It’s been four days since the big surgery.  Rio’s aready-massive bruising has spread and covers her entire undercarriage, from between her front legs, down over her belly and up around above her tail.  Side to side, it covers the outside of the left hip, across her amputation site, down to her knee on the other side.  I’ve been doing lots of hot and cold packs, and the swelling and fluid build up has subsided quite a bit, but it’s still quite a sight.  She doesn’t seem to be bothered by it though, so I’m taking my cues from her.

I continue to be surprised by the fact that she’s the “same dog” as before the surgery.  I’m not sure why this surprises me, or what about her personality I expected to change, but I still find myself thinking “I can’t believe she’s <insert Rio’s quirky habit here>!”  I am in awe of her resilience and strength.  I am so proud of her progress in such a short space of time.  And most of all, I love, love, love that her essential Rio-ness is unscathed by this whole ordeal.

I think I believed that taking away her leg would somehow diminish who she was, hence, part of my reluctance to go through with the surgery.  Now, I find that she’s even more of a Woo to be proud of and to be inspired by.  I just look at her, and I see her determination and her strength, and I realize that she is so much stronger than I ever gave her credit for being (and I gave her a lot of credit already).  She is SOOO much stronger than me.  I’m going to have to really put on my big girl pants if I’m going to stay ahead of her during this recovery period!