Poor Riley!!

Hi everyone, I just had the craziest three days!!! Our dog, Riley, started acting really wierd on Saturday (hindsight tells me she may have even started on Friday night). Now, she is a pretty hyper dog, and she was just laying there crying and when she got up she was really shaky and I could tell something was hurting her pretty badly. So I called my vet (well, since we just moved here, we realy don't have one, but there is one where I go to get her food - she is already on a special diet another long story) and they say the earliest they can get her in is on Sunday at 9:30, but just to keep an eye on the dog and have her rest.

Fiona and I had plans to go to the Fall festival, I figured we'd still go, that way Riley can rest in a quiet house. We went for about 2 hours and I come home and Riley is doing way worse, she is crying harder and really cannot get up or go up and down the stairs. So I take her to the ER Vet. Mind you Fiona is now napping because I have drug her around with me and she really needs the nap. So I call a friend and have her come stay with Fiona while I take Riley to the vet. Now, I have NEVER left Fiona with anyone, so of course I am doing the first time Mommy freak out - especially because I am on a time table because I still am nursing her and of course I have no bottles to leave with my friend. But I was thinking I have 2 hours before I need to feed her again, no way will it take that long.

Well, I don't even get into see the vet until after a 1.5 hour wait, then there are the xrays - now I am really freaking cuz I should have left 10 minutes ago... So I leave Riley there with them, drive home, feed Fiona, then drive back for them to tell me Riley needs surgery because she somehow swallowed a sewing pin. So I sign off on an estimate for the surgery and head home and leave Riley there.

Now I am sick to my stomach for the poor dog - I am such a bad mommy for missing a pin on the floor after I was sewing, and because this is a huge expenditure and I didn't even get the chance to talk it over with Mike first. But what are you going to do?

So at 12:45am (I think - my eyes were a bit bleary) the vet calls and says that he needed to do a lot more because apparently the pin wasn't in the intestine, but floating around in her body cavity somewhere and he can't find it. More xrays were done, and bottom line its still in there and we have to take a wait and see approach. Apparently we are looking in the proverbial haystack - the dogs body -for a needle....

So I go yesterday with Fiona to pop in and say hi to Riley and talk with the vet further about what we need to do. We talk, everything is good, etc. Riley will be released Monday (today) morning at 7:30 and they close at 8 am, and if you are late picking the dog up it is $22/hour. Great, Fiona gets up at 7:30. Somehow the fates are on my side this morning (or so I thought) and Fiona wakes up at 6:45. I feed her and go straight to the vet to pickup Riley. At which point, I am informed that the previous quote has now nearly tripled because of all the extra work - which no one has told me prior to this morning. I am talking huge cha-ching here and no Mike to talk it overwith. I was livid!!! Had to do some crazy scrambling to pay them so I could get the dog and bring her home.

We are all home now, safe and a little sore - especialy the dog and my pocketbook. Riley is still in a little pain and still has the pin inside her, but she is doing much better. And I talked to Mike and in Mike fashion, he was the coolest, and told me no worries, he would have done the same thing. But please keep little Riley in your prayers, she may have another surgery coming up. Poor puppy!!