Adjusting at Home

So, Noel is doing really well..considering. Hubby is even proud of the fight in her. She is moving about pretty darn well. She is not whimpering in pain at this point. We are giving her the pain medication and antibiotics. She is getting down our deck steps out back just fine! She even tried to jump up on me. I have to hold her back from being active. She is sleeping a lot and resting, but her will to move is astounding. Its like she is already used to being a tripawd. I can see she will have no trouble adapting once she heals.

I run a daycare in my home..so I have 3-5 toddlers running around at any given time. They are so used to Noel being with them…she sits with us during circle time, tries to eat their lunch and chases them around the backyard. She greets them with kisses and jumps all over their parents (I won’t miss this part). She is just such an integral part of our day. Our senior boxer, Trixie, was too. She even napped next to the children on their mats. When we lost her due to her old age, it made it so much more emotional to see the impact my dog had on so many children. They asked for her frequently. They talked about her and were sad for her loss. So, today they were all a bit curious and concerned about Noel. I saw the same change in their day as when Trixie was gone. One 3 year old looked sad and said I don’t like her boo boo. They kept walking over and looking at her lying there. It is so sweet to see their compassion. It is also hard to keep them away from her to keep her safe while she heals. They mean well, but they are just clumsy kids. I have kept Noel away from the kids and in her crate as much as I could, but it is tough getting her and out to go to the bathroom with them around. She has had no #2 since we brought her home yesterday. I can also tell its hard to squat to go. She obviously loses her balance there still..she ends up peeing in a circle, so I would imagine #2 is difficult.

I still worry about the pain on her joints, especially in her other front leg. I worry about cancer reoccurring especially since we agreed upon this is the line we can go to treat her. But even with my worries I feel more at ease. Everyone’s support is great and reading other posts, blogs as been really helpful. It’s great to see how many dogs have lived several healthy years beyond their amputations.