[nagdu] Taking Dog to Surgery Center

[Peter Donahue]

Hello again everyone,

    I'm not sure if I mentioned it previously but my wife Mary needed 
surgery on her right knee to repair a torn meniscus. The operation was 
performed this past Wednesday one of the coldest days of this winter in 
South Texas. Johnny was just as much a hit at the surgery center as was 
Cindy's dog at the hospice. Once the intake papers were signed and a payment 
glitch surmounted we were lead in to the pre-op area. Johnny lay quietly 
while Mary was prepped for surgery. Many of the nurses and Mary's 
anesthesiologist wanted to say hello to Johnny. We stayed with Mary until 
she was taken in to the operating room.

    The operation went without a hitch. It was done quicker than I expected. 
The doctor repaired the meniscus and removed some inflamed tissue a source 
of arthritis in that knee. Before long Johnny and I were escorted in to the 
recovery room to be by Mary's side. She was awake and alert and was still on 
all of the monitoring equipment. Just as in preop the recovery room 
personnel loved Johnny. I asked if they had many patients with service 
animals come through. They told me that Johnny was the only guide dog they 
had seen for quite a long while. I didn't expect to be allowed to stay with 
Mary in these areas but wasn't going to make an issue of it unless the 
surgery center staff did.

    It's been two days since Mary's surgery and she is doing well. So far 
today she has not had to use the walker she was given to help her walk 
immediately after surgery. This morning she fixed her own breakfast and is 
doing very well. We're going to tackle getting up and down stairs later 
today. Since the doctor told her not to do any climbing for the first few 
days we've been camping out in our living room the past two nights. Provided 
Mary's stair-climbing goes well and she feels she can do it again later on 
we could be sleeping back in our own bed. Her knee is all ready feeling much 
better than it did prior to the surgery. Please keep her in your prayers and 
thoughts.

Peter Donahue