Jack's Journey

A quick visit to our regular vet at Bradford Veterinary to get the fentanyl patch placed for surgery the next day.  Jack loved the attention that the vet techs gave him.  After that a stop at Hannafords to get a rotisserie chicken (his favorite) for dinner.  He knew something was up when I wouldn’t stop taking pictures of him before he went to bed…oh and all the tears were a dead give away as well. 

Bright and early Friday January 23rd, we woke up, went through our regular routine (minus breakfast and pills).  Things got really fun for Jack when he was told that he “gets to go”.  Music to his ears!!  Jumping for joy, he couldn’t contain himself.  Little did he know!

We arrived at SAVES in Lebanon, NH at 8am.  Turns out that Dr. Kelly followed us there (and quickly turned around to leave for a farm emergency).  We met with Dr. Hess and discussed the sequence of events, how they were going to do the surgery (remove the scapula vs. not), cutting muscle vs. cutting bone.  We had a quick tearful goodbye, he went out one door and I went out the other.  In the parking lot with tears streaming down my face, I hear, “Miss, Miss”.  I turn around and they tell me that I need to pay the deposit (about $1200).  Isn’t keeping my baby, removing his leg and tossing it in the biohazard waste enough of a deposit?  Anyway…I paid the deposit (gotta love Care Credit) and left.

Noon came and went with no phone call, finally I called after two.  Turns out they called and left a message at my house instead of reaching me on my cell or at work.  I went straight to work after I dropped him off to keep my mind off of what was happening and I didn’t want to take time off if I wasn’t actually going to be with him.  Surgery went well, no problems.  They asked if I wanted to send out some of the leg for Pathology.  I said no.  I’d already paid $1300 to detemine that it was osteosarcoma and had the leg removed, I didn’t see any value in sending it for more Pathology.

That night I went out!!  We had a big going away party for a coworker and had drinks and listened to live music at our local Elks Lodge.  Jack was being taken care of and tonight was my one last nights of freedom for awhile.  I checked in with them every couple of hours to see if he had peed and pooped, ate or walked at all.  On my way home from the bar at 11:30, I called and spoke with the vet tech.  I wanted to see how he was doing and make sure someone was there, awake, taking care of him.  She said that he  pooped, ate and peed.  He was getting around amazingly well and was a complete doll.  She was letting him lay on a blanket next to her instead of in a crate.  Aaaawww…that’s my boy!!

Sleeping that night was too quite.  Even the cat, Chloe missed him.  Saturday morning I had some errands to run before I headed to Lebanon to pick him up.  I knew he was in good hands and the longer he stayed there the better it would be for him.

My aunt Elaine came with me to pick him up.  I walked in and said I was there to pick up Jack.  Before I could even get the word Jack out of my mouth, I saw his butt on the floor behind the receptionist.  I dropped everything and went to see him.  His tail was wagging and he was happy to see me but didn’t know how to move to show me that he wanted to be near me.  He started panting and couldn’t get comfortable.  The tech explained this was a sign of being in pain.  We all sat on the floor in the reception area (me, the vet tech, Dr. Hess and Jack) and discussed the piles of medication and discharge instructions.  As long as I didn’t move and was touching him, Jack was fine.  I paid the remainder of the bill (this time before I got to the parking lot) ~ $500 and we walked outside.  Jack did great; even the vet tech said that when she came in she thought he was 3 days post amputation vs. day after.  We both lifted him into the back of the car, got him settled and headed home.

Next step…get him out of the car!!!

The girls at SAVES decorated his bandage with hearts cause they all loved him so much.

Received  a phone call from Dr. Schultz at work.  Funny that I couldn’t remember where or how I knew Dr. Schultz until I heard his voice.  Pathology reports came back and it was in fact osteosarcoma.  My smallest glimmer of hope that it could be a fungal infection was gone.  I think I took it well, My response was, “so now we cut his leg off?”  He said yes, though he wouldn’t put in the same words.  We ended the conversation that his assistant would be in touch with me with an estimate to perform the amputation.

Hours later, I still hadn’t heard from them.  My type A personality was kicking into overdrive!!  How was I supposed to plan my life over the next couple of months?  Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer; I called them.  I spoke with Alicia and asked her to send me an estimate.  Peak has a policy that they do not give out estimates via email or fax.  Since I was an hour away, this was not an acceptable answer.  Verbally, she quoted me $2800 – $3300 but wouldn’t give me the exact breakdown of individual costs.  My emailed quote from my regular vet was about $1,000.  Big difference!!!  I mentioned this and her reply was that I was comparing amputation at a doctors office vs. a hospital.  I had faith in both, the only must was that he wouldn’t be left alone the night after his surgery.  I wanted someone there to be able to give pain meds if needed, check vitals and just provide human contact.  This was non-negotiable for me.  My local vet could not provide this, while Peak could.  Tears of stress started flowing…while you don’t want finances to be a deciding factor, the reality is they are.  So what did I do?????  Called Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s hard to have a phone conversation when you are crying and can’t talk, but my Mom is so amazing that she just listened to me crying and offered words of encouragment.  She suggested that I contact the emergency vet in Lebanon, New Hampshire (SAVES).  She had taken her golden Harley there for emergency surgery and was very impressed with their vet, Dr. Dan Kelly.  I called them.  They took my information and said they would call me back.  Still stressed!!!! Headed home and as soon as I was with Jack the stress melted away; isn’t it amazing how they can do this for us humans?

Dr. Hess called me that evening, took my information and provided me with a very detailed surgical plan and quote ($1700).  SAVES is a 24/7 emergency vet and staffed with a vet and vet tech overnight.  This met my non-negotiable. We were on the phone for at least 30 minutes.  She did all this without seeing a single xray, lab value or even Jack.  We scheduled the amputation for Friday January 23; 8 days away.  Next step ~ have fun, play ball, visit friends; make the most of each day.