Jester

Life had such an emotional shear this weekend that I can't even blog about it in one post--there was too much distance between the lows and the highs. So first I'll tackle the lows. It was a tough weekend for Jester. One of his wounds has torn open again and he needs another surgery (and another suctioning drain). I went up to see him Saturday and was both heartened and horrified. He is moving around well and I understand, eating well and accustomed to the routine at the vets. But he looks like a Frankenstein monster. There is a catheter in his neck because he wasn't supporting the ones in his legs well, and two suctioning drains in his surgery sites with the tubes and bulbs strapped around his belly. He has staples in the surgery site on his belly where they removed skin to cover the wound in the back, and then there are the main surgery sites from the base of his tail all the way down his leg...

I leave tomorrow for Philadelphia (with the mini-van) and dump the whole mess in Dave's lap. The vet will still call me every morning with the updates, but it looks like Dave's going to be the one who needs to pick Jester up (in a rental car or with the help of a friend) and (maybe) has to deal with a suctioning drain for a few days. The Indigo Girls sing "Heartache for Everyone" in the background on iTunes.

On the bright side (and I'm glad there is one) the vet said he has adapted to their routine and is eating and moving around well (in his cage) up there. He clearly hasn't given up. Poor stoic boy: he's just going along with everything until he can get home.

So now we wait. Maybe surgery tomorrow (if the wound opens so much that they risk losing the skin graft) but they would prefer to wait till Thursday if possible. Maybe home Friday.