Belle’s Surgery

Much time has passed and things have gotten better in the doggie department. Or at least the pain of losing Nick has subsided enough to carry on with life with Belle without constantly thinking of Nicki. Belle has gotten over her sister’s death now too. She no longer races thru the house looking for her and in fact doesn’t show much reaction when Nick’s name is mentioned either. This is a good thing. We are all learning to cope.

So don’t think just because that trauma has been put behind us that we are in any way living a peaceful, contented life. No! Belle decided to enliven things up by growing all kinds of fatty tumors. She did have a couple that I had to keep my eye on for a while but it seems that just when I could relax about them, she’d start growing more somewhere else. Luckily for everyone involved none of them were cancerous. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t a problem. They grew to be just that….a problem!

Cyst on Belle's back before surgery 

I first noticed an odd swelling on Belle’s under belly. I kept an eye on it; thought it was an odd place to grow a fatty tumor but hey, that’s Belle. The Vet checked it often and said there was still no worry of cancer. But the damn thing just kept growing and so did others. It got to the point where it actually looked like Belle was sporting a penis. She was to be the first female dog I ever had that was constantly being told by strangers that she was a good BOY! I got to the point where I didn’t even correct people anymore. I just agreed with then that yes, indeed he was a good boy. Lol

Side view of Belle's 'penis' before surgery

Well of course the damn thing got so large it could no longer be just watched. I had to make the decision to have the Vet give Belle a ‘penis-ectomy’! And while she was in for that they also removed a large tumor on her neck and a large (grossly ugly) cyst on her back near her rump. Poor Belle had no idea what was coming when I took her in for the surgery. All she knew was that she had not been fed her breakfast that morning and she was none too pleased about it. You will remember of course that she is the original Chow Hound and as such should never be made to skip a meal….it is forbidden!

She got through her surgery wonderfully (I was worried because she was 9 yrs old and anesthesia scares the hell out of me) and when I went to pick her up I found a very confused and oddly ‘dressed’ dog. The Vet techs had to bandage the various surgical areas; put a cone on her neck so she couldn’t reach any of the stitches (because you know damn well that’s what she would do!) and they added a tee shirt on her to add additional coverage so she couldn’t reach anything.  This is what Belle looked like when I picked her up.

This is what she looked like when I picked her up. She was not a happy camper!

The next couple of weeks were no picnic for me or Belle. She was not only miserable with the cone on her head and stitches that had to have been itching her….but she never (and I do mean NEVER) learned to adjust to the fact she had the cone on her head. I would take it off for her to eat and keep it off for some time every day. But I had to leave it on her when I was at work and when I went to bed at night. And all she did was spend all her time crashing into walls; table legs; couches; chairs and of course ME! She was like a short, hairy, wrecking ball everywhere she went. Everything was constantly being knocked over; swept down from wherever it was; and banged into. She never adjusted like a ‘normal’ dog would have….she just kept crashing into everything for weeks. My legs were bruised front and back from when she came to see me and when she snuck up behind me. My legs were no different than chair legs in that respect. If they were in her way she hit them. I was going nuts!

Hack job of stitching done on the cyst on her back.

Belle needed a drain after surgery too. That meant bleeding all over the house. 

The bandage I applied on her neck.

Belle as a cone head!

And if that wasn’t enough fun on its own it soon became much more fun because the stitches on her back became infected almost immediately. That required more trips to the Vet; more medications; more bandage changing and much much more crashing due to wearing the cone longer. I do have to take some credit here because I became damn near an expert at bandaging her various surgical sites. (I was the one re-bandaging her after her Vet visits before leaving their office because I did a better job than they did. They actually handed me the supplies and watched me do it) She never got at any of her stitches, not once. But I also can’t help feeling that the Vet who performed the surgery was a real hack. The stitches were large; crooked and very sloppy looking. 

It actually looked like something an amateur would do and I started to wonder who exactly had done the stitching on my dog. And I also thought it was odd that they didn’t send her home with an antibiotic of any kind. Most Vets normally would do that to prevent infection before it got started. Well it was no surprise to me when the stitches got infected (in two places) almost immediately and honestly I will never have that Vet perform any surgery on any dog of mine again for that exact reason. Once you show me a hack job I’m not likely to come back. They can handle the yearly exam I suppose but no more surgery from them.

So all this happened last year and Belle is now completely healed. She continues to grow fatty tumors but none of them are cancerous. She is 10 yrs old now, almost 11 actually. I will leave her tumors on her and make sure she’s a happy girl. I think she’s just too old to risk anymore surgery. She acts like a much younger dog and she has just now begun to start growing some white hairs on her face. I find it amazing that a black dog that is almost 11 yrs. old has almost no white hairs on her yet. She is aging better than I am! Of course I do give her alfalfa tablets for stiffness and I have recently added some treats that have Glucosamine and Chondroitin in them as well as turmeric. She continues to have stomach issues that she’s had for years but she still acts like she’s a happy dog so we’re doing ok at this point.

Me, Shay and Belle on a hike at the reservoir in Glastonbury