091909

The ongoing photo journal of Katoba Dobermans' 2009 "Miss & Mister" Litter ~ DPCA Futurity Nominated for 2010

Saturday, September 19, 2009

I had Braun back at "All Creatures..." first thing" this morning. The films showed the barium had traveled all the way through the GI tract ~ there was no blockage, and per
case study, would not indicate an absolute diagnosis for intussusception. Dr. Sig Nottingham was to be the surgeon, if necessary, so he was now in charge. He does not
act until every stone is overturned. He went to work the "old fashioned" way : veterinary internal medicine BOOKS, where he "solved the mystery". He found a photograph
of a less obvious intussusception, where there appeared to be a coiled segment of intestine that was almost a mirror of Braun's last imaging. It MUST be surgically
explored, and it needed to be done NOW. My phone still on the blink, I was still unable to get a hold of Braun's parents, and had to make the decision myself. The
decision was easy based on the prognosis ... if he has the surgery the outcome looked GREAT ... if he does not have the surgery, he would die. That decision was a "No
Brainer"!! I hugged and kissed Braun, told him how much he was loved by ALL of us, and promised him he would feel so much better after this was all over. Then I
handed him off to yet another Kathy, (surgical vet tech), who is absolutely WONDERFUL. Once he was well into surgery, I zoomed home to check on the adult dogs and
the rest of Misty's brood. All were perfect as usual. I then rushed to Verizon where I got a new phone and had VERY limited battery time. I did the "ugly cry" for awhile and
thanked God for getting Braun through the surgery safely. I called & got a statistics report from Bethany, at "All Creatures Animal Hospital", who assured me Braun was
doing well and that both Dr Sig Nottingham and Dr. Andrew Sattler were both working on him in the finishing stages. I decided an well fed team is a better team, so I
ordered 4 take out specialty pizza's from "The Rock", ("New Generation", "Bat out of Hell", "Yellow Brick Road", and "Meaty Beefy Big and Bouncy"), and picked them up
on my way back to the hospital. The office had been closed for quite some time, but all were still hard at work with Braun. I was FINALLY able to get ahold of David,
Braun's dad. who I think probably felt 'shell-shocked', but understood what had to be done. Braun's mom, Margret, used to be an ER nurse, so she will be easy to talk to
about the medical detail. I then arrived back at All Creatures" and waited for them to come out with news. A few minutes felt like forever. Then, Kathy peeked her head out
from the back room and called me back. I sat in the chair and she handed Braun to me, who was just waking up. He seemed so frail, had lost so much weight, and now
had a zipper from stem to sturn. I snuggled with him while the entire staff munching away on the pizza ... after all, with this unexpected turn of events, it was now nearing
4pm and they had been all day without food. Braun had come through it BEAUTIFULLY, with minimal bleeding. Because it was a Saturday, he would have to be
transferred to a different Hospital until Monday. Instead, I asked if i could take him home and do all of his recovery care there - I would not have to go anywhere and I
knew I was capable of the treatment required. With Dr. Nottingham's blessing, I was able to take Braun home, administer his IV medications, monitor and document his
progress, and give him the attention that a working staff could not. I set up a puppy "ICU" and dawned the proverbial scrubs. This puppy is amazing ... he stayed quiet
with pain management all that day; began taking small doses of warm broth about 11pm; vitals remaining stable throughout the night; typical yucky, upset stomach post
anesthesia, but otherwise, a REAL trouper. It is now 3am (Sunday, actually), and he has began keeping down small doses of warm broth.
I am so exhausted ... more information later ... when it actually feels like tomorrow ... uhmm ... today.

Katoba's Puppy Intensive Care Unit

Confident puppies being what and who they are, the other eight 'kids' just keep doing life as usual. They are wonderfully playful and enjoying the overcast, but warm
day. Misty has helped me with the puppy-sitting while they have run of the backyard, entertaining them with the usual "hide and seek", "follow the leader",
and of course ... "big time wrestling". Photos tomorrow.

Home care therapy was definitely the best decision for Braun. He is doing SOOOOOOO well. By mid day he was able to start on a bland diet of boiled chicken, rice, egg
yolk, a bit of plain yogurt, and broth. I started him on one tablespoon; 90 minutes later he got 2 tablespoons, and so on. He is week and has lost a LOT of weight, but is
eager to eat and has such a sweet and trusting demeanor ... just a day-post major surgery. He is awake for only a short time every hour so, I took this photo ...
... just before he went to bed again.