[nagdu] Taking Dog to Surgery Center

[Margo and Arrow]

am so glad Mary's doing well.

Oh, my dogs hav always been lavished with love at medical places.

when my partner had thyroid surgery at Roswell Cancer Institute, word spread 
there was a wonderful guide dog and so various personnel came up to get 
their doggie therapy.  they would pet Elmo and then they'd pet Elmo and 
claim they had jobs to do but then would pet Elmo.  I think you see the 
pattern.  Of course Elmo's harness was off.  We met a lot of hospital staff 
we wouldn't have normally met.

Margo and Arrow
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 1:18 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Taking Dog to Surgery Center


>
> 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
>
>
>
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