Friday, August 14, 2009

what a difference a day makes

Yesterday went pretty well once I started getting into the groove. I walked him around inside the house 3 times yesterday with Lily's help. I set out small bowls of tuna in the kitchen, dining room, and living room and made him find them. We used to do this with treats all the time it's one of our favorite indoor winter games, except we usually torment him. He did great and ate a good amount of tuna also. Then after all the activity he'd worked up a thirst...win, win, win.

I became concerned around 5 because his bag wasn't filling very much and his tubing was not full like it had been. I called the vet and he walked me through how to do a sterile flush. With a little fiddling and four syringes of saline I got it moving again and his tubing was full and the bag was slowly filling.

When Jer got home we took the hound for a small walk and settled him back in to his spot while we ate dinner. I made Marty his own bowl of boiled chicken and rice. He ate like crazy and had a nice big drink.

The girls were troopers even though I didn't have much time for them they played nicely most of the day. But by dinner they were stir crazy and needed to get out, truthfully so did I. So we hit the park and ran into TP and clan. Scored some nice little school desks that were labeled "free" at the school too (anybody need one we can see if there's any left and bring them to GW).

The rest of the night went well. Kids went to bed and all that jazz. 9:30 rolls around and we start getting ready to give Marty his last dose of meds, change his bag, clean everything... and I look at his bag and tubing. It's not flowing and there's lots of air space in the tube. Crap. Alright, so I try to flush it, no good. Try again, nada. Shit.

I called the vet and the nurse puts me on hold to talk to the vet.

nurse: Dr wants to see him, go ahead and bring him in.
me: uh, we live 1 1/2 hours away, the kids are asleep..
nurse: oh. Let me talk to the dr again
me: holding and listening to all the horrible things that happen to animals that they treat at MedVet.
nurse: ok, Dr wants you to bring him in if he gets uncomfortable. Otherwise take him to your local vet in the morning or take him to a closer er vet.
me: ok, thanks

So Jer and I talk it over and decide waiting till morning isn't an option. I call an ER vet in Dayton.

me: Hi, my dog had surgery and he has a catheter in and it's blocked can you help me?
lady: hold on please
me: thinking I'm so tired I don't think I can drive, looking at husband who is falling asleep with dog who is already asleep.
vet: Hi, your dog had what kind of surgery...huh...well sure we can look at him...let us know if you're bringing him in.

After getting off the phone with the other vet I was already formulating a plan. I knew I just had to convince the husband that he was not exhausted. I motioned to Marty to start looking pitiful and cute. He layed it on thick, droopy ears, sad tired eyes, slow licks.

me: I think he needs to go to Columbus tonight
J: yeah, I think so too
me *thinking* well damn that was easier than I thought.
me: Here's what I think we should do... you take him to Columbus, drop him off, get a hotel room, go to sleep, wake up, go to work.
J: *while stroking soft hound ears and watching Marty's eyes twitch while dreaming* Ugh. Yeah I guess so. Make me some coffee and help me get ready.

They left around 11:30 last night. I went the F to bed.

This morning I talked to Marty's Dr (who I love -great Vet) and he told me he thought about Marty all night last night and wasn't very surprised to see him this morning. Then he told me some great news. The Dr removed Marty's cath because he was standing! Standing, can you believe it!? He asked if we'd mind boarding Marty for the next couple of days so he could monitor him more closely and make sure he was starting to pee on his own. He also wants to make sure he gets extra help with walking!

Yay! Such great news, it's going so much more smoothly now. And with this beacon of light at the end of the tunnel I am no longer second guessing myself. I hope this hound continues on the same track. He'll be barking at Trick or Treaters at this rate.

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