Angus Update And A Prayer Request

First thanks to all of you wonderful people who have left us so many kind thoughts and prayers. And Brigid? We love you. Thank you. We needed it. Seriously. Lu and I were both standing right there when it happened and that sight and the sound of his crying will be with both of us until the day we die. I'm not going to go into it any further than that because I really hope someday I'll be able to put it out of my mind. The x-rays are frankly obscene.

As the DO said, Angus broke both bones in his right front leg. Pretty badly though not as bad as some the doctor had seen. Both were displaced fractures, the ulna was broken in two places. Got him into the emergency clinic within about 20 minutes of the accident. They took x-rays, splinted the leg, told us to see our vet today and sent us home.

Angus had a pretty rough night. He was in a lot of pain and the Fentanyl patch wasn't cutting it. Put this down to lessons learned because we later found out the patch was put on with small skin clips that, unknown to us at the time, were causing Angus irritation and adding to his misery. Throw in the whole body shivering and extremely fast heart rate, respiration and heavy panting and it was pretty clear something needed to be done. About 2300 the Mama Grizzly came out in Lu when it was obvious the Fentanyl wasn't giving Angus any relief. She called the emergency Doc, informed him she wasn't about to load Angus back up for another hour round trip for a shot. She wanted some oral pain meds, she wanted them "right fucking now" and they had damn well better be sitting on the counter ready for her by the time she got there. Luckily (for them) they complied and the new meds seemed to help though he tended to suddenly wake up crying all night long. Nobody got much rest.

We got into see out Vet this morning at 0830. By about 0900 we were loaded up and headed for Las Vegas. We had an appointment to see the surgeon at the Las Vegas Veterinary Specialty Center. We talked to a very nice and extremely experienced surgeon. Our Vet recommended him and made the appointment. He explained what we were looking at and what the options were. Essentially he will screw a plate to the Radius as it's the main bone. He'll set the much smaller Ulna but said it doesn't need to be plated. What he said was that the Ulna would do what the Radius did and if one healed they both would and that the Ulna wasn't really needed for complete function and strength. He's confident of a total recovery even for a Field Trial Lab. Angus will be in a splint for 4 to 6 weeks with a specific rehab regimen that we will follow to the letter.

We had to leave Angus there today and that was one of the hardest things Lu and I have ever done. He's never ever been away from both of us, he's in pain, trapped in a cage and can't walk or play. He has to be wondering just exactly what has happened to his whole world. My heart is breaking. I can't bear the thought. He'll be there tonight so they can monitor his pain meds and food/water intake. He'll have the surgery tomorrow, hopefully in the morning. They'll keep him overnight again to monitor him and we can pick him up Wednesday morning. They promised to call us with regular updates. We'll see. If they don't call us we will be calling them. Frequently.

Two days without him. The house has never seemed so big and empty.

The good news is the Doc says there's no reason Angus won't make a complete recovery. Since we chose this surgery as opposed to setting and casting he's confident the leg will heal and be as strong as it ever was. In fact, since the plate is permanent (absent medical issues) it should actually be stronger that the other leg. The breaks were between the wrist and elbow and neither joint was involved. As far as the Doc can tell he shouldn't develop problems like arthritis in those joints as a result of this injury.

For those of you so inclined and who don't think prayers for a dog are sacrilegious I'd like to ask a favor. Some time tomorrow if you could just say a short prayer for Angus Lu and I would be forever in your debt. He's still just a puppy, hurt and all alone and no matter how often such is done, surgery is never a sure thing. That was really driven home when they made me choose a resuscitation option should the unthinkable happen on the operating table. I know he may just be a dog to some but he's our baby. In the past 2 years we've lost Trooper, Chrisi and my mother. We can't stand even the thought of losing Angus.

I'll post an update tomorrow as soon as I hear back from the hospital. Thank you all my friends.

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