Sadie's Surgery Date

Isn't it against some law to put your foster dog in a tutu?

Sadie is on the calendar for surgery on November 2.  I get to take her in the day before at 3:00 PM to meet the new resident that will be handling her case (and start my sheer anxiety that will last until I know she is ok).  I guess the down side of going through a teaching hospital is that the doctors do things other than work at the clinics.  Dr. Early will be doing Sadie's surgery but he will not be at the clinic the whole month of October.  Dr. Crook is the resident that has been handling Sadie's case but she won't be back until mid-November.  Dr. Crook and I decided that she needed Dr. Early more than Dr. Crook so we scheduled her surgery the first day Dr. Early was back.  We could have done the surgery NOW but a) we haven't raised enough money (and VISA doesn't really want me to put that much on our credit card at this time) and b) we are taking Sadie to Chessies in the Surf at the Outer Banks Sept 30-Oct 3.  We really want her to get to go play on the beach, swim and have a fun time before she is in her crate for 6 weeks.  So the date is November 2.  I will be really grumpy around that time so you have been warned.  I turn into some crazy (crazier) person when one of my kids (2-legged or 4-legged) are sick, hurt, etc.  I guess it's just a "Mom thing" and I can't help it.
 I am really worried about Sadie's rehab and how she will handle being crated.  She HATES being confined and will do anything to get out of where we try to keep her.  She sleeps on the sofa or on our bed now.  She won't be able to do either so I need to get her used to the crate.  Then there is the issue of the girls.  It's not too quiet around here with a 5, 4 and 3 year old.  I will probably have to put a lock on Sadie's crate so they don't let her out.  The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her and want her around them every second.  Tim needs to build a ramp for the front steps so she can go to the bathroom.  We only have 2 front steps but 6 in the back.  I guess the neighbors will wonder which one of us 2-leggeds is now in a wheelchair!  Someone posted on Sadie's wall that they lived near us, had 2 Chessies and one of them just had spine surgery.  I realized that her husband was my ex-husband's fraternity brother.  It's such a small world.  At least I will have someone to talk to about the surgery and rehab.  It will be helpful for me to know what to expect from a family's point of view, not the the doctor's.  I keep telling myself, "6 weeks of crate rest for years of fun".  We can do it.
One final thing...I really am overwhelmed at how many people are willing to help Sadie.  We have "friends" we know from different parts of our life and those we don't even know offering to help in many ways.  It restores your faith in the kindness of people and helps take away some of the disbelief that someone could shoot Sadie and break her back.
Off to cook more chicken and rice for Sadie, the princess ballerina :o)