Mona Lisa Smile

Saffron and I quietly celebrated an anniversary of sorts this past Saturday. It was the one month anniversary of our second shot.

Saffron suffered a spinal cord injury this summer and followed that up by constant distress/pain for six weeks. She have countless veterinary visits and two veterinary neurologist visits. And then an odd miracle happened.

As I resigned myself to put my little friend down, I came home from work one night to find an odd object on the floor. It was a dog molar. One of her teeth had fallen out of her mouth. Again, we trekked to the vet and on the inspection of her teeth, I was told she had a terrible abscess. I was also told that the chances my pal would survive the dental surgery weren't in her favor considering her age.

I didn't have to weigh the options for long. Try the dental surgery and if she dies from the anesthetic, she will pass quietly and painlessly. But there is a chance that the teeth are the root of her pain issues. If I don't do the surgery I have to put her down because she cannot live the way she is living.

I dropped her off at the vet one morning before work for the surgery. Before the technician took her in the back I hugged her tight, told her that Mommy loves her and took a deep sniff of her head in case I never smelled her again.

That afternoon my phone rang. "She's a trooper," the technician said. Saffron made it through.

They pulled two teeth, cleaned the abscess to the bone, and cleaned her remaining teeth.

Once she was home the crying began again. I had to travel for work and she spent the next five days with my mother. "It's time to let her go," my mom said when I called to check in. Saffron was still in pain. Still acting out.

I attempted to call the vet several times from my trip to make the appointment to put her down the day after I got home. It would have been a Saturday morning.

I couldn't make the call.

I picked Saffron up on a Friday evening; the day before the day I was going to say goodbye. She seemed fine when we got home. She seemed fine the next day. And the next. And suddenly, four weeks have passed.

I can only assume that she was still in pain the week after the surgery as a result of the surgery...the soreness from the cutting, extractions and stitching.

There is something to be said for procrastination. I have never been happier to be too weak to make a phone call in my life.

Happy second shot, Saffron. Mommy loves you and your million dollar smile.