Henny @ The White Coats...AGAIN. UPDATE #18 NOT GOOD

[Sparklecoon]

Please keep Henny in your thoughts. She began regurgitating again on thursday afternoon. The vet is doing surgery today as soon as he calls a few people in. He says she has some kind of blockage. He gave here a barium swallow test and it's not moving an inch past said blockage. I keep everyone updated.

[chocolatepuppy]

Pawsitive thoughts and prayers for Henny. Will be watching for updates.

[Taz_Zoee]

Oh my goodness! I will be thinking of Henny today.

[Ginger's Mom]

More prayers for Henny.

[kallisto4529]

I do hope Henny is ok, any word yet???

[Sparklecoon]

Well here it goes. Some of you may remember that Henny was at the vets a couple months ago with some of the same symptoms. Before he sent her home I asked if he wanted to do a xray just to make sure there was nothing crazy hanging around in her belly. He said it wasn't necessary. Considering I didn't spend 7 yrs of my life in veterinary school I let it be. (MISTAKE)

Well He did two xrays this time before he went to the barium for the thrid. He saw a mass ( I was having a meltdown at this point because as far as wolfhounds go Henny is darn near middle aged at 3.5yrs.). He finally went in and did surgery on saturday afternoon and found a HUGE obstruction. He said it was at least a ft. of intestines being blocked :eek: . Hearing this I felt like a horrible dog mom. I don't know where she got what she's been eating. When I saw her start to destroy toys they were removed, all clothing was out of reach. So I just don't know what she got. He said the material was very decomposed and may have been there since last time she was in :mad: . She's doing fine now and eating away. Hopefully she'll be able to come home today.

I didn't want to use this vet again and had a spay set up with another vet but when she started vomiting nobody else could get me in and the nearest E-vet is like an hour away. Thankfully the dr. performed the spay at the same time so the poor baby won't have to go through this again.

I'm so stressed out right now. I have to call him shortly and see if we can work out a payment plan. Last time 4days of observation, fluids, and meds cast me $786. Now she's had emergency weekend surgery. I fear the price will be astronomical and I still haven't got the credit card I used for the last one down yet.

On top of this all I'm trying to close on a house which many will know is a whole lot of out of pocket expenses here and there. I haven't been sleeping be it from quilt that she's sick, worrying over money etc. I think yesterday I had a borderline breakdown.

Thankfully it's been nice and me and the other three pups have been playing outside. It's helped to relieve a bit of stess. Thank you all for your thoughts for my big goofy girl. I've only had her since Jan. and already she's put me through more than the other 3 have over their combined 10years.

[Ginger's Mom]

Aw, poor Henny, and poor you. I hope she is feeling better now, and able to come home today. I think once she is home and safe with you once again, you will feel better. I am sorry you had to go through so much with her. Kids, whether they have fur or they have skin they always seem to find ways to keep you on edge. :rolleyes: Good luck, and healing vibes being sent out for that big girl.

[chocolatepuppy]

I'm glad Henny is going to be ok. Sorry about all the stress. It's so hard when they're sick. Please don't feel guilty, how could you have known? Healing vibes headed Henny's way.

[Taz_Zoee]

This is not at all your fault. You should not feel guilty about a thing. That :mad: vet is the one to blame. I mean, you even asked if he wanted to do xrays. HELLO!! And with the mistake or oversight on his part he'd better let you work out a payment plan. Had he taken xrays two months ago it may not have gotten to this point. I mean, she probably still would have had to have surgery, but it wouldn't have been such a dire emergency and last minute type of thing.
Oh, I am just so sorry you and Henny had to go through all of this. I hope she is home with you very soon and on a quick road to recovery.

[Karen]

Poor sweet Henny-penny. Give her a hug for me, okay? The best part about Wolfies is that they are big enough to hug!

I'd let the Better Business Bureau know about that first vet, as this was a serious oversight on his part.

[kallisto4529]

Bless your heart!!!! Poor Henny, what a rotten vet!!!!! I agree completely with Cindy, if he had done the xrays he would have found it two months ago and saved you and Henny all of this stress and upset. My best wishes and lots of prayers for both of you.

[caseysmom]

The vet could have found something still in her gut if they did the surgery on time, I would try to negotiate the price due to this. I am glad he is doing better.

[pitc9]

Oh the poor thing!! :eek:

Glad the vet (finally) found it and she's on her way to a speedy recovery!
{{HUGS}}

[Sparklecoon]

The price is $1500. As I am kind of a push over I sent Josh. He's not happy about it. My big thing is not only that he said we didn't need the xray last time but this time when the first one didn't come out clear enough he did a second regular one before switching to barium on the third for better viewing. If he would have used the contrast on the second try he would have been for sure on the blockage sooner, able to do the surgery Fri instead of an emergent surgery Sat and gotten her home sooner as well.

I feel like I'm being played to make a buck. Either that or he's just a horrible vet.

UPDATE: She's home and the total was $1700. She's supposed to wear the e-collar for two weeks and she can barely go 5min with out freaking out. I don't know what to do I've been crying for the last 20 min. Does the collar really need to stay on that long?

[wolf_Q]

Oh my, poor Henny, and poor you! :( I hope she'll be feeling better soon! My dogs all hated the e-collar too! There's a few other types you can get that she may be more comfortable with.

[Taz_Zoee]

When Zoee got fixed when she was younger we only kept the e-collar on her when we could not watch her. So when we weren't home and at night when we slept. I thought for sure she'd lick her sutures to death or something, because she is always "cleaning" herself, even when she was a puppy. She does a thorough cleaning everytime after she goes potty. But she did very well. She would not move when the collar was on her, so this way worked for all of us.
Good luck and I hope Henny is feeling better very soon! :D

[chocolatepuppy]

Hopefully, the worst is over. Henny will calm down and maybe the e-collar won't bother her so much. I suppose all dogs are different, but some don't bother their incisions much. I wouldn't take any chances on trusting her though without constant supervision, especially at first. Maybe some others here can offer more insight on the e-collar. My dogs have never used them.
Henny will be in my prayers, as you will be, I know this is a difficult time for all of you. {hugs}

[Sparklecoon]

Bad news. Yesterday I noticed a bit of swelling along her incission line called the vet and they said not to worry they'd see her for her appt. in the morning.

I've stayed up with her every night since she's come home because she can't stand any type of e-collar I put on her (During the days she's gone to school with my Mum. She's a high school counselor and Henny has done wonders with some of the kidders). This morning I used the bathroom came out and she was draining a LARGE amount of serosanguinous drainage (Watery blood). My kitchen looked like the texas chainsaw massacre. I loaded her up and we went to the vet. He said he's worried about poor wound healing and and the possibility of an abcess forming so their putting her under again and inserting a drainage tube.

Besides that huge problem she's doing so much better. She's eating well. Stooling well :rolleyes: . Most importantly this morning she was happy and waggy. She looks much brighter. I just wish things would go her way.

[pitc9]

Oh the poor thing!! :(

I hope things start getting better soon for her!
{{{HUGS}}}

[chocolatepuppy]

Oh no, more prayers for Henny.

[Sparklecoon]

Henny's home again. She has a funky collar on that looks like a peoples cervical collar to prevent her from getting to the incision. They had to open nearly the whole incision (10 inches). She has three drainage tubes and a big ole dressing wrapped all the way around. She seems happy so thats all that matters. I'll have to post pics later. Thanks for all the prayers. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

[Freedom]

Not sure HOW I've missed this thread before now.

I am so sorry to read of all that Henny - and you - have been through! My goodness, what a lot to cope with for both of you. Praying that things settle down and she heals well.

Once the sutures have 'set' and the wound starts healing over, you can remove the e collar and leave a coating of Vaseline on the site. The Vaseline will stop and itch and sooth the sore, and dogs don't like it so she'll leave the site alone. but only AFTER the healing is well along. The Vaseline will keep the area moist and prevent healing so don't apply it too soon.

Please let us know how all of you are doing!

[chocolatepuppy]

Wondering how Henny's doing.

[Sparklecoon]

Her drain tubes became infected. If it's not one thing it's the other :mad:

I noticed some pusy drainage on Friday and removed the dressing the vet put on that he wanted changed monday (idiot!) and her drain tubes were definately draining and pooling in the dressing (Idiot!). I did a dressing change and cleaned her up with some saline solution (thank God i'm a nurse and have access to all this stuff) wrapped her back up and started calling around to different vets to see who would see her. Vets like M.D.s and tattoo artists don't like touching other peoples work.

Well we went to a vet saturday that would grasciously take us in. I'd changed the bandage before we went and by the time we got there her dressing was soaked. The vet was worried it was peritonitis (infection in the abdominal cavity) but she didn't show symptoms (diarrhea, loss of appetite). Her blood work came back A-OK (WBCs well within normal). They cleaned her up in the back and gave me two different antibiotics to give her (Cipro and Cephalexin) for the next week and a half. I also have to flush her tubes and puncture sites (where one of the tubes was inadvertently removed) with chlorhexadine 1-2 times a day for the next little bit.

I'm so angry with the original vet. when he changed her dressing originall her used TAPE to keep it all together and I mean directly on the hair and skin. You wouldn't believe how much hair came off when I removed it (And I wetted it as I went). There were also scabs all along her belly where you can see the first dressing had been removed at the office. I also asked when he put the drains in a week post-op if she needed more antibiotics and he said 'no, she's doing fine' :mad: .

Henny herself is doing great. She's so much happier now that the incision is open to air and she's finally tolerating a different kind of e-collar that the vet on saturday gave her though she's not to happy about it. The incision looks better already and the drainage is minimal to nonexistent. Hopefully the sutures can come out this week. She's eating well, has some pep in her step (though were keeping her pretty sedentary til all is healed), and she's stooling wonderfully :rolleyes: .

[chocolatepuppy]

I'm sorry things took a turn for the worse, but thank goodness Henny's doing better now. I think it might be time to start looking for a new vet huh? I'll keep Henny in my prayers and hopefully she'll be all better soon.