Follow me on Twitter This post is Part 2 of a two-page post. If you have not read Part 1, please click here to go to Part 1.
At the animal hospital, things started out like usual.
First we stood in the "Check in" line. Then my parents and I went to the "Dogs" section of the waiting room (which was next to the "Cats" section of the waiting room). The hospital was not particularly busy this morning, that is, not too many dogs were hanging around the hospital lobby, but still I was happy to be there and I let everybody know how happy I was.
Soon, my doctor came out and met my parents. She wanted to know if I needed to be put to sleep in order to have me sit still while the x-rays were being taken. My parents said that I did not. Then my mom showed the doctor how to say "Joey, sit" so that I would just sit however and wherever the doctor wanted me to sit. My mom also told her not to say "Good dog" because if she said that, I would probably start wagging my tail and kissing the doctors and then they couldn’t get the x-rays they wanted.
What happened in the radiology room and the examination room I am going to keep a big secret.
But I am going to tell you that the doctor did not put the bandages back on my leg after the x-rays. In fact, she let me walk out of the room on my own four legs with no support from bandages or splints. I cannot tell you how it felt to be free and to walk on my own.
The surgeon and I walked out to where my parents were waiting for us. They saw my injured leg, bare, a little wobbly and unsteady – but there in full view and me walking on all my paws. I am pretty sure they were very happy.
Soon, my parents, my doctor and I went into a small room and the doctor put these pictures up on the wall, turned on one light and turned out the other light. She showed my parents the x-rays of my toes and ankle. She showed my parents where the plate and screws and pins were in my ankle and where my ankle looked like a tool chest. She showed them the x-ray that showed where my toes had been broken 12 weeks ago and then showed them the x-rays taken today and where my bones were starting to fuse together. She showed them where my body was creating new bone mass in my toes. She told them that even though I’m an older dog, my bones are healing very well.
Then the room lights went back on.
The doctor and my parents talked and talked and talked, just like they had done with Dr. B eleven weeks earlier.
Often when I am in the examination room and talking is going on all around me, I walk over to the door and keep my nose to the door to grab the scents and listen to the sounds of the other animals and patients in the hospital.I stood in the middle of the room, silently. This day was different. While they were talking and talking, I was just happy to be free and standing on my four legs without any help from anyone or anything. I was happy to be a good dog with a good doctor!
Please now read my next post for that day.
