Sadie's Surgery and Thanks :)

Sadie "meeting" the cat outside the NC State Vet School.

Sadie's surgery is over.  I was extremely calm the whole day which surprised me.  All of our friends must have been sending a lot of calming wishes and prayers my way too :)  It also helped that Tim met me at the vet school when I took Sadie so I would have a level head and another set of ears with me.  We met the surgeon, Dr. Early, and he explained everything, answered questions and put my mind at ease.  I was thinking, "This man works at one of the best vet schools in the country and his specialty is spine stabilization.  Who else would I want doing the surgery?"  It's not like I was thinking we should be taking her to a specialist.  He IS the specialist!  He and Dr. Campbell, the resident in charge of her case,  were very open and honest talking about her pain, her recovery, and possible outcomes.  We gave them a card with Sadie's tutu picture on it, thanking them for taking care of her and some "Save Sadie's Spine" shirts.  I left there knowing she was the best place she could be AND knowing we were doing what's best for Sadie.  

So many people made this surgery possible.  It starts with a Lab rescuer who saw her in the shelter when he was pulling a Lab and just couldn't leave her there.  He gave her to one of our CBR R&R rescuers, Mary Lou, who kept her until we could get back from our trip in May.  We knew we needed about $1500 for further testing to see exactly what was going on.  That seemed like a million dollars when we started!  Thanks to Heather Hauser, Elwood's foster mom, giving me fundraising advice, we started Sadie's facebook page.  Amazing "friends" started appearing and following Sadie's journey.   I am still humbled by the support and generosity of our friends.  We could not have saved Sadie without everyone's help.  The donations of money, books, t-shirts, offers of other things to auction, advice, and emotional support for me and Sadie got us to where we are today.  I also appreciate Chesapeake Bay Retriever Relief and Rescue for supporting Sadie's fundraising.  Pat, our treasurer, has put in extra effort to keep all of Sadie's funds straight and is always available when I am standing in the lobby of the NC State Vet School needing her to pay them!! (Huge thanks to you Pat!)  I know some people contributed to Sadie's fund that would have contributed to the general fund of CBR R&R.  I'd like to think that we didn't take away too many contributions that would have helped other dogs.  Perhaps, instead, we made more people aware of the needs of rescued Chessies. 

I love sharing Sadie's story on facebook.  Her page is MUCH more fun that my own facebook page.  I look forward to sharing our journey to full recovery with all our friends!