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Surgery For Alex's Corn Cobs


Guest CyndiW

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Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I missed this thread 'til now. I thought it was about corn surgery on a toe. ....

 

I just read through this entire thread, I'm so glad that Alex is doing better.

 

Regarding peeing on himself...could the vets put some artificial skin or silicone wound dressing over his entire stomach, from the penis up, to cover the incision? I don't know the name of the product, but there is something used on humans to cover incisions that might help.

 

Keep eating for your mom and dad Alex. I hope you are well soon,

 

DD

Donna
Molly the Border Collie & Poquita the American-born Podenga

Bridge Babies: Daisy (Positive Delta) 8/7/2000 - 4/6/2115, Agnes--angel Sage's baby (Regall Rosario) 11/12/01 - 12/18/13, Lucky the mix (Found, w 10 puppies 8/96-Bridge 7/28/11, app. age 16) & CoCo (Cosmo Comet) 12/28/89-5/4/04

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What wonderful news. I am so glad to hear Alex is eating so well and getting him strength back. It sounds like at this point the vets feel he's turned the corner? Still keeping you guys in my thoughts so that Alex can come home soon, where he will surely recover even more quickly! :yay

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Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Great news! Hope he's able to come home soon! :yay :yay :yay

 

Sending more good thoughts for continued smooth recovery!


Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

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sending more prayers for your boy! :hope :hope :hope :hope

Kim and Bruce - with Rick (Rick Roufus 6/30/16) and missing my sweet greyhound Angels Rainey (LG's Rainey 10/4/2000 - 3/8/2011), Anubis (RJ's Saint Nick 12/25/2001 - 9/12/12) and Zeke (Hey Who Whiz It 4/6/2009 - 7/20/2020) and Larry (PTL Laroach 2/24/2007 - 8/2/2020) -- and Chester (Lab) (8/31/1990 - 5/3/2005), Captain (Schipperke) (10/12/1992 - 6/13/2005) and Remy (GSP) (?/?/1998 - 1/6/2005) at the bridge
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." -- Ernest Hemmingway

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Guest Winterwish

Oh this is such hopeful and good news!! :yay:hope Good boy Alex! :kiss2:dogcookie You two have been incredible in taking care of him,I'm sure that's why he's going to pull thru'.

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Guest MySkye

Continuing the good thoughts, white lights, candles, stinky food, hugs and anything else that helps Alex get stronger everyday!

 

Hugs to mom and dad during this time as well. :colgate

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Guest CyndiW

He is still eating the baby food - usually 2 jars at a time. He turns away all solid food even mushy stuff. We are not sure if he truly isn't up to it or if he just really likes the baby food and has become quite spoiled. He still only wants it if he can lick it from the jar. Maybe nothing else smells good to him. Joe is going to the grocery to by some different types of baby food and some Gerber graduates (that was a great idea). Of course, he may want to try to eat those from the jar too. Regarding the incision, I think the artificial skin or silicone wound dressing sounds like a very logical answer to the peeing problem. His surgeon is thrilled with his progress. She is off tomorrow and another surgeon will be checking on him. However, she said she is starting to work on some preliminary discharge information. This is very exciting!! Until we figure out the pee situation, he still has to stay in the CCU. They are rechecking his protein and platelet numbers to make sure everything is ok but clinically he looks great. Joe said his legs look completely normal today which is much sooner than they expected so I would think the protein level has come up which was causing the leaky veins. I think we are also waiting on that first big poop. The last time he had some of that leaky diarrhea was 2 days ago and since nothing has come out on that end.

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Guest CyndiW

Pam,

We are actually in southern Indiana about halfway between Cincinnati, OH and Louisville, KY. No rain or flooding here - just hot, hot, hot - 95-105 for weeks now. My husband is going to be able to be with Alex 24/7 when he gets home, at least for the next 2 weeks which will give his outside wounds time to heal. Hopefully, he can also gain his strength, weight, and confidence up during this time also. We are going to isolate him from the other dogs for awhile so they are not pushing and shoving on him. I know when Odysseus had his amp we separated him for awhile to avoid any fights from the other dogs trying to take dominance over a sick dog. Ody slipped on the deck once and the other greys jumped him. Fortunately I was right there to stop it before there was any damage done but Ody shook for a couple of hours. He was the alpha dog even after surgery so that incident really upset him. Needless to say, that deck had outdoor carpet on it the next week. Therefore, we are going to have to be cautious reintroducing him to the other boys. It has been hard trying to work this week with no sleep. I have talked to Alex about this. If he is going to have another emergency, the beginning of the summer would work better and not the first week of school. :lol

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Sending my prayers. :grouphug

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Cyndi can you mix baby food with his regular food? Might interest him enough to start eating more.

 

I'm so happy about his progress! :yay


Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

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Guest gr84me
Pam,

We are actually in southern Indiana about halfway between Cincinnati, OH and Louisville, KY. No rain or flooding here - just hot, hot, hot - 95-105 for weeks now. My husband is going to be able to be with Alex 24/7 when he gets home, at least for the next 2 weeks which will give his outside wounds time to heal. Hopefully, he can also gain his strength, weight, and confidence up during this time also. We are going to isolate him from the other dogs for awhile so they are not pushing and shoving on him. I know when Odysseus had his amp we separated him for awhile to avoid any fights from the other dogs trying to take dominance over a sick dog. Ody slipped on the deck once and the other greys jumped him. Fortunately I was right there to stop it before there was any damage done but Ody shook for a couple of hours. He was the alpha dog even after surgery so that incident really upset him. Needless to say, that deck had outdoor carpet on it the next week. Therefore, we are going to have to be cautious reintroducing him to the other boys. It has been hard trying to work this week with no sleep. I have talked to Alex about this. If he is going to have another emergency, the beginning of the summer would work better and not the first week of school. :lol

 

Yes, timing is everything, isn't it? :lol

 

I am so excited that he is improving so fast. C'mon, Alex, POOP!!!! I like the idea of starting to mix mushy kibble in w/the baby food. The faster he can get that higher-quality food into him, the faster he will recover. You know the greyhound benchmark: Working towards good quality poops! I'm not sure how that's defined right now, but you'll know it when it happens.

 

I think he's going to be home in no time, and in a couple weeks you are not going to believe that he's recovered so fast. But by then, you and Joe will need another vacation ;) or at least many very stiff drinks! (At least, that helped me)

 

You and Joe are wonderful for taking such good care of Alex!

 

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Really good to hear he is doing so well. Don't give up now, any of you!

 

HUGS!!!

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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Guest CyndiW

Joe talked to the surgeon when she was in this evening. He asked if Alex was finally over the hump and she said no. Of course Joe questioned this because he is doing so well and he is so far out from surgery and eating fairly well. She said he is recovering very slowly and that if he was younger he would be home by now. She is pleased with his progress but since he is 11 she is still very concerned. Apparently his 2 liver levels remain fairly high and then there is the urinary situation. However, she continues to say that the liver levels have to be due to the toxins leaving the body because she checked the liver out thoroughly while she was in there and it looked and felt great. On the contrary, they love watching his greyhound bounce as he prances down the hallway. There were so many days that he was all hunched up from the pain and now he is proud and much less painful again. Joe did inform me this evening that he has now eaten 2 cans of some kind of A/D food. This is such an important milestone. I am waiting for an update; he was out walking (and hopefully pooping!).

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Guest CyndiW

He wouldn't eat the Gerber Graduate sticks but that is today. Each day is different. I just talked to the charge nurse and she said the food he is eating (A/D?-i haven't seen the can yet) is very high calorie/high protein which is exactly what he needs right now so I hope he keeps it up. She said he wants everything hand fed now. SPOILED :P Joe is leaving tomorrow afternoon and I will not be able to make it back until Friday evening (unless his status changes and then I am on my way). The surgeon asked if I could bring some cooked lean ground hamburger mixed with rice. I guess she has had a lot of success with that helping to put on weight and gain strength. She just said to make sure I get all the grease drained off well. Still no poop but they said they are not concerned right now as he is on reglan and pepsid and doesn't act constipated. Could his body just be using up most of this food so there isn't much to come out?

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Guest Winterwish
...said to make sure I get all the grease drained off well...Could his body just be using up most of this food so there isn't much to come out?

 

You could boil the chopped meat to cook it,in doing so you also will successfully boil out the fat. You'll see it in the water. But you need to clump the meat together,like a hamburger or meatball so that it sticks together and will be easier to take out.

Or you could also use a greorge foreman grill if you have one,that drains so much fat out the burger's actually too dry!

 

 

About the not pooping-- pain meds are notorious for causing decreased bowel movements. On top of that the abdominal surgery,the decrease in activity,not being able to eat...all are contributing to it.

Hopefully as he begins to move around a bit,eat and drink,this'll begin to change for the better.

 

I wonder if due to Alex's need for pain meds and their maybe not wanting to reduce them yet,they may instead think adding a bit of pastina for carb energy,as small as it would be,instead of the rice,which could possibly be binding? I don't know,just wondering on that.

Edited by Winterwish
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