Today is the big day. Monty and I arrived at the CSU vet hospital bright and early at 7:30am this morning. I was able to meet with the new team (my previous team, for several reasons, was unable to do the surgery today) and ask any final questions I had. Monty was typical Monty and shook as if he was a chihuahua once we got inside the hospital. That pup is too smart for his own good! The new team seems wonderful. We have a student vet, a teaching vet, and the surgeon, who is one of the staff surgeons. It was a difficult morning for me, but I made sure to be calm and collected while Monty was still with me. Don’t need him knowing I’m a mess! He was taken back to their prep area around 8:15am to get a once-over, get his blood type, and start prepping for surgery.
I will receive phone calls right before Monty goes in for surgery, right after he wakes up, and a follow-up call before the team leaves for the day. They do have an overnight team that takes over, so Monty will be monitored the entire night. They will then call me tomorrow morning around 8am to let me know how he’s doing and if/when he’ll be ready for me to pick him back up. The vet also said she would take a picture of Monty post-surgery so I can prepare myself for what he’ll look like when I see him in person again.
This will be the first time since I adopted Monty that I sleep in my home without him there. It will definitely be an odd evening for both of us. I left a hoodie that I wore most of yesterday with Monty so he could smell home and me, and hopefully know I will be coming for him as soon as I can!
Please send all you’ve got – prayers, positive energy, good juju, etc – to Monty for his surgery today and for his recovery in the days to come. Thank you ❤
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And for something a little more fun: all this week leading up to today, Monty and I had as many adventures as we could. He went swimming at the indoor dog pool, got all the pets at New Belgium Brewery, went hiking and swimming at Horsetooth Reservoir, did our usual walks at the ponds near our house, and had a toy party last night (since he won’t have toys for a month… poor guy!). Enjoy our pictures from the adventures. 🙂
Jenna Riedi 
Jenna, Just so you know I’m still thinking about you and Monty. I pray the lab results come back cancer free. I know exactly what you’re going through as you know. It’s all very difficult, but Monty really has a good chance to be his normal happy self again for a long time to come. I will be watching Monty’s blog for sure.