journeys with jax and oliver: You, My Green Eyed Girl

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

You, My Green Eyed Girl

This would make quite a "Not Me Monday" post.

Only, it's not Monday.

And, unfortunately, it did happen.

And I find very little humor in the situation.

This is my Maggie Mae as of 6pm tonight:

Notice anything different about her?

And, no, she did not get colored contacts (okay, maybe a little humor).

This morning we took Mags to the groomers, a new one in our new hometown.

They were super nice, clean, and reasonable in price.

When I picked her up this afternoon, the groomer and I had the following conversation:

Groomer: "Do her eyes weep a little? I can't seem to keep her face dry."

Me: "Oh yeah, it's her breed. No problem."

Groomer: "Okay, good, I was hoping it wasn't something I did."

Me: (feeling a little uneasy) "Nah, I doubt it."

So we left.

Maggie wimpered all the way home. I figured it was just that she was nervous after having been left in a strange place all day. I unloaded the car--you know, the usual--baby, diaper bag, bottle bag, errands purchases, mail, dog, kitchen sink--and went inside. Jax was sleeping, so I placed him in the baby swing and sat down on the couch to go through the mail. I patted the spot beside me and looked up to see Maggie coming over. What I saw was a terrible sight!

She looked up at me with one eye. The other eye was just a quivering slit, dripping discharge. I tried to gently touch the eye, and she jerked away. My heart dropped. What in the world had the groomer done to her???

Praise the Lord, my mom was across town cleaning her new apartment, so I made a frantic phonecall that she had to come sit with Jackson. I had tried over and over and over again to reach the grooming salon, but I kept getting an answering machine. It was only 4:10pm, and they didn't close until 5pm, but I could not reach a soul by phone. I knew I was going to have to drive Maggie over to them to be looked at. A few minutes later Mom arrived, and Maggie and I set out. I drove through tears, calling the groomer repeatedly en route.

Nada.

"I KNEW IT!!!" (and a few other choice words) I exclaimed when I pulled into the parking lot. It was 4:47pm and they were locked up and gone. Again, they did not close until 5pm--they had been gone as early as 4:10pm when I initially called. I was so upset--and now I was absolutely furious!

I booked it back toward home . . . poor other drivers in my path . . . because there is a vet one street over from our house. Mind you, we have never been seen at this vet's office because we just moved here. I have none of Maggie's vaccination records, etc with me either. I rush in the door at 4:56pm, not in the best of spirits, and these people are SAINTS!

The vet worked her into the schedule (quickly too), dyed Maggie's eye to check for a corneal abrasion, reassured me that I had certainly made the right decision to bring her in immediately as this can cause blindness very quickly, and was the most wonderful and gentle lady you could ever image. They also waived the $22 "work in" fee given our situation . . . and wrote me a letter to take to the grooming salon.

Maggie was discharged $97.25 later with two medications (antibiotic eye drops and blood serum eye drops) and this diagnosis: LARGE SUPERFICIAL GEOGRAPHIC CORNEAL ULCER OF THE LEFT EYE CAUSED BY CHEMICAL IRRITANT. She also has to return to the vet next week for a recheck after seven days of medications--that would be one drop of each med, 10 minutes apart, four times daily--no problemo! I'll whip those right in my wimpering dog's eye slit with a baby on one hip, dinner on the stove, placing bottles in the fridge (right next to the canine blood serum), with laundry in the dryer!

Piece-o-cake.

All joking aside, I am just thankful that my poor baby is going to be okay!