On the mend

Since my last post, so much has happened! What I thought was just a bit of tummy trouble for my little man turned out to be rather serious.

We ended up spending our Easter at the puppy emergency clinic. Bosley got much much worse that Saturday night. He stopped even keeping water down and that really scared me. Since he's had quite a few stomach problems in the past, we have been through similar situations in the past, but this just seemed way worse. 

We went through blood tests to check his kidneys and liver, x-rays to check for an intestinal obstruction, and a few other tests. The blood tests came back clean, thank goodness! The x-rays however came back suspicious for an obstruction. The doctor on call couldn't make a decision either way so we sent out the films to an expert, hoping for a more definitive answer telling us whether he needed surgery or not. No such luck.

Our only other options for ruling out an obstruction was an ultrasound and a Barium series. Barium glows during an x-ray so they can track how it travels through the intestines. Well that option would have taken 4-6hrs and hundreds of dollars. We went with the ultrasound.

The hour and a half wait to see the results was one of the worst times of my life. As Erik and I sat in the front waiting room we witnessed some horrible other emergencies come in. I'm crying just typing this. All I can say is the vet techs and veterinarians that work in the emergency clinic are a different breed. The emotional strength it must take to work there is on a whole other level. I commend them all.

They ended up giving us the all clear, saying he just had a case of gastroenteritis and the suspicious portion of intestine was just full of gas.  Bossman got anti-nausea meds and subcutaneous fluids which Erik and I jokingly called his water boob since they literally just put a bunch of IV fluids right under his skin creating a water pocket. It was funny because it jiggled when he walked.  $900 and some change later and we got to go home.

 When this has happened in the past, the anti-nausea meds and water boob made him improve within a few hours. After a long worry filled night there was zero improvement. Thank goodness my regular vet was open the next day. I gave my vet, Nadia a call first thing and luckily she said she would fit him in. Well I ended up with a new doctor since we were walk-ins, so that added to my worry. It shouldn't have. New Doctor was AMAZING!

We went through more x-rays to see if anything had changed. It hadn't and New Doctor was very suspicious of a blockage. We were looking at surgery as an option once again and that made me nauseous. Since the only thing we hadn't tried to rule out an obstruction was the Barium, and since I was on the verge of tears, we went ahead and did it. New Doctor said to go home and she'll call with any news. I had called in and taken off work, so I tried to distract myself with movies. Well, that didn't work at all.

Several hours later the news came that the Barium was not moving. New Doctor was keeping my Bossinator overnight and was going to do another x-ray in the morning. I did not sleep. The morning x-ray showed no change and Bosley went in for exploratory surgery at 10am. New Doctor said she would call by noon to tell me how it went.

I had gone into work and accomplished nothing. As 12:30 rolled around I was sitting at my desk shaking. Someone came into my office asking questions and I'm fairly certain I didn't make sense. I was only focused on not vomiting on the nice man. I finally got the call and everything went perfectly! Bosley was resting and there was definitely an obstruction. They pulled out what appeared to be hair, fabric, and little bits of plastic. What?! My little monster has been known to eat socks and underwear (ew...i know) so the fabric was not a surprise, but hair and plastic?
What a weirdo.

All drugged up after surgery

First day home - sleepy recovery

Bosley had to spend two more nights at the vet, but we got to take him home on Thursday! He's on a regimen of soft, low-residue food; pain meds; and antibiotics. The pain meds make him go all whack-a-doodle, which is somewhat entertaining. The other night he spent close to 10mins just licking air.

Hey ladies, check out my big, tough scar!

I LOVE belly rubs, especially when my belly hurts.

He's got a pretty hefty scar and a cone (which he loathes and makes mommy giggle), but everyday he is acting more and more like my little Terrible Terrier. Stitches come out on Friday, so cross your fingers that nothing happens until then! And my wallet is currently screaming in pain, so hope for that to have a quick recovery as well!