EMERGENCY SURGERY

Sorry that I'm so late on posting what happened with Blue.

And sorry for the length of this post.

It's been an exhausting few days. 

I brought Blue to work on Friday and he had finally pooped!
I was so happy but when they did another X-ray, while it showed that the barium had finally made its way into the intestines (It shows up white on X-ray ) there was also a big white blob still in his tummy.
The techs said to try to feed him and see if it would budge.
So he finally ate some canned food, the first food in a few days!

He went potty again, not much and it was runny.

Doc looked at the X-rays and there's definitely something that you could now see an outline of.

Maybe a wash rag or something is what he said.

He wanted to do another X-ray at noon, since Blue just had some canned food and then diarrhea.

To see if it moved any more.

He didn't want to do surgery quite yet since there's been a little bit of movement.

I tried to be calm but inside I was freaking out!
The night before I kept waking up and then I'd have to make sure he was ok.
In the morning, driving him to work, I totally lost it when he suddenly leaned his head over from the passenger seat and rested it in my shoulder.
I was having a really hard time being strong and thinking positive.

(Blue, resting between X-rays)

So after the X-Ray at noon, where they could see something in his belly but entering into his intestines, the tech said if Blue would eat, then see if maybe I could get him to eat enough to push it through.

So I gave him canned food and squirted cheese whiz on it and he ate quite a bit.
He seemed to be in good spirits and Doc thought we could give him the weekend to see if it would work it's way through.

It was really busy at work because on Fridays there are only two vets so Doc was double booked while the other vet, was doing an emergency exploratory surgery on someone else's dog. She started surgery at 1:30 and it wasn't finished until 4:30. They weren't sure what was inside the dog and it took quite a long while.

SO, about 3:30 or so I took Blue outside again to see if he'd poop.

He was walking slower and getting into the position to poop but nothing.

I could see his stomach ripple and kinda tremble.

But no poop.

I went in and told Doc and he was frowning and thinking and then said to take another X-ray.
So we did and it was obvious that Blue was in distress now.

He was breathing heavy and quivering.
The X-ray showed no change and Doc said Blue needed surgery.

We agreed to do it and not wait. 

Doc finished his appointments and the other vet finished up her surgery.
I helped the girls as they prepped him and when Doc came in, I left.

I've been in surgeries before but I couldn't handle seeing Blue cut into.

Lily came in to help.
So in 40 minutes. Start to finish, Doc cut him open, cut out some fat, cut his belly and pulled out a huge woolen thermal winter sock.
It was so big that it would never had gone through his intestines.
I was shocked.

Some of the other techs and the other vet started to make jokes about how socks disappear in the laundry and that's when it hit me.
I'd been so confused as to how he got socks when I haven't worn any since it was cold out.
But when my washer quit and I pulled it away from the wall, a lot of stuff had fallen behind it and there was some old dog food under there so I had run and got a dust pan as I shoo'd the dogs away.

I didn't want anyone eating that icky stuff.
I remember rags, wash cloths, and stuff and I bet there were socks!!!
He must gave gobbled them up as I shoved the washer out the door and down the steps!!!!
So I think that solves the mystery!

I must say that Doc can upset me at times, but he knows his stuff. I don't think Blue could have lasted 3 hours on the table.
Lily said it was the quickest surgery she's ever seen.

She said Doc just went in there and got it, double checked that there was nothing else, flushed it out and closed him up!

I couldn't take Blue home that night because he was out cold (and too big to carry although he's down to 140lbs) but I would get him in the morning.

My friend Katie, the vet tech, went in that night  to give him his injection, pain medication.
And to check on him.

She lives minutes away and I'm across the river in Illinois.

So she sent me photos while she tended to him.

Here's where he's just awake

and then another where he's turned around and he has an e-collar on.

I asked if he hated the collar and she replied that he was already snoring and the walls were rattling!
That's my boy!

So I went to bed and slept very restlessly.

In the morning I hurried downstairs to let the dogs outside to potty.

My cat Harry was in the kitchen.

I don't write as often about my cats but I have so many stories about Harry.

I have had him longer than any pet ever.

He is so special and I've tried to explain to people that he's not really a cat at all but a person trapped in a cat's body.

People always give me that "you are crazy" look but then they meet Harry and fall instantly in love.

You'd just have to meet him in person to understand but he's super important to me and I've had him for 17 years.

So this morning he was crying loudly and walking wobbly.

I ran to the basement for a cat carrier and scooped him up and rushed to the clinic.

I sent a message to the tech that was working that I was on the way with Harry.

I have to drive over a bridge to go from Illinois to Iowa.

I got to the Government Bridge and it was blocked off so I had to turn around and head for the Centinnenial Bridge.

Traffic was lined up because of a big tractor going across.

Apparently they were having a Tractor Show in the East Village.

So as I drove behind this tractor going 20 miles an hour, I lost it.

I was just sobbing.

Finally I arrived at the clinic.

We did several X-rays of Harry.

Luckily we found nothing.

Nothing broken.

No mass inside of him.

He wasn't blocked.

So they drew blood and while they ran his blood work I went back to Blue.

He had an accident over night and they had cleaned him up.

He wouldn't eat breakfast but that's not a surprise. 

I took him outside and he moved very slow and his back was hunched.

He was really sore.

I cleaned his bottom up and his tail.

Then I took him back to his run and gave him his pills.

Because of his size, he's got a handful of them.

Then I went back to check on Harry.

His bloodwork was fine.

The vet couldn't find any bruises or wounds and she checked him over thoroughly.

Doc stopped in and we asked him to give Harry an adjustment while he was there.

He said Harry's neck was really out bad.

He said it would be sore for a while after the adjustment.

The other vet had the tech give Harry a time released pain injection and then they gave me more pain medicine for him to have at home.

So....

I loaded up Harry in the car

And lined the passenger seat with bedding and went and got Blue.

He got into the car like an old person and I buckled him in.

When we got home, Blue took the 5 steps up to the house very slow and gingerly.

I guess we will be sleeping in the living room for a while.

He's not ready for all those steps to upstairs.

When he got inside the house, he just went and laid down in front of the fan.

I brought Harry in and he hid for a while but then came out and I held him as we all took a nap.

I must say, this has been an exhausting few days.

Usually I feel physically exhausted! LOL!

But now it's more mentally and emotionally.

Sorry for such a long post.

I just wanted to share what happened and get it all out of my head.

And finally,

a BIG HUGE THANK YOU

to everyone who sent positive healing thoughts and energy out for Blue.

And thank you for so much more than that too. The emails and the support and the HELP.

Truly, I'm blessed. 

XOXOXOXOXO 

FUNK

I'm in a funk.
I thought I had pulled myself out but... truth be told, no.
It's not because of Squeak, although his passing didn't help.
It's just...............

I need a change.
Or maybe just some sleep.
Or maybe just a new approach to life.

I seem to remember an episode of Seinfeld where George, whose life was always a major fail, decided to do the opposite of his natural instincts and suddenly everything started working for him.
Although I can't remember how it ultimately turned out for him, something must have gone wrong as he was back to his never-do-well life by the next episode.

But...
Yesterday when I got home from work it started to storm.
Really high winds, over 50 miles an hour and then hail.
The weather people on TV were intense.
They had their jackets off and their sleeves rolled up and they were showing diagrams on where to seek shelter in your home.
Last year we had a tornado in our region, something rather rare here
and they told us to seek a safe place.
At that time, I went to the basement door and walked down a couple of steps and sat there, holding 2 of my little dogs, Poppy and Ping.

I had motioned Blue to the doorway, I knew he'd never go down the steps, so he sat there along with Nora and Jimmy. I called to the others, I called to my cats...but mostly I called my cats Harry and Ghost.
Strange how I made my Sophie's Choice....
I remember that I had thought if I heard a "train" noise as they predict, I would just set the two little ones down on the icky basement floor and tug Blue as far down the stairs as I could.
I would think if I did that, some of the others would follow him down too.

But last night, curled up in my big chair covered in critters,
I watched the Tornado Warnings and thought about my Dad.
When there would be storms, he liked to open the garage door and sit in his lawn chair and watch.
He never ever was concerned. He never told us to go downstairs.
Of course, the downstairs in my childhood home was nicer than the whole of my home is now.
And MY current downstairs is dark, damp with cinder block walls and it's filled with stuff.
Stuff being old furniture, cat carriers, Rubbermaid containers full of more stuff.
I really didn't want to go down there.
So I pulled up my ottoman and stretched out my legs and more little ones crawled on top of me.
Blue was laying on the sofa

and Nora was pacing.
Nora was the only one that seemed concerned so I called for her to lay down next to the chair.
I figured we'd just wait and see.
I was so tired that I started to drift off to sleep.
I remember thinking just before I drifted off that I hoped the hail didn't dent my car
and that if nothing happened to us, that I needed to pitched the stuff in the basement
and repaint the walls, maybe put down a piece of sheet vinyl flooring...

So, I woke up and the threat had passed.
Apparently 5 tornadoes had touched down in several areas.
Down on the far end of my street, a tree had come down and brought down power lines and people were trapped inside a restaurant.
I was lucky that we still had power in my section of town.
I got up and threw a load of laundry into the washer.
I let the dogs out to potty and the night sky seemed eerie.
They hurried back in and we all went to bed.

I got up this morning and went to work and I cried.
Nothing big really happened or anything but I just cried.
I don't think I'm alone though.
Many people that I work with feel the same way.
And there's other people I know, outside of work, that feel like crying too.
About different things
Maybe it's just the time of year.

Maybe it's that I get home and only have a couple of hours
to clean the house, sort through and get rid of the clutter,
do the laundry, feed the dogs, groom the dogs,

scoop the poop and clean the litter boxes,
read the blogs and the books I want to read and
oh, create Art
and I need to get to bed and get some sleep.
Seems like I never have time to do what I want or the energy.
Maybe it's just that I feel overwhelmed.

Do you feel like that too?
Is it the weather? The time of year?
The horrible things in the News and on social media?
See,  I told you I was in a funk.
Sorry.