Lisa's Vet Procedure

Over the last few months, I had been keeping tabs on a lump on Lisa's backside. Not to go into gross detail of the exact location of this anomaly, let's just say it's with in 1 1/2 inches of an area frequently used for bowel evacuation and leave it at that. ;-) We all know that as dogs age, they get bumps and skin tags here and there. We can choose to have them removed or watch them and act on them at later time.

In Lisa's case, she has a few that the vet and I discussed already, but this one kinda surprised me. Beardies tend to need a good butt-check and subsequent butt-wash now and again because of debris and feces being caught in the hair back there - not any fault of the dog or their digestive system, just nature of living with a long haired dog. It was at this time that I found this lump. It didn't seem to bother her when I touched, so I decided to do a little research online and keep an eye on it.

As the months progressed, the lump didn't really change much. However, the area around it did. In the last few weeks, Lisa had begun biting at her rear and as a result, she ulcerated the skin around one of her anal sacs. This prompted further investigation into lump. The vet and I agreed it was best to have the lump removed. So last week, Lisa went in and had the procedure. While she was out, we also had a full abdomen x-ray done and her teeth were cleaned up. I figure rather than have her put under anesthesia again, better to make good use of it while she was out.

I, of course, was a nervous wreck and resorted to the nearest shopping mall for some holiday retail therapy to take my mind off matters. ;-) It almost worked...almost. I knew she was incapable hands - that wasn't my worry. My concern was over her in post-op. If you remember, it was in her post-op recovery hours from her last procedure that she bloated. It was comforting to know that if she did bloat again, it wouldn't be AS bad as it was since her stomach had been tacked; she wouldn't torsion again. But, still I would prefer to avoid the entire scenario altogether. Since the bloating incident did not happen on this vet's watch, I was very thorough in making sure they understood she was a high risk dog and all necessary precautions were taken. Additionally, I took some additional steps of my own and brought a shirt I had worn to have in her cage with her, so when she'd wake up, she'd smell something familiar. That, plus us having been at the office the week before and Lisa getting a good dose of love from the staff set us up for a good outcome.

And that's exactly what we had! Thank the Lord! Lisa came through her procedure again with flying colors. She was quiet and never fussed and never showed any bit of anxiety. When I picked her up, she acted tired, but was ready to go with me wherever I wanted to go. When I got her back to the house and The Boys got to "debrief" her, I fed her a little canned I-D with some chicken broth on it and she gobbled it up. My Lisa was indeed back!

It's been almost a week and she's healing up nicely. Haven't heard back from the vet on the results of the biopsy yet, but the x-ray only showed a little arthritis in her back, so that was good news. This week we get to celebrate Lisa's first Christmas as a free dog! I can't wait to celebrate it with her and the New Year!

Completely Unrelated Notes:
Apologies for not being able to keep up regular status reports on Lisa. Another rescue has been taking great amounts of my time. I'll post some info about her remarkable story when I can.

I'm attempting to get more pictures up of Lisa and enhance her site a bit. If I get the time, I'll actually design her something of her own! My main goal, however, was to get the information out there to be able to help others. Design has to come second to that! :-)

Two Weeks Later

Two weeks following Lisa's brush with death, she continues to do well. Her incision is pretty much healed and she's got a spring in her step like I've never seen before. You can tell she really feels better. I was slow to wean her off her pain medication since she had both mouth and abdomen procedures done I didn't want her to be in any discomfort. Unlike us 2-leggers, our 4-legged companions prefer to suffer in silence and never let on that they're in pain.

In observing Lisa, I noticed she would sometimes fall. Not just fall down, it was like someone ripped the rug out from under her feet. Splat! She would go crashing down on the floor. At first, I thought she wasn't getting any traction on my tile and wood floors; she did slip a lot and it wasn't all the time, just once here and there. However, that changed and it became a little more frequent. When she fell outside on the grass in the same manner as she did in the house, I scratched my head. Hmmm....ear infection, perhaps? She had been scratching at one ear; again, not enough to warrant another visit to the vet. Prior to her surgery, she had been seen by 2 vets in the past month (both my own vet and the SPCA's); no one ever commented about her having an ear infection even though it is extremely common in mill dogs. The ear didn't smell bad; it smelled like an ear should. It also was relatively clean, a little waxy, but clean, nonetheless.

As I continued to observe her, I noticed her trembling just prior to falling. I also watched the manner in which she fell. Of course, these were instances when I could not come to her aid and prevent it from happening. Being the knowledge junkie that I am, I get on the Internet and start doing some research into canine vestibular disorders. Vestibular disorders are nothing new to me as I was diagnosed last year with both Meniere's Disease and Migraine Associated Vertigo. Lisa kind of acted the way I do when I'm feeling dizzy or off balance. Regardless, her falling episodes kept getting worse. Instead of the 1 or 2 a day, it would be 5 or 6 a day. She still wasn't scratching at her ear other than just the occasional scratch.

Her follow-up appointment at Angel Vet was due and she needed to have the staples removed, so I figured this was a good opportunity to ask the vet about this. While we didn't meet with Dr. Hassler, we did meet with Dr. Lane. Dr. Lane did a full neurological exam on Lisa; he even took her outside to walk so he could get a better idea of what she was doing. He spent a lot of time with us. I talked him through her situation and we discussed various diagnoses, ear infections, pinched nerves, brain tumor, etc. Our conclusion was she possibly had an inner ear infection; that combined with the lack of muscle tone and poor coordination skills were making it hard for Lisa to keep her feet under her. Ear drops were prescribed and Dr. Lane did a geriatric blood panel on her. The results of the blood test which came back a day later were fine.

Dr. Lane suggested Lisa do underwater therapy on a treadmill. While in any normal situation, his suggestion would make logical sense. However, try as they might, most vets and their staff don't understand puppy mill dogs - not really. It's not their fault. How could any reasonably sane individual who has a true love for animals understand puppy mill owners and what they put those dogs through? Keeping a dog in small cage for its entire life, never allowing it to run, jump and play and be...umm a dog? It's unconscionable! Despite numerous pictures of these horrid places, my brain still cannot comprehend the concept. I digress. Getting back to Lisa and the underwater treadmill, my first thought was probably not a good idea for her - perhaps when she's rehabilitated more and understands that nothing bad is going to happen, maybe... Right now, we'll just keep walking in the yard. ;-)

Lisa's Recovery Continues

Lisa continues to improve and each day I see something new and different. Her appetite continues to return to its pre-surgical vivaciousness and her activity level, while not overwhelming to begin with, is also increasing. This first week following I've been very careful to not over exert her, but at the same time I've been getting her to do small physical therapy-type exercises in the backyard.

She is so weak and has absolutely no muscle tone in her legs. Physical therapy right now consists of walking up and down some of the moderately sloped sections in my backyard. When her stitches are removed, we'll be able to work a little harder on this. For now, we need her to get all better. She's been doing a good job of leaving her stitches alone; I've only needed to use the e-collar just a few times.

Perhaps the best part of her recovery is the glimpses I keep getting of a budding personality in her. I had a few peeks at this prior to this dreadful bloating incident happening, but now that I've spent more consistent time with her I really get to see this sprouting personality a little more in depth. It makes me smile because for the first time in her life, she's no one's cash machine.

The First 72 Hours

The hours following GDV surgery are critical. This time is almost as critical as the surgery itself. For Lisa, she would be no different than any other patient. Her surgery occurred at 6 or so in the evening; we were instructed to pick her up at 9 when the vet's office closed to transport her to the emergency vet's office for overnight observation. Later that night, we picked her up. I could hardly contain my tears of joy at seeing her. I tried to keep my composure as post-op instructions were conveyed.

The first 24 hours are probably the most crucial of the 72 as the risk of recurrence is high along with a host of other complications. Lisa's outstanding performance during the surgery gave her a good fighting chance going into the 72 hours. I had eerie chill run down my spine though as I filled out the DNR form for Lisa. This question was something I had never given a moment's thought to, other than, "Of course, I'd do whatever," as the standard answer. However, this question wasn't about me. It was about Lisa and I had to be honest and do what would be best FOR HER. My answer was to do what was reasonable and that I had to be contacted if anything further needed to be decided. Thank the Lord, the staff did not have to use that form! Lisa made it through the night in terrific shape. We had to pick her up at 7 AM and take her back to the vet's office for observation during the day.

We would keep this routine up for one more day before she was discharged. Her condition kept improving each day despite her not having an appetite. Can't say I really blame her - given what she just went through, not sure I'd have an appetite either. Plus, the medication probably wasn't helping. Finally, Saturday night we were able to bring her home. It was such a relief to do that. Now, we could really work on her getting her better. By Sunday afternoon, Lisa started taking her first bites of food - some boiled chicken and rice mixed with a teeny bit of canned pumpkin.

Tragedy Strikes and a Miracle Happens

Taking Lisa back to my house for the night was relatively uneventful. My boys, Tedi & Tyler, are incredible foster brothers. While intensely curious about the newcomer, they still gave her space as if almost sensing Lisa was special. Penny also briefly stayed at my house prior to going on to her new family, and that was Tedi's first time acting as foster brother. I was quite impressed by him having never seen him in the role prior. Tyler, the other Son of Anarchy, is very experienced at dealing with these "other dogs" and naturally does a great job. Lisa was very cautious about the house. She liked walking around it though. Walk here, walk there and back again. Not being a housebroke dog, this activity keeps you on your toes!

The next morning off to the dog dentist we go! Lisa handles the car okay, although you can tell it's a new experience for her. I don't think she's made up her mind if she likes it or not. Lisa's time at the dentist goes by quickly and I get the call to pick her up. On our way back home, I hear her in the crate beginning to vomit - or at least the sounds of that. Getting the car off the freeway, I get to safe spot, stop and check on her. When I look, there's nothing there - no vomit, no bile, just some saliva. She had stopped so I figured perhaps she's carsick and with an empty tummy, there's nothing there to come out. I give her a few minutes and she seems fine otherwise so I get back on the road and head home.

We get back to the house, I put her in the crate and begin to make dinner when I hear those same sounds again. Gosh, she's gonna throw up again. This time, she seemed panicky. I kinda figured maybe it was a reaction to the anesthesia and she was having a hard time recovering (not knowing where she was, confusion, etc.) so I take all the dogs outside. It was then I got my first definitive warning sign -- I saw excessive foamy drool and saliva on the corners of her mouth. I called the dentist's office - got their voicemail. I called the surgical tech's cell phone number that he gave me - got his voicemail. I turn around and Lisa had walked a little bit away from me, when I caught up to her I saw her stomach and entire midsection was blown up like balloon. OMG!!!! She's BLOATING!!

I had never in the 18+ years of ever having dogs never had a dog bloat on me before. Thankfully, I recognized the symptoms as quickly as I did. Guess I did retain some of those wonderful health articles I read each month in the Bagpipes! When I re-tell this story, I tell people I panicked. I literally had a panic attack. Now, I'm not one who panics, I leave that to others. I'm a person of action, while others are standing around with their hands on their faces and mouths open. Well, I must have mentally smacked myself in the face and told myself to get it together, cuz I snapped out it somehow! I grabbed my trusty iPhone, got to the web and typed emergency vet and my town's name. I didn't even spell the name of my town correctly, but Google figured it out what I meant. The first hit was a vet's office not 10 minutes from house. They were still open and specialized in emergency situations having 2 e-vets on staff. I called them and told them I had a dog that's bloating and we're coming in!

Don't ask me how I drove there, but I did. I've driven in emergency situations before and frankly, I don't like it. I do remember taking my Toyota Highlander off road for a bit on the short hike over there. At Angel Veterinary Center, we were met by Doctor Hassler. She immediately went to work on Lisa, whose poor tummy looked like it was going to explode it was stretched so tight. She looked like she was pregnant. Xrays confirmed bloat, but not the usual images were seen. After several attempts at inserting a gastric tube failed, the Dr. Hassler's initial diagnosis was confirmed, Lisa's stomach had twisted the opposite direction. Emergency surgery was needed to save her life. With prayers said, I agreed to the surgery.

My husband joined me at the vet's office and together we waited and prayed. I couldn't help but cry as I sat waiting for any news. I refused to believe that God would bring Lisa this far only to have it all end like this. "I know you have something special in mind for her, Lord." I kept praying. If you know anything about dogs and bloat, you know there's a 50/50 chance they'll survive the surgery and that the dogs still aren't out of the woods even if they do survive the surgery. Not knowing her previous health history and knowing that her age was working against us, the odds were not stacked in our favor. Some might have just put her down rather than go through with the surgery, but I saw so much potential left in her I had to give her that chance. With the odds stacked against her, I never gave up hope or faith that she would pull through.

The door opened to the exam room and Doctor Hassler appeared. She had a calm look on her face so it was hard to read how things went; gotta love the professionalism. Lisa had not only survived the surgery, she did flawlessly throughout it. There was no damage done to her stomach or spleen. There was very little fluid in her stomach, too. She was stapled stem to stern, but she made it over the first major hurdle. Thank you, Jesus!