After looking at the CT Scan and reexamining Dexter this morning, the surgeon has decided that we should do the surgery now. Like, they’ve already started the IV and are prepping his back right now. I have a lot of faith in this surgeon, but I guess I have to. We’re doing all we can and that has to be good enough, whatever the outcome.

We should hear from him in about 2 hours and then we have to go pick him up and take him to the all-night emergency clinic so they can monitor him overnight. We’ll take him back to the animal hospital in the morning where they will continue to monitor him throughout the day. We should hopefully be able to bring him home sometime tomorrow.

Dr. Calfee says that, because of what he is able to see on the CT Scan, this should be a very predictable surgery. Of course there are risks, but we got him in as soon as we possibly could and the cause seems to be very clear.

Clementine is confused and worried about her “brother” but she is also a great comfort while Dexter is undergoing this procedure. The power of cuddling should never be underestimated.

Our wiener is broke.

Nine days ago, Dexter could walk perfectly. He could jump up on the couch, run up the stairs, and chase the squirrels. But something happened during the night of the 10th. On Sept 11th, Dexter displayed a noticeable lethargy and general slowness. So much so that I stayed home and ended up taking him to the vet that afternoon. Thinking he might have an obstruction or other intestinal bug, I was expecting to walk outta there with some antibiotics and a promise of success.

Instead, the vet shook his head and confidently asserted that it was classic dachshund back pain. He gave him a steroid injection and sent us home with 3 new medications to try for two weeks with the charge to bring him back if he’s not better by then, or, dog forbid, he gets worse.

He got worse.

Monday morning Jason got up before I did, which is rare, and when I heard him coming back up the stairs shortly after he left, I knew something was wrong. His speed and light-footedness were very different from his normal return from the bathroom.

That morning Dexter had a noticeable wobble to his back legs and that sent us scrambling. We immediately took him to the vet who confirmed that the wobble was a display of neurological damage and suggested we leave him for x-rays. After a few hours, the vet informed us that Dexter had noticeable calcifications on his spine and space between some of his vertebrae. She suggested a consult by a local canine orthopedic surgeon. He wasn’t able to come to the hospital until 5pm, so we met him there at 5:30pm.

After a good hour wait, Dr. Trey Calfee came to speak with us to give us the odds. If we did nothing and confined Dexter to a crate for 6 weeks, he has a 50/50 chance of getting better, and the same chance of getting a lot worse. If we did surgery now, he has a 95% chance of fully recovering. The choice was obvious to us and we scheduled the surgery for Friday morning, as well as a CT Scan for Tuesday (yesterday) so that the doc would have a better idea of the exact problem.

Yesterday we took him to get the CT Scan and were told he did great. They gave him a tranquilizer to calm him so they could easily administer oral anesthetic. We were told this tranquilizer would exacerbate his symptoms for a while, but would wear off throughout the day. However, from the moment I picked him up from the radiologist, I noticed a concerning lack of control of his hind legs, more-so than before. This did not/has not worn off and we are scrambling again.

Except now we are playing the waiting game. Dr. Calfee is in surgery this morning and we have to wait for him to call us to find out if he can do the surgery before Friday. The longer we wait, the more permanent damage is done to the spinal cord, which means more likelihood that Dexter will not regain function in his hind quarters.

Its just all happened so fast. Not to mention that he’s only four years old, and this is just sucky timing with the home renovations and everything. We, of course, will do everything in our power to heal our baby, but its going to be very difficult. We have an Open House in 2 weeks and I’m thinking of making it a charity event to help pay for his surgery, which is going to set us back quite a bit. Anyway. Words of encouragement, prayers, whatever, are very welcome.

Hug a wiener today.

I just got the news that my aunt passed away last night in her sleep. The doctor came by and gave her morphine so she could sleep and her body said that was it. I’m sad, but I’m not surprised. I’m almost glad now that I went to see her because I think it prepared me more for this moment. No one could live in that condition for very long. Rest in peace, Aunt Peggy. We love you!

I just went to blow my nose and almost fell over on the bathroom floor. If the sink counter hadn’t been within arms reach, I would’ve totally ate it. I guess I have a lot of fluid built up behind my ears and when I blow my nose, it messes with my balance.

Note to self: do not blow nose when driving, riding scooter, or operating heavy machinery.

Of course I wouldn’t really have occasion to do the last one anyway, but still. This new medicine doesn’t seem to be doing much just yet. I’ll give it another day or so before I am too critical.

It sounds like Jason may be coming down with something now too. It actually surprised me how long he went without catching anything from me. I mean, I was all feverish and stuff and we were sleeping in the same bed. I thought that was a sure way to catch a cold. Maybe its just been incubating.

I’ve always thought that was a funny way of describing a cold before it shows its symptoms. It makes me picture a baby chick in my stomach, walking around until it can’t stand it anymore and then it sneezes. I know, I’m weird like that, but I’m a visual person.