Just got an e-mail from Debbie... here's what she has to say:

Well I talked to Jack's student this morning and they will be giving him oral pain meds with his IV, WAITING two hours for it to kick in, turn off the IV pain meds and see if the orals work That will let them know if he is ready to come home. How could he be? He is one very stoic dog, I hope he doesn't hide his pain. so it may be tonight or tomorrow, God knows the plan.

Well guys doctor just called again. They cannot tell if he is in pain or not. He is in a really large kennel which is padded and has a clear plexi glass door and is soundproof so he can rest. He is very quiet unless he notices someone and then he begins to cry. I must admit even I am not s ure if that is pain or anxiety or loneliness. Neither one of us do much alone time. Any Dr. Luther his surgeon wants to give him the benefit of the doubt and is not even going to take him off his IV meds today at all now. She will reevaluate this evening and again in the morning. It could be Sunday. She will not discharge a dog if she is unsure his pain is controlled. So I will stay at Amy's while Amy and Paul go home to visit me at my house. Great planning. It was supposed to be to help me care for Jack this weekend that they were going home.

Paul signed up to play in his alumni basketball tournament this weekend since she was coming home to help me. Now she wants to stay here. I will urge her to go though, she needs a real break and with Jack and me down here, she will finally get one.

I wish you could have seen her yesterday running back and forth between classes to see what was going on. Then she would sneak back to see if he was still in surgery. What a peach of a gal she is.

Ryan was getting on a plane yesterday afternoon to go to a bachelor party with fourteen friends. He must have called fifteen times since yesterday so worried about Jack. It was a bummer he had to go, but his dad bought him the plane ticket and he would have had to eat it to stay with me. Anyway, he is my bounding off the walls child. He would never have made it sitting at the hospital yesterday. He barely made it thru my surgery. He is a sweetheart too. I am so fortunate in my children. They both give me a reason to get up and get going, always have.

Oh I know I forgot to tell you that Jack has a slow drip from his nose which of course is expected, but it is quite a bit less than they have expected. So in the event it would be low blood volume after surgery maybe a transfusion in the making. However they think he is just responding to the surgery so much better than the three previous dogs did. Yay!

Amy just called on a break and she is heading to the small animal critical care unit after class to see if she can see Jack. However, like me, she will not let him see her. What a sweetie she is.