Today, Thursday, March 15, is the day that we go to pick up our Sasha from the Vet after amputation of her right arm due to osteosarcoma. Liliana and I are feeling many emotions as we get closer to the vet’s office. How will Sasha react when she sees us? How will we feel when first we see our girl with no right arm? The questions pile, one on top of the other, and tears begin to fill Liliana’s eyes. I hope Sasha is happy to see us.
After we review all of the care instructions, receive Sasha’s medications, and pay the bill, we are ready to take Sasha home. Liliana and I follow Dr. Patterson (he fills in for Dr. N. on Thursdays), Shelly and a tech back to where Sasha is being kept. The kennel door is opened, and Sasha looks around nervously. She is probably scared about what might be in store for her next, but our eyes meet. Now she knows that she is going home. As Dr. Patterson and the tech get Sasha out of the kennel, she let out a screech. Her scream makes it abundantly clear that she is in considerable pain, and that we need to be very cautious with her. Like the Stoic American bulldog that Sasha has always been, she ignores her pain and the fact that she is missing a limb, and makes a beeline directly for me. To be completely honest, Sasha was more likely heading for the door to get the heck out of Dodge.
Dr. Patterson helps Sasha walk to the car using a towel under her belly to help stabilize her. It’s time for me to lift her into the back of our Jeep, but I am so scared of hurting her. With my right arm under her belly, and my left hand contorted under her chest to keep as much pressure away from her right side as possible, I hoisted her into the Jeep. I carefully climbed in the back with her so that I could keep her from getting hurt during the short ride home. Sasha is happy to be with her family again, but there is no disguising the fact that she has been through a traumatizing experience. It will take time for her wound to heal, and for her to learn to be a three-legged dog. I will continue to chronicle Sasha’s road to recovery from the surgery, and her battle with cancer.