How My Lucy Lost Her Bark, Sort Of

The day after Christmas Lucy went in for surgery. Since she was a baby she has coughed a lot, like she is trying to cough up a hairball. The vet did an x-ray and found a lump on her vocal cord and watched it. Over time it has gotten larger. When laying down it was pushing on her esophagus (sp??) and causing discomfort, thus barking and puking. I was getting barking complaints and risking eviction. So we went in for surgery. They removed this lump, the size of a nickle, and it was NOT cancer. Just a tumor thank God. But it also took a chunk of her vocal cord out rusulting in Lucy sort of Losing her bark. She more or less now has an "inside voice." She can still bark but it is quieter, and a lower tone. Not so shrill. And she can still growl, and whine, they just sound different. And she is in no discomfort. And not puking as much. I am still having trouble with her eating habits. She should be eating at least 3.5 cups of food a day and we are lucky if she eats 1.5. I am working with her vets with ways to help her. The surgery was painless for Lucy. She came out saggy, and since she is already saggy all over, it was a bit heart breaking, but they insisted she was in no pain at all. They gave me tranquilizers to keep her from trying to bark for a few days to heal. They said to give her 2 pills. They were HORRIBLE. My poor doggie was worthless. Her eyes rolled back in her head. She could not walk. I had to hold her up to pee, carry her places, boost her up on the bed, bring her water to her, hold her head up to drink. After one dose of that I quit using them. They were too much for my little doggie. She healed up nicely. No stitches to come out at all. And best of all, the surgery was only $130! This whole episode made me think of Rudyard Kipling's stories like "How The Camel Lost His Hump" or how Sara thought Daisy would lose her stripes after taking a dive into the toilet full of bleach. "How My Kitten Lost Her Stripes" only "How My Doggie Lost Her Bark." I guess there is a procedure to de-bark a dog that is done in much the same way Lucy's was done but instead of removing a portion of the vocal cord as in her case, they will sever the vocal cords to prevent barking. Who knew?! But no need to worry about my saggy pup. She is back to being her usual self, minus the puking, coughing, and barking!