Since dogs recognize us mostly by our scent, the odd scents of the hospital and things you came in contact with, your obvious discomfort and the way you changed your lifestyle for a while after surgery, the stopping your frequent walks with her likely made her wary of you and think you changed somehow toward her(everything is our fault to them) and the different scents from the surgical suite and hospital perhaps reminded her of something bad in her past. If you have materially changed in your habits or actions due to surgery, she could be taking that personally. Then, her estrus hits her system and she's further thrown off kilter.
I believe I would try a test - just quietly cover myself with treats and sit in the recliner and ask your wife to put her down on you and see what happens. If she eats all the treats and comes back to check and see if more are there, she's likely going to be okay. If she jumps down immediately and runs off, that will tell us that she still senses something very different about you. And if she does eat all the treats during your test, you could sit with the her dinner and hand-feed her her breakfast and dinner for a couple of days, just to show her you are there for her.
__________________  Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |