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Findings From Blitz's Surgery


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First, he is on his feet and staring at the surgeon - she has a thing about not calling clients until she sees the patient awake and moving around after surgery. He is getting ice packs on his incision and they are monitoring his blood pressure and PCV values, per Dr. Couto's protocol.

 

Here goes:

Stomach: not as thickened as indicated on the ultrasound, but she did a biopsy of it anyway.

 

Small intestines: look great

 

Kidneys: look great

 

Descending aorta that was dilated on ultrasound: she thinks it's a variation of normal

 

Two lymph nodes in the way of her view of the aorta: looked redder and more congested than they should be - she removed them and sent them off

 

Pancreas: One of the lobes looked red and congested - biopsied

 

Spleen: twisted 180 degrees, but it didn't appear to be damaged in any way. She put it back the way it's supposed to be.

 

Liver: most of it looked normal, however one lobe had more rounded edges to it rather than the "sharp" edges that it should be. She biopsied both the normal and not normal. The not-normal biopsy oozed more than biopsies normally ooze.

 

Portal vein (leading into liver): dilated and with lots of what she thinks are shunts. There may be a test in the future to determine if they are shunts.

 

He also had free fluid in the abdomen, about 200 mL. Normally that might indicate heart problems, but since he was checked out by the cardiologist two weeks ago, she doesn't think that's the case. The fluid is being checked out.

 

She suggested liver fibrosis, and also seemed to be leaning towards a diagnosis of portal hypertension. It sounded like some of this could be treated with a low, yet high quality, protein diet.

 

Oy. She talked for about 13 minutes and didn't give me a chance to really ask questions, just rattled off her findings. I called Dr. Patty to let her know he was out of surgery, but she was out at lunch. I know Dogs and Cats will fax information to Dr. Patty, and hopefully she can make a little more sense out of all this for me.

 

We can call the ICU nurse this evening for an update, and then call tomorrow after 10 to see if he can come home tomorrow evening.

Deanna with galgo Willow, greyhound Finn, and DH Brian
Remembering Marcus (11/16/93 - 11/16/05), Tyler (2/3/01 - 11/6/06), Frazzle (7/2/94 - 7/23/07), Carrie (5/8/96 - 2/24/09), Blitz (3/28/97 - 6/10/11), Symbra (12/30/02 - 7/16/13), Scarlett (10/10/02 - 08/31/13), Wren (5/25/01 - 5/19/14),  Rooster (3/7/07 - 8/28/18), Q (2008 - 8/31/19), and Momma Mia (2002 - 12/9/19).

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Guest bowiebears

Deanna,

 

Thanks for the update.

 

I hope Dr Patty can fill you on what it all means!

 

Here's hoping Blitz will be OK!

 

Prayers and good thoughts still from all of us.

 

--Isaac

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Guest Tenderhearts

That is a lot to absorb!

 

I am so glad he is out of surgery and recovering :clap

 

I'll continue to watch for updates, and keep the prayers and white light going out from Kansas :hope:candle:hope:candle:hope:candle

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Guest LolasMom

WOW Hopefully Dr Patty will help interpret all this information. But most importantly your boy is awake and alert and hopefully on the mend. :clap

 

Sending more prayers for a speedy recovery and some easy to remedy answers. :wub:

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Sending prayers for a swift recovery and benign pathology reports. :grouphug

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Patti-Mommy of Lady Sophia 7-28-92 - 8-3-04... LaceyLaine 8-2-94-12-5-07...

Flash Gordon 7-14-99 - 8-29-09... BrookLynne...Pavé Maria... and 18 Bridge Kids.

WATCHING OVER US~SOPHIA~QUEENIE~LACEY LAINE~

CODY ANGELO~FLASH GORDON.

 

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Sending prayers that Blitz will be able to come home. :hope

Greyhound angels at the bridge- Casey, Charlie, Maggie, Molly, Renie, Lucy & Teddy. Beagle angels Peanut and Charlie. And to all the 4 legged Bridge souls who have touched my heart, thank you. When a greyhound looks into you eyes it seems they touch your very soul.

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more then he loves himself". Josh Billings

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Guest GriffinsMom

Wow, that was a lot of information and biopsies. Prayers that all the tests come back with good results. Feel better soon Blitz and wishes for a fast recovery. :grouphug

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I'm stuck at school all day with Back to School night this evening (too far to drive back and forth and still get everything done that needs to be done), so Brian called to get the update from the surgeon and this is what he just e-mailed me:

 

Just got off the phone with the surgeon. Blitz is apparently tense/slightly agitated, and he was pulling back anytime someone was about to touch his belly, so they did a couple of more x-rays to make sure nothing was going on in there (there doesn't seem to be). He's more bruised than she expected, so she's a bit worried that the OSU protocol may be doing more harm than help if he doesn't actually have a bleeding problem, so they're going to do additional bleeding time/coagulation tests to see what his current status is.

 

They have him on lidocaine(sp?) and some other pain med, so he isn't in pain, but he's just nervous and panting a bit, so they're making sure he's getting fluids so he doesn't dehydrate in any way.

 

No biopsy reports yet. She's most interested in seeing those liver biopsies.

 

At this point, she's not sure that she wants him to go home today, unless after observing him some more and taking more tests they determine that it's the environment (the vet place) that's bothering him. She said it would be okay to visit, so I plan to do that after work, maybe see if he'll calm down with me and if he'll take any bland food from me.

 

:(

Deanna with galgo Willow, greyhound Finn, and DH Brian
Remembering Marcus (11/16/93 - 11/16/05), Tyler (2/3/01 - 11/6/06), Frazzle (7/2/94 - 7/23/07), Carrie (5/8/96 - 2/24/09), Blitz (3/28/97 - 6/10/11), Symbra (12/30/02 - 7/16/13), Scarlett (10/10/02 - 08/31/13), Wren (5/25/01 - 5/19/14),  Rooster (3/7/07 - 8/28/18), Q (2008 - 8/31/19), and Momma Mia (2002 - 12/9/19).

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Prayers and good thoughts continuing for Blitz!

 

Don't you just love back-to-school nights as a teacher, esp. after a long day teaching.

 

--Isaac

 

Yup, especially after being out unexpectedly yesterday, teaching 3 block periods in a row today, and being worried about Blitz. Actually, back to school usually turns out to be pretty fun because I am SO tired that I start getting silly and very energetic and the parents are amazed that I have so much energy at the end of the day, so they think I must be a very interesting and engaging teacher during the rest of the day. To make things interesting this year, I have two double period classes, so I have to find enough material to talk for 20-25 minutes. Thank heavens I don't teach the last period of the day, so I can get out of the parking lot before 2000 other cars try to leave, and so I may be home by 10. (Otherwise, it would be at least 10:30 until I got home.) I guess I should probably get to work on my presentation now instead of hanging out here though....

Edited by dmswartzfager

Deanna with galgo Willow, greyhound Finn, and DH Brian
Remembering Marcus (11/16/93 - 11/16/05), Tyler (2/3/01 - 11/6/06), Frazzle (7/2/94 - 7/23/07), Carrie (5/8/96 - 2/24/09), Blitz (3/28/97 - 6/10/11), Symbra (12/30/02 - 7/16/13), Scarlett (10/10/02 - 08/31/13), Wren (5/25/01 - 5/19/14),  Rooster (3/7/07 - 8/28/18), Q (2008 - 8/31/19), and Momma Mia (2002 - 12/9/19).

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