Hi everyone

You are all too sweet. Graham has been showing a little improvement I think. I didn't post because I hate to give you so much bad news. He still cries while he's awake, but today we had a little breakthrough. I am only supposed to give him a maximum of 3 doses of pain killer in a day, and by 8:00 AM Graham was in such terrible pain, crying so much and so loudly that I had given him his second dose by then...which meant I had to wait until later today to give him his 3rd dose...he did really well all day until about 6 PM then he got very, very vocal again. But he did go a good 10 hours without pain killer without much crying. He is still quite vocal, crying very often, but it may be just a tad bit less often...or else I am just getting used to him crying in the background.

Now I have another concern...he normally makes 3-4 poops a day and he's not pooped in 2 days. I keep thinking for sure he must have to poop but he just pees....so tomorrow if he has not yet gone by 12 noon Graham will be going back to the vet for an enema and a laxative. He's been eating really well. He's already getting a very high fiber diet with lots of purreed (sp?) veggies and lots of grains and raw meat and stuff that he readily eats up, and it should have helped him poo.

I hope he poops soon...I can't imagine it's healthy to go two days with eating full meals full of roughage and not pooing. He's not even trying...I think by the time it comes out it's going to be petrified Either that or he'll make a massive 10 pound stinky...a dinasaur poop

Last night since I was awake 3/4 of the night with Graham (I slept next to him on the floor all night...he didn't sleep much, so neither did I) today I had a nice, long nap while hubby babysat.

I can say that my back was sure sore today...from my night on a hard floor to carrying Graham up and down the stairs, as well as carrying him around to the back of the building where he normally likes to go to the bathroom. I had to buy a magnet back brace, and I have been wearing it most of the day. I am so worried how I will manage with carrying him up and down stairs for 12 weeks I sure hope either my back gets stronger, hubby does not mind getting woken up to help carry Graham, or Graham loses weight

I'll let you all know how he's doing when he is showing noticable improvement. I hate to keep posting bad stuff because I know how much you all care for him, just as I care for all of your dogs, like they are my family, too. Thanks for all the concerns. I know that Graham appreciates it, although he's not well enough to tell you all for himself how much he appreciates it. I wish you all a good night. Thank you again for being such good, kind friends.

Oh, and Lizbud....the surgeon said the same thing about the dog maybe crying due to confusion and fear, more then physical pain. That is comforting, whether it's true or not, it's still comforting. Thank you I appreciate it. The mental image of Graham crying out of confusion rather then out of extreme pain is so much easier to focus on.