My Poor, poor kitty!

So...this is not for the faint of heart. Tux came home yesterday after his surgery in the morning. So, it turns out that his injury was much worse than all of us has anticipated...the vet had to do an incision about 6-7 inches long! She was supposed to just clean the original wound and stitch it up so it would heal properly, but as she was doing the surgery, she found that the wound we were seeing was the "tip of the iceberg." She had to enlarge the incision and remove some debris and hair from under the skin, which is what is in the plastic baggy. He now has a drainage tube to help with swelling and infection. And he does NOT like the lampshade he is wearing for a hat right now. We brought him home from the vet at about 6:00 p.m. and almost had to take him back to the vet at 11:00 p.m. because Tux kept finding a way to get the "e-collar" off. After managing to get it off for about the 6th time, he bit through one of his stitches...the one holding the top of the drainage tube in place. NASTY! There was blood and fluid all over the floor...not a pretty sight. So we finally were able to get him to keep the collar on and I stayed up with him until 4:30 a.m. to make sure he didn't take it off again. The emergency vet clinic that I called said that I just HAD to make sure it stayed on...regardless of what it takes! I finally crawled into bed at 4:30 a.m. and the dogs woke up at about 5:45 a.m. Needless to say, I freakin' exhausted, but glad Tux is doing better this morning. I was semi-successful in getting his antibiotics down and he was finally able to eat some food this morning. He's been napping on Cole's bed for about 2 hours now, all calm and quiet. When Cole woke up this morning, Tux was resting on the couch and Cole said, "Mommy, mommy...look, there's Tux. And he has an owie! May I go kiss him?" Such a sweet boy! Please pray that I am able to keep it together over the next few days. We have an appt for the vet to take out the drainage tube on Saturday morning. However, I've been super emotional about the whole thing and that's just not the way to handle it. I need to have super-strength right now...to deal with Tux and his injuries, to continue to train and pay attention to Neo and Trinity, and, most importantly, tend to my little Cole-man!

Sad note...this is the first year I can remember that I did not get pumpkins from Lombardi's Ranch! We don't have any pumpkins to carve, no candy to give out, no costumes to wear. What a bummer Halloween this will be. Hopefully I'll figure out something so Cole can at least walk around our neighborhood and get the experience. We were going to go to Grace for the Fall Festival, but I don't think it's a good idea to leave Tux for very long! Anyway...Happy Halloween and have a fun and safe night!