Continuing Saga of Tobby

We scheduled her appointment for the Wednesday following our annual family camping trip in September. I had cried a few times since we scheduled Tobby's appointment, mostly at night. My tears were bittersweet. I wanted Tobby to be lump free and have a better quality of life, but at the same time, I was so worried that she wouldn't make it through surgery. Every night that she slept in bed with me, I would kiss her on the top of her head and tell her that I loved her before I would go to sleep. I was conflicted because the one person I knew I could talk to about anything at anytime of night, was the one that I was worried about. When I tried talking to Jeremy about it, I would just end up crying and couldn't get more than two sentences out. I tried as hard as I could not to worry myself and just concentrate on the upcoming camping trip.



It was late morning when I started packing and Tobby knew something was up. She'd been camping enough times before that she could tell when we were getting ready to leave. As I finished packing my explorer, I noticed Tobby lying down in the grass next to me, making sure we didn't leave without her. Soon it was time to leave and I asked Tobby if she was ready to go camping. Without hesitation she sprung to her feet and jogged to the car as fast as her legs would let her, whining the whole way (in excitement of course). I put her on her bed in the back seat, rolled down her window and off we went. We headed east toward Mt. Rainier, with Tobby's face up near the window. Her nose was twitching the entire two and a half hour drive. We got to the campsite just as the sun was starting to go down and as Jeremy and I unpacked, Tobby went to greet everybody who was already there.



Tobby has always loved camping. With so many new smells to smell and places to explore, she's never bored. This trip was no exception. She sniffed every corner of the entire site and wanted to follow us everywhere we went. She seemed invigorated, even leaping down a 3 foot embankment just to follow my dad. She was having fun. Each night, Tobby found the perfect spot near the fire to curl up and warm her old bones. My 50 pound Tobby slept in the two person tent that Jeremy and I shared. I made a nice spot for her at my feet and I slept more curled up than normal just so she was comfortable. One night she woke up crying, we thought she had to go potty so Jeremy sat up to find a sweatshirt to take her out. While his attention was diverted, she got up, went over to his pillow and plopped down, groaning as she got comfortable! After we got done laughing, Jeremy helped me scoot Tobby back down to her bed and we went back to sleep. Like all fun vacations, the end always came too quickly and Tobby was insistent on staying whether her bed was in the tent or not. But we had to go, Tobby had a surgery to get ready for.

Mom and I woke up early on Wednesday morning to take Tobby to the vet. I had spent Tuesday night holding Tobby and crying myself to sleep. Wednesday morning we were on our way to the vet. I held Tobby in the back seat, petting and loving her the entire way. At 7:30 am on September 16, we arrived at Twin Lakes Veterinary Hospital. We checked Tobby in at the reception desk and soon the veterinary technician came up front to get Tobby and take her back to the 'surgery waiting area'. Before they took her away, I told her I loved her and pet her one last time. The receptionist told us we would hear from them sometime before noon. We thanked them and headed outside. Once I stepped foot outside of the door, I broke down and started crying. I couldn't help but thing that I would never see Tobby again and I couldn't handle the thought. Mom hugged me, but it didn't help.



...to be continued...