Little Bo Beep can't count sheep

Tuesday:
Jackson cried and whimpered and moaned ALL night last night save maybe two hours. He was clearly in pain once the anesthesia and everything wore off. He was prescribed an opiate pain medication which we administered as directed. Shortly thereafter the crying started. The doctor told us that it was on the low end of the scale so if he needed more we could give it to him. So I pushed more and more pills with inacquiescence from him. I was afraid of overdosing him but likewise I was afraid that he was suffering. All along Damon said he thought he was tripping on the drugs. When I finally spoke to the doctor this morning he confirmed that Damon's assessment was probably accurate and we should observe how Jackson tolerates the pain sans meds throughout the day. Damon was with him the first half and said he cried intermittently. I've monitored him the second half and have noticed a large improvement although his eyes tell me how uncomfortable he is. I feel sick to my stomach knowing that he's hurting and unable to relieve it. I sure hope the surgery was worth it.

Wednesday:
Damon got called in for a job interview so I had to come home midday to be with the patient. When I got here he was sunbathing in the back yard which is a typical activity for him. The only difference is that he has a gaping hole in his ass that ants were sniffing around! I was petrified that they would crawl into the drain tubes and into his body. The rest of the day we opted to refrain from the use of pain medication at all since Jackson seemed to improve immensely. As a result he had a much better night. He doesn't often get to sleep in our bed but I thought I would put him in bed with me that way he could take the cone off and I would feel it if he tried to chew out his stitches. When I went off to bed I tried to get him to come with me but he wanted to stay on his own bed in the den. I had no choice but to put the collar on. An hour later I woke up to his moaning again. I realized that he was muggin' over that stupid collar so I coaxed him to come to bed with me. He quickly realized that he could get the cone off if he got up on my bed so he capitulated. We both had a restful night with only one interruption.

Thursday:

My lovebug accompanied me to work today - he was a very good assistant. He seems to be recovering miraculously. We still haven't received the pathology report but it may be available when we take him in tomorrow to have the drains removed. I'll keep the updates coming as I know some of you have asked.