Jake's Journey

Well, today I had to leave Jake alone when I went back to work. I put him in the study, were there are no beds or couches he might jump up on. Also put on his E-collar… which he really doesn’t like. When I got home and opened the door to the study, he was already standing… ready to go! Took him out to do his thing… he seemed really tired afterwards. He slept until Jacques came home from work….

He just ate his dinner… super appetite, as usual… and went back into the TV room and plopped down on his bed. Maybe he did too much hopping around yesterday and is more sore today… I don’t know. He goes back to his favorite vet, Dr. Lucado, this Friday… to remove his stitches. Hopefully he’ll be feeling alot better by then!

His incision looks alot better today… all dried up compared to this weekend. Yay!

Tonite: Jake seems very tired tonite… not hopping around everywhere by himself like he did yesterday. Maybe he’s just tired from all the excitement of yesterday? I don’t know… I worry, of course. Tomorrow is another day, and we hope it’s much better…

But Wolfie is enjoying himself with all his toys on Jake’s bed and pillows!

Today is 10 days since Jake’s amputation surgery… and he seems to be doing pretty well. He’s still not running around as he did before, but he has been hopping around all by himself quite a few times today. He really, really wanted to go swimming with me and Wolfie today… but that’s just not possible till after he gets his stitches removed (later this week) and gets the go-ahead from his wonderful vet.

Tomorrow I go back to work, and I’m dreading leaving him alone all day… He will definitely have to wear his E-collar…

Today is 9 days post-op. Yesterday I removed Jake’s bandages… his incision looks good, except for a little redness and oozing from a small area. Last nite he hardly ever tried to lick at the incision… but when we went to sleep, we put on his E-collar, just in case!

This morning, Jake was hopping around in the kitchen. Still pretty slow, but hey… it’s only 9 days post his big surgery!

This morning we all enjoyed our coffee on the patio, before it got too hot and humid. Can’t stand this Florida weather!!! I removed Jake’s T-shirt (to wash it) and to let his incision start drying out. 

Later on this afternoon, it was time for Wolfie to go play in the pool…

Poor Jake had to stay indoors, and watch. As soon as he heals, he is going swimming too! Here he is wearing his Kiss T-shirt.

Wolfie taking a break… and enjoying the hot sun!

Later on this afternoon, Jake did some more hopping around… a little faster now. He’s doing better and better! I’m so proud of my big boy!!

Yesterday:  It’s been exactly 7 days since Jake’s surgery. He was sleeping all morning, but seemed in much better spirits than the day before.

He actually got up several times and hopped around all by himself… no sling!

Then his Auntie Doris came over to visit and brought some yummy treats for Jake and Wolfie.

After the visit, Jake was super tired… He slept the rest of the day, with Wolfie closeby.

Today (6 days post-op) was a much better day than yesterday!

Jake was sleeping all morning , and I decided to take Wolfie out to swim in the pool. I didn’t want to leave Jake alone, but also don’t want him to get his bandage wet… So I placed his bed in front of the sliding doors in the livingroom, so he could watch all the action. He immediately perked up and even stood up a couple of times. We only stayed out for about an hour… enough to get Wolfie a good workout (I really can’t wait til Jake can finally go swimming again!). When we came back in, Jake got up by himself and hopped over to us. I gave him his favorite cookies and then started to cook their chicken and rice stew for the week. Later that day, when Jacques came home from work, Jake got up again and hopped over to the door with Wolfie to greet him, like he used to do.

Each day seems like an eternity… and I can’t wait for Jake to be able to hop around everywhere, without me panicking that he looses his balance and falls down.  Friday morning, we have to remove Jake’s bandage and examin his incision. I’ll take some pictures then, and post to the blog for everyone to see.

I haven’t had much time to cry lately … can’t even think about the future… just trying to get through from day to day. I have to go back to work next week and I’m dreading that. But that’s in 4 more days, and I’m hoping Jake is doing a million times better by then.

All of us finally slept through the nite. Yay! Jake seemed a little more tired today compared to yesterday. Went to the grocery store in the morning to pick up a few things and saw a cute stuffed duck and squirrel. Jake just loooooooves squirrels! So I had to get them. When I came home and unpacked their new toys, they were so excited, especially Jake. He jumped up (gee, I though you were tired) and started wagging his tail and hopped over a few steps towards me to grab his squirrel. Then he hopped back to his bed and started playing with it!

Wolfie jumped up on the couch to play with his ducky. I swear they act like little kids!

After that little burst of energy, Jake seemed pretty tired and slept the rest of the day with his squirrel lying next to him. 

I’m hoping that tomorrow Jake will start getting some more of his energy back… In the meantime, I think I’m starting to come down with a cold or something…

Well, last nite I hardly slept. Jake started whining around midnite… I thought maybe he was uncomfortable sleeping with his E-collar and took it off… but as soon as I did, he tried to lick and chew at his incision! Back went the collar! Then Jake sits up and starts  scratching at his  incision with his back leg. Again I fly out of bed, hoping he doesn’t rip out his staples! This went on until around 3 am. I decided to put on his sling and take him outside… he peed right away. Brought him back to his bed and he was tired after all that… I took off his e-collar and he fell back asleep. About an hour later I woke up when I heard him licking at his incision again. Back went the collar… Guess his wound is getting really itchy now as it heals… Hope that doesn’t last for too long… I need some sleep!!

At 6 am I got up to make some coffee (hubby was going to work), took out Jake, then gave him his morning meds. As soon as he was done he went right for his incision again! The collar will stay on ALL the time now… except for when he takes his meds, eats, or goes outside to do this stuff. He’s not too happy about this, but he doesn’t have much of a choice right now…

Oh wait… Is that a smile?!!

He’s finally sleeping now… with the collar! Lucky for him!

We’ll have to get ready to leave in about an hour for his first post-op vet visit.  His incision looks pretty good… if only it didn’t itch so much!!!

NOON: Just came back from the vet and Jake is settled down and sleeping. He did great and everyone at the clinic was happy to see him doing so much better! The vet said the incision looked good, with a little bit of draining and some fluid accumulation, but that was normal. He applied some CortiDerm around his incision to help with the itching and irritation from the razor burn, and also put a new pressure bandage that we’re to keep it on for another 3-4 days, then re-examin the incision site.  He also added another antibiotic (baytril) to the mix for the next 5 days, and his last amoxicillin dose is tomorrow. All in all, he liked what he saw, and was happy to see Jake in such good spirits.

So now that Jake is sound asleep, maybe I can get some rest too!

Tonite: It was nice and relaxing tonite… Jake is extra tired from his vet visit today… Jake had his dinner, did his peeps and poops… We were all on the floor cuddling and watching House.

So, this is how our evening went. We’re going to bed now. Hopefully we’ll all sleep through the nite. Sweet dreams everyone!

This Sunday we woke up late… 9:30 am. Jake decided he doesn’t want his bandage on anymore and started to chew it off. So… since he was scheduled to have it removed tomorrow anyways, we decided to take it all off. The wound looks good… clean… We put on a T-shirt, so he wouldn’t lick at it… He seems fine this morning… but still slides on the kitchen floor. He only got a half dose of his pain meds, and seems fine with that.

We decided to have our morning coffee on the patio… and took the doggies out for some fresh air. Jake really enjoyed it! First time he got to lie on the patio since this all started.

 Wolfie was lying nearby… Just a nice relaxing Sunday morning… like we used to have.

Jake even sat up by himself  to be closer to his daddy!

Wolfie was patroling the patio, like he usually does… making sure the coast was clear of squirrels and stuff.

Later on that afternoon, when we left Jake alone for just a few minutes, we caught him licking away at his T-shirt. Oh no! Out comes the E-collar…  Guess he’s going to have to wear that uncomfortable thing whenever we have to step away, or sleep.

Tomorrow he goes back to the vet to examin his incision… Just a little bit of oozing from one area, otherwise looks great!

Jake got up all by himself twice this afternoon… Whoo! Hoo! He really does seem much better than yesterday.

Poor Wolfie hasn’t been swimming in the pool for the past 2 weeks during all this, so I decided he needed a little special time just for him… plus my pool needed some cleaning since I’ve been neglecting it! Took him to swim and play for a few hours. While I sat in the pool and watched Wolfie I wondered… when will Jake be able to swim again…

This evening, Jake ate his dinner and we didn’t have to help him stand! He’s had a great appetite since his surgery.

Later in the evening, I gave Jake a favorite treat… a flavored pressed rawhide bone and he figured out how to hold it and chew with just one paw. He really enjoyed it!

He was tired after all that, and went to sleep. Jacques laid down on the floor next to him and fell asleep too!

So now that both doggies are sleeping for the nite, Jacques and I get to enjoy some quiet time… maybe watch a movie and forget about serious stuff.

Tomorrow is another day…

This morning we slept in a bit. Got up around 8:30 am and Jake sat up all by himself. He seems much more alert compared to yesterday. Put the sling on and took him out.  He peed right away. Wolfie was by his side to make sure he did it right!

Jake is able to stand by himself for a short while now… with Jacques nearby, of course!

The sling we got for Jake from Foster & Smith has been a tremendous help! It’s helping to support him while he’s still wobbly and still recovering from his surgery…

Afterwards, Jake came back in the house and laid down in the kitchen while his mom and dad had their morning coffee… Jake had his morning meds, with some peanut butter to make it slide down easier!

Wolfie was chillin’ out closeby… as usual!

So far, this morning has been a million times better than yesterday!