Expenses

If you've ran across this blog through an online search, one thing you may wondering about is the cost. So I thought I would keep track of all the expenses here as well. Keep in mind I'm in North Carolina and from my experience so far, my vet's rates seem to be a little lower than other vets in my area.

• $38 initial vet visit 7/3 (exam and needle aspiration)
• pathology review of biopsy (included in surgery expense)
  
• $293 specialist - consults, chest scan
• $32 morphine patches (2) ???
  
• $75.04 specialty meds (3) from pharmacy (optional but recommended by my vet)
  
• $725.80 surgery (7/17)
• $377 emergency vet 7/24 (infection)
• ?? vet for treatment of complication (7/25, 7/26, 7/28, 7/29, 7/31, 8/4)
• $61 misc expenses (see below)
• = $1601.84

• $20 WalMart - doggie bed - my pups don't have a doggie bed right now because they hang out on the couch during the day and sleep with me at night.
• $27 Target - 5 t-shirts - the surgeon at the specialist's office suggested t-shirts to keep the area protected
• $14 Goodwill - blankets and towels...for his bed, etc...wanted to be prepared in case of any accidents (while he was staying at the vet's, he had several potty accidents but never had any at home)
  
• ?? special food - baby food (meat flavored), canned chicken, vienna sausages, various types of canned dog food, treats (anything I could possibly think of that he might eat when he didn't want to eat at all)
• GAS - the amount I spend on gas has probably tripled or quadrupled over this period (additional 80 miles driven when dropping him off and picking him up PER day)
  

Shopping!

I found these shirts at Target this morning! Supercute!! I love that they have short sleeves and were only $4.99 and they are travel related. I couldn't resist the Eiffel Tower one even though it's pink :) Too bad Gidget won't wear clothes!
I found cute shirts at WalMart but they were all sleeveless so his incision area would still be a tad exposed.
These protect him nicely and they're just sooo cute!

Pics - evening prior to surgery

I took Buster this afternoon to get the pain patch put on. They also decided to try to go ahead and shave his leg and shoulder area. They said they like to try to do it while they're awake so they aren't under anesthetia as long. He let them do it so he's ready for surgery tomorrow. I also found out that my favorite vet is doing the surgery (along with another vet). That makes me feel better.
I was worried that Gidget would try to mess with the bandage around his neck (over the pain patch). She's usually very curious but she's totally ignored it. The vet said it can be fatal if she were to lick or mess with the actual patch so I'm glad she has no interest in it! Hopefully she'll be the same way when he comes home on Saturday.

Pain management

If it's possible, I think I love my vet even more! She called me just now and said she's working up his pain management plan. She said she's all about some pain management and there's so many new things out there that can keep them out of pain and it's better to prevent the pain than to try and treat it once they're in pain.

So the new plan is for him to stay there Friday night too and I'll pick him up Saturday...the pain patch they put on Wednesday only lasts 3 days so this will allow them to put on a second pain patch Saturday morning before I pick him up. Also they can keep an eye on him just a little bit longer. This actually makes me feel better since the specialist had planned to keep him through Saturday also. Even though I'll miss him like crazy, I feel better about him being there with the experts.

Also she said there are some optional pain meds (muscle relaxers, etc) that she can prescribe that she highly recommends so I said yes to that too...they cost about $75 and will have to be picked up in Winston. She said "phantom pain" is very common and also there can be a lot of muscle pain from the muscles being cut and also the muscles trying to adjust to the fact that the leg is no longer there.

I'm really happy with my vet - she really seems on top of things!!

Info from surgeon at the specialist's office

The surgeon from Carolina Veterinary Specialist just called me. I had left her a message yesterday with some questions and had been playing phone tag with her since then. I hadn't called to cancel his surgery with them yet (was going to do that tomorrow).

I told her what had developed earlier today and she said she had heard there might have been some miscommunication. She said she was absolutely comfortable with having the surgery done at my regular vet's office since it's actually a fairly routine procedure.

On her voicemail yesterday, I had asked her two question and she went ahead and responded to those.

1. I have a vacation planned for six weeks after his surgery and had planned to board him and my other dog. She said that was totally ok and that he'll be fully recovered before then.
2. I wanted to know if there was anything I should buy or do to prepare. She suggested a comfy dog bed if he didn't already have one and also some tshirts to keep him from licking the area and also just to keep it covered up (already bought all that at Wal Mart tonight).

I feel so much better after speaking with her! She wished me lots of luck and said that Buster is such a sweet dog :)

Change in plans - good news kinda

I decided to start this blog on 7/11/08. I didn't want to go back and tell the story...just wouldn't be the same as what I was feeling at the time. So I'm coping these older posts from several emails I sent to my best girlfriends.
This is from an email I sent about an hour ago.

My regular vet called me today right after I got off work. She said she had called the specialist to check on Buster and he told her that I was having his surgery done there next week because my regular vet couldn't do it (just to backtrack - I had called the regular vet twice and talked to two different front desk girls and they both said the regular vet's office couldn't do the amputation because they have one doc who does that and he's out....also the specialist and the surgeon both seemed surprised that I was having this done there instead of the regular vet - and they both pointed out that they cost A LOT more than the regular vet and they both said that this was a routine surgery so my regular vet could do it - so I had explained about the doc being out at the regular vet's office). So, anyway, the vet tells me that the doctor that is out is the orthopedic surgeon BUT that an amputation doesn't require that type of surgeon and that they do have 3 vets there (including her - and I LOVE HER) that are able to do this surgery. The other plus is that it will be about 1/3 the cost. So I decided to have the surgery done there - still next Thursday. So next Wednesday, I'll pick up his morphine patch at the drugstore and take it and Busty to the vet and they'll put the patch on. Then I'll take him back Thursday morning and drop him off and then pick him up at the very end of the day on Friday. I like that they're using a morphine patch too - the specialist didn't say anything about doing that and it's apparently the most effective form of pain relief. I really like my vet and she has been wonderful through all of this so I feel very comfortable with having this done there. From what everyone has told me and from what I've read, amputation is very routine and really not a big deal like you might think.

I'm so thankful she called them to check on me and Buster!!! I think the front desk girls just didn't know any better though..I'm just glad we got this figured out.

I went to WalMart and bought him some supercute clothes and a sassy little bed. So I think he's ready. I'm still working on getting ready mentally for this but I think he's going to be fine.

While I was in WalMart, my phone died. When I got home and charged it, there was a voicemail from the vet. She said she couldn't call in the prescription for the patch because it's a controlled substance - you have to physically drop off a paper prescription. She said she was going to drop it off for me so it would be ready for me to pick up anytime. How nice of her!