Just a final post to say thanks again and relate a powerful lesson I learned (make that re-learned) last night: don't try to anticipate the future.
I do this all the time, and I think 10 times out of 10, what I presume is going to happen is the worst-case scenario. I did the same thing last night, and I posted it here: my expectation that Penny was going to wake up out of the anesthesia in the evening and be up all night in pain.
Guess what? She slept like Rip Van Winkle! All night, not a pip.
So all that fear and worry and apprehension was in vain. All it did was fuel my existing anxiety, which in turn fueled my desire to drink. It brings me back to that compelling lesson dogs give us: live in the moment.
Penny is 1,500 percent better already. Eating like a champ. Breathing like a swami. I could ask for no more. We're not out of the woods yet by any means, but we are pointed in the right direction.
I leave you with a pic of Penny today.
One of her very, very favoritest things to do every morning without fail is to go out on the deck off our bedroom on sunny days and sit on the couch. She hasn't been able to do that of late because sitting in the sun, for even a few minutes, heated her up so much that she would begin panting rapidly and become short of breath.
Today, she did something new: She actually went to the door, used her nose to draw the shade back, and looked outside to see if there was sun (on days where I open the door and there is no sun she doesn't go out).
There was sun and I decided to let her go sit for just a few minutes. She went to her spot and sat exactly as she always does. (She usually goes out later when the sun covers all of the cushion; note how she made sure to sit just inside the sun line.) I brought her in after a few minutes and she had no issues at all, save for the fact that I didn't let her stay out longer...
Thanks for all your lamps, lights, and love. You were all here when I needed you.