That was a little frustrating, since usually they say we can pick them up after 3:00. Waiting a whole extra hour was a bit nerve-wracking. Then again, 3:00 is always right smack in the middle of the school pick-up for the elementary school across the street, and traffic on the two-lane road is horrendous and takes a long time to get through when you're in the school pick-up line waiting to turn left across the street rather than picking up kids.
4:00 and $415 later, we got her home. She was, all at once, wobbly, disoriented, excited and seemed to think she's up for her usual antics. She has to wear the e-collar 24/7 for 7-10 days until the sutures are removed. That's frustrating, since during check-in we were told she wouldn't need one, and I also informed them we already had one, just in case. Could have saved us $16.50, but I guess they had to put it on her as soon as they were finished with the procedure, so as not to risk messing it up. The pharmacy tech gave me a long talk about leaving the collar on for the duration, not risking the integrity of the suture line, etc... She's also going to be on two pain meds, Tramadol and Garbapentin- twice a day each, which should keep her sufficiently sedated. I'm going to have to keep her and Taz (foster dog of the moment) separate, but the rest will be good for her sore hips (as will the pain meds). She ate, had some water, and relieved herself. She's getting used to banging around in the e-collar. Doesn't seem to mind it. Funny. Between her and the fosters, I've developed quite a collection of e-collars, where we used to be in need of one on occasion and unable to find any to purchase!
She should be fine. I'm sure she'll get irritable at some point, but maybe I can at least walk her, separately. They shaved quite a lot around her eye, which looks REALLY weird. Kind of like she has a huge dark patch around her eye (which she does, anyway, only bigger and more round. And why did they have to shave that much...?) and her foreleg is bald again for the IV, though the hair had just finally grown back from her last procedure. I think for her, the toughest thing is being unable to lick her butt. And that's what she would say "Dammit. I just grew back the hair on that leg, and now half my face is bald, too. I have to wear this e-collar and I can't even lick my own behind!"
Last night was really rough. She was up every hour. She doesn't do well sleeping outside of the crate and has always been up and down, in and out, checking on everyone. Between that and trying to have her sleep in the crate while wearing the e-collar, only to have her bang around and get stuck every time she became uncomfortable and wanted to change positions (and she moves around A LOT!), none of us got much sleep.
Add to that that, before bedtime, I realized she was still wearing the bandage over her leg where the IV was, so I tried to take it off, which I normally do. Only in this case, I removed the outer, sticky/stretchy bandage to discover that her leg was still wrapped in tape underneath, and that the catheter for the IV was still in place! Someone forgot to take it out prior to discharge. We were pretty pissed about that, and alternately worried after reading online about infections that had developed from similar issues, or loss of limbs from bandages being wrapped too tight. All we needed was for her to fall into a drugged sleep on that leg, which is the one she lays on, anyway, and for it to have no circulation. I have a former coworker from way back who actually lost her own leg that way. It was horrific and scary (and her ex husband was the one responsible). Or for it to start leaking, or work loose and bleed all over.
My first instinct was to pull it out, and I almost did. The only reason I even recognized it for what it was, was that they used (and explained the use of) one for Macie's euthanization last summer. I knew I could just pull it out and cover the puncture until it stopped bleeding. I decided to consult DH first. Boy was he upset! I sent a text message to my emergency vet tech friend, to be sure, and also posted on FB to two of my other friends who are former vet techs. Everyone agreed we could pull it out, just be quick about it and that it could bleed a lot. DH was going to do it. But then he didn't seem to really want to. I just wanted her to be more comfortable and I know having the leg bandaged always bothers her and she is always instantly more comfortable once I remove it. We ended up leaving the additional wrappings in place and re-wrapping the sticky bandage. I emailed the clinic about the issue and we were up early again this morning and in the office at 7am to get it removed. I could have done it myself, but I figured they would want to know. Sure enough, we were asked if we remembered which technician had been responsible for Kansas' discharge. I hadn't noticed the name on her name tag but was able to describe her. It seemed to me that they had a good idea whom it was and that this wasn't the first time it had happened. The tech helping us also said that the catheters are made to stay in for up to 10 days but that they don't normally leave them in, and that it should have been removed prior to discharge. Somebody's probably getting in trouble.
DH thinks maybe it's time to change vets again, this being the second time something has gone wrong in recent months at this place.
She is, of course, much happier with her bandage-free leg at this point, and is finally resting comfortably, having filled up on breakfast and pain meds. I sort of want to take her on a short walk, but DH says shes should rest. After the sleepless night, I'm inclined to agree, however, I also know her micro-managing brain isn't going to let her relax unless she gets some normalcy.
1 day down, 6 or so more to go.
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