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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Here is
an Opie update and a little history on what happened.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>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. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>Now a
chuckle for you all …. </span><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:black'>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????<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>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?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Sandi
Wittenberg & The Red Bay Gang<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Grady,
Hoagie, Johnny, Norm & Opie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>sandi@redbaybassets.com<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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