Into the great unknown

Two weeks later we packed our bags and headed to Colorado.  It was a 26 hour drive, which we made in 28.  Fortunately since my husband works 3rd shift we were able to alternate driving times - me during the day and him at night.  To save time we ate a LOT of junk food and fast food and only made about 5 short breaks to walk the dogs and take potty breaks ourselves.  It was a long grueling drive and were sooo thankful when we finally made it to Colorado.

We checked into the condo we were renting and took the longs for a nice long walk.  Before leaving we were warned about rattlesnakes which gave me a whole new reason to worry and I kept Lucky (my husband walked Abby) on a tight leash for fear she'd venture even the slightest bit off trail and get struck by a snake.

We all survived and the only fear I had to face was the fear of the surgery the next day.  It was terrifying when we dropped her off the next morning and I feared that the day ahead would be one of the longest of my life.  However, when we got back to the condo to wait for the call I miraculously fell asleep.

Abby the day of her big surgery

When the phone startled me awake from my sleep my first thought was to feel guilty for sleeping through this time.  My second was panic because I had no idea what to expect. However, a wave of relief passed through me when they said, "She made it through surgery just fine.  We think we got it all but we'll have to wait for the pathology report to confirm."  We still had to wait another day to see her, as the doctors said she needed her rest, and they warned us that it was going to be very difficult to see her for the first time.  Still, the relief of knowing everything had went well and that she was fine lifted the weight of what felt like an elephant off my chest.

The next evening we saw her for the first time.  Her face was grotesquely swollen to enormous proportions.  Despite my joy at her having made it through surgery and the hope that they got it all, I started to cry.  It looked so painful, and I wondered what we'd done.  The doctors let us take her out for a quick walk and she whimpered quietly while we walked her and my heart broke.  Abby is not a whiner, never has been, and to hear her whine meant she had to be hurting.  Her sister Lucky will whine over anything, dinner being 5 minutes late, because she wants to play, because she wants a treat or attention...but Abby, she never whined before.  While I was fighting back tears, one of the students assigned to her case walked along side of me, trying to reassure me that we'd done the right thing and that she would recover soon.  I prayed she was right.

Abby three days after her surgery

The next day we took a trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park to get things off our minds.  We enjoyed the beautiful scenery but I was still sad she wasn't with us (despite the fact that they don't allow dogs out of vehicles except for at public sites like picnic areas and campgrounds...who knew?)  She stayed in the hospital until Friday and we stayed in Colorado for two more days just in case something happened.  When she was released we were still walking on egg shells.  I would tense up every time she ate, worried she'd hurt her mouth.  We stayed locked inside the condo those few days, which slowly crept by.  Finally on Sunday she was released and we made the long trek home, again in roughly 26 hours.  It felt so good to be home!  Abby still had a month of stitches in her mouth and a cone on her head, so we were prepared for a long road ahead, but we were in no way prepared for how long the road would be...

Last day in Colorado- one of the lighter moments - the simultaneous squat captured on camera...Haha!