[Dailydrool] Opie Update

[Sandi Wittenberg]

Here is an Opie update and a little history on what happened.

Opie had the urka-gurka's on Friday . ok on Saturday . once on Sunday . ok
on Monday . then refused chicken noodle soup Tuesday morning for breakfast.
I had been doing bland diet since Friday . which he had been schnarfing
down.   So . high alert Tuesday . about 4 Tuesday afternoon he got really
pale gums and I said that's it . we are going in.  They did blood work and a
physical palpation of the abdomen . felt something but didn't get a pain
response.  We did an ultrasound and saw free-floating fluid in the abdomen
.aspirated it . clear blood tinged fluid.  Went to surgery to explore .
found intessusception  (telescoping of the intestines).  It was at the point
where the large and small intestines join . bad spot because you have to cut
out the damaged intestines and then join the two ends . except they aren't
the same size.  So after some consultation amongst the vets and
brainstorming (I was in surgery with them), they cut the small intestine on
an angle (to make the surface area greater) and joined it to the large
intestine.  Due to some excellent veterinary and surgical skill, the ends
matched almost perfectly.  Opie did fine throughout surgery, which lasted
almost 2 hours, and after almost another hour and a half, finally woke up
enough to be extubated.  He is heavily sedated and is in critical condition
but will very likely be fine.  The intestines were not necrotic and there
was not any perforation, so we got it early in the process.  He will remain
at the vet's through Friday at least.  They are there 24/7/365 . so someone
is physically with him all the time.  

Obviously, I am concerned but I am not worried.   I have confidence he will
recover well . he is young and strong. I left there at 11:30 last night,
called at 2:00 AM to check on him and called again at 8 AM this morning.  He
is resting comfortably and sleeping.   They will call me if there is any
change and I will go spend some time with him this afternoon.  They want him
to remain quiet, so my visit needs to be timed with his meds so he isn't too
excited.

Now a chuckle for you all ..   When Opie went into surgery, I called my
husband and filled him in and asked him to call Debbie and bring me my cell
phone, which I had left at home in my haste to rush Opie in to the vet.
So, about 30 minutes later, one of the vet techs came to the surgical suite,
where I was in the operating room with Opie, and told me my husband had just
arrived with my cell phone.  So I left the surgery (with surgical gown, cap
on and surgical mask pulled about halfway down) and went out to meet him in
the lobby and fill him in.  I held out my hand for the cell phone and he
said (and this is a quote) :  I AM SANDI'S HUSBAND AND I BROUGHT HER CELL
PHONE FOR HER.    At this point I lost it . and I said I AM SANDI, YOU DIP
S&*T . WE HAVE BEEN MARRIED 42+ YEARS AND YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE ME WITH A
SURGICAL GOWN AND CAP ON????

Needless to say, everyone there at the vet got a good chuckle out of it .
and he will have a hard time living this one down.  Craig does not handle
stress well . ya' think?

 

Sandi Wittenberg & The Red Bay Gang

Grady, Hoagie, Johnny, Norm & Opie

sandi at redbaybassets.com

 

 

 

 

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