I think the problem with my Fizzly was that she almost never answered the call, with me holding her on a lead ?? When we went out walking she would very rarely stop, to do anything other, than trying to give kisses, to every child or agreeing adult on any of our walks, so going while on a lead was alien to her ! 

         I got the lead and immediately she started trying to get up and off her bed, luckily Ben managed to grab her collar, and slow this totally invincible Rottweiler down ! I told Emma to put her Cot Bumper under her tummy, and I think that getting up without an amputated front leg is probably easier.  But then on the down side I think an Amputated back leg, its more difficult to go to the loo so, its swings and roundabouts as everything in life always is !

        This roundabout world was all about me getting my Fatty up safe and sound, so Cot Bumper in place and one child either side we managed to get her standing ! Personally I think Fizzly was showing off, as she had the cheesiest grin and kept looking side to side, as If to get her babies total awe and applause. My Fizzly would have jumped through fire, to get to either of these children, but at the moment I was just happy to get her standing  :) 

                   Fizzly Standing for her Baby Emma <3 


           So the 4 of us ventured into the Garden like a strange sort of Chain gang, with the children either side we went onto our carpeted deck ! Fizz kept trying to go down by the pond, where she would normally go, but I had fenced it off as I was scared she would fall into the pond, or be unable  to turn herself around safely !! Every time she circled around she would try to go down the pathway, and we would say nope she would give us this disgusted look !

          We stayed there for ages, even getting the other dogs to go in front of her, she refused to do anything ...... You will find that your dog will get exhausted very quickly which is totally understandable and expected so when Fizzly started trying to lie down I said she obviously didn't want to go and we turned around to go back to bed ! While the children held her I made her bed comfy again, and then slowly got her into her bed. 

          I went to get her Dinner and Pills the kids stayed with her in case, she chewed her stitches or did something equally stupid !! I stayed with her holding her food bowl lower than her head, so she could eat it easier as this is another thing most dogs eat standing, so even this is a change for them.  Its also a part where temperament come's into play,  because I wouldn't fancy holding a food bowl for a Food Aggressive Rottweiler ! 

        We were very lucky with Fizzle's because she wasn't aggressive, but most importantly she was a total pig when it came to food, so not eating after the operation was not a problem. Neither were the pill taking, which I know a lot of people find an issue after such a huge operation, we didn't have this problem as long as we squished something around the pill tightly, otherwise she would roll it around in her mouth, eat the goodies and spit out the pills !! So cheese , Pate even Bread worked with our Piggy Wiggy !



         So once she had eaten her dinner and pills, I made her as comfy as I possibly could and then, attached her delightful flower pot much to her total disgust !!! I spent the rest of the evening checking in on her every so often ........ until I was told that she wouldn't settle if I kept going in and out of her room and she would then never fall asleep ! 

This is something that is the hardest to appreciate and act on..... 


         No matter how well meaning you intend to be, bothering and fussing your dog will actually cause them more stress, than treating them as you would have before the operation ! They also actually need time to get things sorted in their own heads, if they were human they could be talked to and things could be explained but as they are not human ....... no matter how much you believe your dog is human !!! They are not and so they need quiet times to recover. 

          So this is the important message of this posting ..... Let your dog have a chance to emotionally recover, and I'm afraid this means that they don't want you fussing, and puffing up cushions. Believe me I know how difficult this is, I'm a total fusser and Puffer, and I want things to feel better and recover quickly ! but this is not what your dog needs they need quiet and for things to be as normal as possible. I found this the hardest lesson to learn, in this whole scary process of Cancer and Amputation, and one I hope you will understand.

        I had to learn that being normal or acting normal ( As Normal as I ever act :D ) is one of the most important parts of having a dog with an amputation. I didn't want to leave Fizzly alone for a second, and I had planned to sleep with her that night, and I would have done it ......... until I was made to understand that Fizzly was actually unsettled, by me coming and going into her room every few minutes, and this mean't that I would actually awake her every time I checked in on her. 

       I had the best intentions and all I wanted was for her to know, that she was loved and I was just making sure, that she hadn't fallen the 2 inches off her bed,  or drowned in her 5 inch deep Water Bowl or .............
               

God Knows what else ....... but it could have happened !!!!!  

       
       I just wanted Fizz to be ok and I was so scared that she was scared, or she would be hurting or worried, that I forgot the basic's of Dog welfare and the basic animal instincts ! The main one being treat them with a calm, and stable emotional attitude and let them be DOG ! Dogs need time to adjust but more importantly they need time to Sleep, and I mean really sleep, not the unbroken Mummies coming into my room sleeps ......... 

       But the real sleep of My Mummy is not scared or worried, she is leaving me to settle down as normal, and so everything must really be ok with me. Otherwise she would be coming in and out of my room, poking me like she would her first baby, when they have actually got to sleep after hours of crying !!! and then promptly poked them to see if they are ok !! Now all of us with Children will have done that one,  at least once in our child's lifetime !!

      Luckily for me I had a husband who understands, how emotionally tied I am to my Pets, and he allows my slightly, or Total Madness as just a normal day in the life of Zena  :)  But he had obviously thought,  that I wouldn't want to leave my Lil Baby Fizzle's alone that first night ..... but he also appreciated that Fizz would need her sleep !! So he had gone up into the attic and got the Baby Monitor down,  and had set it up in Fizzly's room and our bedroom, so I would be able to listen in on my Fatty, but also allow Fatty the chance to rest.

       So my hardest part of Fizzly's Cancer/Amputation Start was this first night and its one even after her passing that I still remember the feeling ! The knowledge that actually ignoring your dog, for the first night home, will allow your dog the chance to adjust, Calm Down, Heal and most importantly SLEEP,  and then the true Battle can follow and we all win battles Easier, when we have a good nights sleep <3 

                  Fizzly with Ben and Mitzi Moogle's <3


    

         













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