As I previously mentioned, Henry was scheduled to have surgery on his knee for a luxating patella, a nasty condition that usually affects small breed dogs and results in dislocation of the knee cap. Well, today was the day that I woke up, got dressed, put him in my lap in the car and drove to the vet to drop him off for his surgery. I looked calm and acted calm, but inside I was so horribly terrified. I still am. After filling out paper work, I had to hand him over to the nurse. I knew that he knew something was going on. How could he not? I left the vet’s office to go to work, but all I wanted to do was go and take him back.

I couldn’t concentrate on work the entire day and when I finally called the vet at 3 p.m., they informed me that they hadn’t even started the surgery because they were waiting for the orthopedic surgeon to arrive. I was told to call back at 5, which I did and I spoke to the surgeon who told me the surgery went well and that he was stable and recovering. He also informed me that both his legs were operated on.

This came as a shock to me, because I was previously told that they would both be done separately, but his condition was so bad that they decided to do both at once. There are pros and cons that come along with that, with the obvious con being that he can’t walk at all and needs more help. However, this means he won’t have to go through another surgery, which is great.

He’s at the hospital right now overnight, however since the hospital does not have a 24-hour staff, he’s there with no people in sight. This is so worrying to me and although they assured me that he would be fine and that they make sure he’s comfortable and stable before they leave, I can’t help but be upset that no one is there with him. I don’t even know how I’m going to go to bed tonight, as Henry sleeps with me either on the edge or under the bed. When he gets uncomfortable or misses me, he comes and plops himself right in my arms, lets out a sigh and then snuggles me to sleep.

Without fail, he will be waiting outside the door every time I step foot in the bathroom, whether it’s to wash my hands or take a shower. He is the perpetual waiter. On hot Summer nights, he lays by the screen door and just looks outside. I don’t know what he’s looking at, since it’s so dark, but he seems to like it, so we let him lounge and let him be.

He’s also fiercely overprotective. This morning while we were sitting at a traffic light, he caught a glimpse of the passenger in the car next to us and proceeded to bark up a storm. So here I am, trying to control a lunging dog while keeping both hands on the wheel, WHILE trying to turn left, all because someone looked at Henry the wrong way.

I am going to pick him up tomorrow and I suspect we’re going to have a long 8 weeks ahead of us for recovery, but it’s ok. I cannot imagine my life without him.