Friday, April 27, 2007

Project Bionic Leg: 6 days till surgery

We are at 84% of the goal today - not a huge increase from yesterday, but I have faith we'll get there in time. We didn't come this far just by luck!

Surgery is less than one week away, and we have started to make preparations.
Phase 1 = the last bath.

I do not think we will be able to bathe Bean for some time after the surgery. She had started to smell a little fishy, which is odd because 1) we don't live near the ocean, and 2) Bryan has adamantly denied rubbing her down with cod fillets while I am out.

The last bath went much like any other bath, and consisted of the following steps:

Step 1 - The capture.
Bean will not willingly get into the bathtub. She must be caught and carried into the bathroom, then lowered into the tub. Since Bryan is the only one with the upper body strength to accomplish this, he is the designated dog-bather. (Don't feel too bad for him though. I am the designated tub-cleaner afterwards.)
Step 2 - The bathing.
This part is not so bad. Bean actually quite likes the taste of the shampoo. She doesn't like getting her head washed though, and tries to keep it over the edge of the tub as much as possible, hoping we will forget to wash it.

Step 3 - the toweling off.
This is a most crucial step, and must never be skipped. Bean has other, much messier, ways of drying herself off if we don't do it for her. Mainly they involve running to the nearest piece of upholstered furniture and doing a frantic, whole-body shake until said piece of furniture is sopping with dog bathwater.

Step 4 - the brushing of the teeth.
After the bath, Bean smells like peaches and the foulness of her breath becomes even more noticeable. At this point it is wise to brush as many of her teeth as she will let us. During this particular session, Bryan chose to focus on the tiny little bat-like teeth in the front.
No walks, a hurt knee, AND a bath?!! This is the worst month of my whole life so far. I wonder what's next? I mean what could suck more than this? Bone Surgery??? But no, not even the humans are that cruel. Right?

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