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We picked up our dachshund Li'l Girl from the vet last night.  She had a right-sided hemilaminectomy in the T13-L1 area of her spine.  Her surgery was only Sunday morning, and we weren't terribly comfortable with picking her up only one day after, but she had met all her milestones for being discharged.  Unfortunately, since it was in the evening, the surgeon wasn't there for us to ask specific questions.  The ER staff couldn't do much but give us her discharge paperwork.  To be fair, they were very busy.  But at the same time, we were a bit upset about it.  This wasn't a minor surgery, after all.  We were sent home with Rimadyl (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory) and Tramadol (narcotic-like pain reliever), both to be given every 12 hours.  The discharge instructions left a lot to be desired.  I am so thankful for sites like Dodgerslist and others, which offer an abundance of information and resources regarding all things IVDD.
Anyway, needless to say, it was a stressful time after we got home.  As soon as we got here, we figured out that she had urinated in the traveling carrier.  We had a thick pillow in there for her and she soaked right through it and left plenty in the carrier itself.  There was so much - it made me wonder when the poor baby had gone last.  We tried later to get her to urinate outside, but she was too cold, scared, anxious, and likely painful to get anything done.  We brought her in and let her be out on the floor with us for a bit before moving her into her crate.  We tried getting her to urinate outside one more time before bed and nada.  However, after moving her crate to the bedroom and wishing her goodnight one last time, she started licking at one of her back feet.  We felt back there, and sure enough, she had urinated in the crate.  Poor baby.  Clean up.  New bedding.  Back in the crate.  Sleep.  A little.
On to Tuesday morning (this morning).  7 am... actually get her to urinate outside.  We create a little makeshift enclosure for her using a baby gate.  This will be easier to get her into and out of when she has accidents, which she did later.  She had been laying on her little mattress and she kept acting uncomfortable, but I couldn't figure out what was wrong at first.  Thought she was just experiencing pain waiting for her morning meds to take effect.  Finally it hits me, and I feel underneath her.  All wet.  Sigh, poor baby.  She had just gone while laying there.  Move her off, clean up, new bedding, put her back.  She still seems uncomfortable, so I'm thinking maybe she needs to have a BM.  This had already been a concern - whether she would be able to do it on her own or not, and when that would happen.  I decide to see if she needs to and can, and take her outside.  Let it be known that carrying her terrifies me - I am SO afraid of hurting her.  I get her sat down on the grass and watch her.  I see her little body folding a little and what do you know... she is pooping!  Never been that excited about poop before, but this is something that they are sometimes unable to do for a number of days after surgery.  I am thrilled that she is doing it on her own.  Get her back inside and she still just won't be settled.  I know she is in misery, but I can tell there's something else and it doesn't take too long to figure it out.  She just isn't happy in the corner we set her up in.  I attempt moving her to the window where her and our other dachshund always nap in between watching out the window.  The problem is... he is laying in one of the dog beds that we usually keep there and she wants in it.  I can't have that... she needs to stay on her little flat mattress.  Sigh... move her again.  Fortunately, this little mattress has a relatively slick bottom, so I can pull it around with her on it.  The compromise ends up being under my husband's desk that is pretty close to that window.  She isn't facing out the window, but at least she's now facing me and she knows she's closer to her brother (he's not really her blood brother, but of course we call them brother and sister).  She's finally laying down again.
I didn't include earlier that we went through a couple hours of freaking me out.  Shaking, heating up, panting, cooling down, repeat the process.  She always has a water bowl, so it wasn't that she was just thirsty.  I was getting scared for a bit, thinking something might be really wrong.  She just didn't seem well.  I also neglected to mention that I called her surgeon earlier in the morning to ask the questions we didn't get to ask the night before.  He answered them, but didn't leave me feeling any more confident.  I still feel like I don't/won't know when something is truly amiss or when she's just having normal post-op symptoms that will get better with time.  I'm the kind of person who freaks out over anything/everything.  I watch her very closely... I am looking at her every few seconds as I write this.  It's only one in afternoon, but it's already been a rough day for both of us.  Her discharge instructions say four weeks of indoor confinement, with no running, jumping, or rough play.  However, so many IVDD resources and guides that I've read say six weeks strict crate rest following surgery, so we're going to stick as closely with that as possible.  It's going to be a long road, but she's worth it.  Enough for today.  My updates will get shorter with time, as I get less stressed about her recovery (Lord knows when that will happen, though).

This crate isn't working - something else coming soon.

In my makeshift enclosure until the new one is built.