Not Just Another Day . . .

Thanks for the good thoughts, Clair. They travel faster than your average mail, so they got here pretty quickly!
It was an interesting week this week. On Wednesday evening I was working until 6 pm and as I was just finishing things up around the Garden I heard a couple of the other caregivers on the 6 pm shift chattering on the radio. They were the two caregivers on either side of the Lodges and I was surprised to hear them because I was running a bit late and figured I was probably the last one around. One asked the other to please come to lodge 7 to look at a dog. A couple minutes later there was a call to see if anyone from the clinic was still around. Unfortunately the clinic staff usually goes home around 5 unless there is an emergency, so there was no answer. Then they asked if there was anyone left in DogTown. I answered that if they needed me to, I could try and reach the on-call vet, since there aren't phones in the individual lodges. They asked me to please call and then asked if I might be able to come look at the dog, Akila; they thought she might be bloating, but neither of them had seen a bloat before, and they wanted another set of hands and eyes. I drove up there and it seemed pretty clear to me, and them, that something wasn't right and based on how hard her stomach was, I agreed that it was probably a bloat.
The on-call vet said she would be right up and to meet her at the clinic. I drove Akila down to the clinic while her caregiver finished up the meds for the rest of the dogs. Once the vet and one of the techs got there, they confirmed that she was bloating and needed emergency surgery. However, they were having trouble reaching any of the other vet techs to assist with the surgery. So, Akila's caregiver and I were drafted into service to help with the little stuff during the surgery. While the tech prepared the surgery room for the procedure, we helped hold Akila so that the vet could place the catheters. Then, once she was sedated, we helped move her into surgery and while the tech was getting probes and nodes attached and the vet was scrubbing, they handed me the clippers and I shaved her abdomen for the procedure. By the time they were ready to start the procedure, another vet tech had arrived, so I just stood back and watched the surgery and fetched various tools and things when necessary.
Just before she stared cutting, the vet warned us to get out if we started feeling light headed, even a little bit, because a lot of people get a little woozy and think they can muscle through it and two seconds later they are on the floor and she didn't have time to be worrying about the people in the room, she had to focus on the dog. At that point it was about 6:45 and I hadn't eaten since noon and I was getting quite hungry so I was a little nervous that I might be the dork that passes out in surgery, but I didn't get woozy or nauseous once! Not when she pulled out chunks of fat and cut them out so that she could get to the abdominal cavity, not when the large intestines started pop out a little bit, or when she pulled the small intestine out to inspect it, not even when she pulled the entire spleen out of the body cavity to check for a pulse and inspect it - I did not pass out! I didn't even get nauseous when they were draining the contents of the stomach . . . I am pretty proud of myself here.
It was actually really interesting. I have been wanting to see a bloat surgery since I got here, but it isn't really something you can schedule, so when the opportunity presented itself, I ignored my hungry stomach and stayed to watch. As far as I know, Akila is doing well. She came through the surgery fine and did not have to have her spleen removed. When the vet initially pulled it out, it was the color of an eggplant (it should look about like a tongue) but by the time she was ready to close her up it was more of an Easter purple kind of color, heading back in the direction of pink. It was a good catch on Akila's caregiver's part, her only hint that something was wrong was that Akila wouldn't come to the fence for a meatball at the end of the day. It was a very cool learning experience and I am happy that Akila is okay. I am also very thankful to the vet for letting me observe the procedure, it was so interesting.

A Life Well Lived

Well, I have been putting this post off for a while now . . . for 40 days to be exact. On Saturday, April 10, 2010 at about 4:45 pm I said my final good-bye to Brenda. She was surrounded by people that love her and I miss her everyday. She lasted longer than any of our other dogs that had been diagnosed with lymphoma and it was a testament to her spirit that she held on, happily, for as long as she did. She was her same sweet and feisty self right up until the very end. I am grateful that we didn't have to watch her take a slow and painful decline until she was no longer the dog we knew and loved. We had lunch together on her last day and many others came from all over the sanctuary to see her smiling face one last time. It was the only time during her long fight that she really seemed like she was getting uncomfortable. When I took her out on Thursday, she was still spunky and curious; there had been more and more signs over the preceding weeks that we were probably getting close to the end, but it was all physical. There was never a change in her personality, she never stopped being happy to see her family of people and she definitely never stopped looking for a cookie! But, in spite of her great personality and drive to squeeze everything out of every moment, her body was no longer in the fight. She was a wonderful dog, sweet and funny with a personality that filled the room and a tongue always ready for a good, sloppy kiss. She seemed happy and, I suppose, that is all we can really hope for. (All photos copyright Allison Martin.)