Day 1902

Dot looks like a football. Her back has been shaved and right in the middle is a huge eight inch incision that is held together with fifteen surgical staples. Despite her appearance, Dot is doing great. When we visited her at the hospital this afternoon, she appeared happy and alert. She was eager to eat the treats we brought and seemed equally eager to walk on her own. One of Dot's nurses brought her to the exam room for our visit supporting her with a sling under her belly, but you could tell Dot was already doing some of the work herself. I'm amazed that Dot can already stand on her own for a considerable amount of time. She couldn't do this before the surgery. After seeing her today, I am convinced that with the proper physical therapy, Dot will learn to walk again.

Since Dot is making such good progress, she will probably be discharged from the hospital either tomorrow or Tuesday. Once she's home, the hard part begins. Very few Dalmatians know how to take it easy. I will have to monitor her very carefully, so she never tries to do something stupid, like counter surfing, or hopping up on the bed. You know how weight lifters frequently use a spotter when doing bench presses to prevent injury. I will be Dot's spotter for quite a while, using the harness to keep her from slipping until the damaged nerves can  repair themselves and her leg muscles grow stronger.

A friend let us borrow some rubber backed rugs that we can strategically place around the house to keep Dot from slipping on the bricks. I think we've come up with a good way to keep her safely confined to a small, well padded space when I'm taking a shower or taking something to the post office. Since I have little desire to leave the house anyway, the extensive rehab period should work out pretty well. Janet will be going back to work soon, because she hates retirement, but I can walk Dash a little earlier in the morning while she is still at home getting ready for work. I'm sure there will be a lot of surprises and there will be times when I'll wonder what I've gotten myself into, but right now I'm uncharacteristically optimistic. We can do this.

I wish the weather would get better. It continues to rain with the temperature hovering right around freezing. It warmed up enough today to melt all the ice off the roads, but tonight it will refreeze again and there will be another thin layer of ice in the morning. I think the cold spell is just about over though. I certainly hope so anyway.

It's hard to believe it's March already. It's time to get my tax return started. It's time to start thinking about re-landscaping the back yard. One more month and we won't have to worry about ice storms for another year. I always look forward to Spring. The next few months won't be easy, but I hope when the wildflowers start to bloom in April and May, I'll be able to walk through them again with Dot at my side.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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