Wednesday was a big day. Colter had surgery to remove his large mass on his chest. The surgery went well and they said they were able to get it all. I was able to pick him up that afternoon. He was such a trooper! He really wanted to come home but was still so groggy it was hard for him to even walk. The vet said it was hard to tell he's almost 11 until he went under anesthesia. That's when you can tell he's a senior citizen...lol. I was so happy to have him home. The house felt a little empty without him, even with 3 kids. But that was when the real work began. He had a tube in his chest to drain the excess fluid from the hole in his chest that was once filled with the fatty lump. What a mess! I have to keep a t-shirt on him and tried to use a diaper to catch the fluid. I learned after a couple days that wasn't the best way. Every morning I'd wake up to spots all over the carpet to clean. I've spent a lot of time during the day changing Colter's t-shirt and cleaning up the messes. Colter has been so great allowing me to do that! He has tried to run away a couple times when he sees the white tee coming towards him but he reluctantly sits and allows me to fix him up. It seemed when he laid on his side the draining was worse. I noticed last night it was as if he was trying not to lay on that side. I think it bothered him as well. I took him in this morning to have the drain tube removed. I was hoping that would cut down on the mess, but that is not the case. It is still draining and he'll still need to wear the towel and t-shirt to catch the drainage. Because it is a little swollen still the vet advised me I need to apply a warm compress 3 times a day and try to manipulate the area to help with the drainage. As she was telling me this I had all these thoughts going through my head: How am I going to get him to sit for me 3 times a day to do the compresses; when am I going to find that time while taking care of the 3 kids; it's a good thing I'm not squeamish when it comes to this stuff; and I wish I had help with all of this. He goes back in on Tuesday morning and I know it will get better with every day. I'm so happy to know he's so healthy and I'm hoping that will equate to him being around for many more years. He's the oldest dog I've had, he's the best dog I've had. He's so trusting and loyal to me. He's also turned into an awesome family dog. He loves being with all the kids and watching them play, he's even started playing around with them, racing them up and down the hall. I can't wait til he's all better so he can do that again and we can go for our daily walks. We're both missing those.
Today Derek had his first flag football game. He played really well and they totally kicked butt...42-7. I really enjoyed watching him play. He really lights up playing football. I can see him more focused and really trying his best. I never thought I'd be watching my boys play football, I was hoping I wouldn't anyway. I worry about injuries with the full contact as he gets older. When I see how happy it makes him to play and how well he does at it, I have to set aside my "mom fear" and allow him to do what he loves to do. He's told me he wants to play all the way to the NFL. I told him he has to play through high school and college and he'll have to have good grades to do that. "What?? What do grades have to do with football?" was his response. Yep, can't play if you don't have good grades. Thankfully we have a long way before we have to think about that stuff but it is something I am actually starting to look forward to.
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