• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

Surgery scheduled for Thursday 4/4!

Oh Yay!!! You get your baby back. Driving there to get him will seem like the longest, but shortest ride of your life. You won't even notice the drive and any landmarks, you'll be so focused on how he's going to react to seeing you, how he's going to look, what's his level of pain, how he's going to tolerate the drive home, what his level of activity will be, etc. Just remember to have your husband focus on driving!!!! Hopefully today will whizz by. I'm glad he's doing so well.
 
So glad to hear that the surgery went well and bet you can't wait to see Winston and bring him home. It must have been an anxious few days for you all, wishing Winston a speedy recovery and I am sure he will have lots of TLC.
 
This day is dragging! Got Winston a new soft, light & fluffy harness. Can't wait to see him.

Being a Mom I know you must feel so helpless with nothing to do but prepare and worry. We Mom's do better with someone to fuss about............. We all expect a full report tomorrow evening on how he's doing.
 
Wow we are home! So he doesn't look as bad as I expected but still shocking. Instructions are strict bed rest, 3 or 4 5min walks a day for 6 weeks. If he's not on a walk he's to be in a crate or confind in the kitchen with the gate. We have to be careful if the door bell rings & he runs for it with the others dogs or if he jumps to bark at something on TV. He's on a fentynal patch plus pred & antibiotics plus his regular meds for CM & SM the tramadol & gabapentin & Omeprozole. They refuced the Gaba to once a day because of all the other pain meds. We have to go back in 10 days to remove the staples. We can do this.
 
So glad to hear he's home! :flwr: Each day will be a fresh improvement now, hopefully. This will likely be the hardest stretch -- especially as he starts to feel good and wants to move around a lot. His hair will grow fast and before you know it, he won't look quite as worrisome as he will right now. :)
 
I'm so glad he's home. His discharge instructions sound similar to Riley's. Keeping Riley quiet in a multi-dog home was a challenge as you'll find with Winston - and you'll make mistakes and you'll kick yourself for them. You'll let him sit on your lap on the couch and before you know it, he's jumped off when the other dogs run for the door- or something similar. These happened to us with Riley and you can't beat yourself up about it. You learn and move on. Those big beautiful eyes will make you feel so sad for him also, especially as he starts to feel better and wants to do more. That's one reason why I say the recovery will be harder on you than him - because you are the one who has to keep him quiet and penned when all he wants to do is be a dog and roam around the house and play with your other dogs. On another note, the fentanyl patch worked great for Riley. I hope it is a wonder drug for Winston too. I hope he and you have a good first night home.
 
Post a sign on the door asking people NOT to ring the bell!! And try to get someone else, hubby, kids, friends to take the other dogs out for some serious exercise for the first few days if possible---the whole house might be better with tired dogs and kids :) I would guess keeping him "resting" is going to be the hard part after a few days. So glad he is home and doing great :lotsaluv:
 
No it's ok. I realized I didn't make sense after I wrote it. The reason for all the crates & gates is to keep him from running to the door with the other two dogs. Keeping him confined as much as possible will keep him safe. I don't think in this circumstance I can be too careful. It's going to be a long six weeks is a understatement he already wants to run & play & it's only day 4 after brain surgery.
 
Took pain patch off today as instructed. I'm very glad we are taking one medication away. There are so many meds in the morning & he seems to stay pretty depressed & loopy until about 1-2:00 in the afternoon. That's when he gets another Tramadol. I can't wait until we are done with the prednisone but that's another 2 weeks after this week. Over all he's doing pretty well, eating, peeing, pooping & wagging his tail. Not scratching too bad at all, maybe 2X a day when he gets excited. Trying to keep his excitement to a minimum. He's been very good on his leash walks but I can tell some walks he wants to run & roam. Staples come out next Wed 4/17, another trip to Red Bank. That's ok, I'm really getting used to it & he's sooooo worth it.
 
So day 6 after surgery is a little tough. We were up all night, at least from 1:00 am on. Winston had his nightly meds about 9:30 last night and I woke up when I heard him panting & being very restless. I took him out of the crate & took him for a short walk & some water. We stayed in the living room where eventually after about a half hour he stopped panting but was then breathing heavy. I suspected the prednisone. I spoke to the Dr early this morning & we are reducing the pred to once a day instead of twice. Winston & I are having a pj & couch day today. He is now very tired but very comfy. Hope it goes a little better from here.
 
Sorry you had such a bad night. 10 mg of prednisone is a pretty high dose. He should do fine on 5 mg. I know I have trouble myself on 10 mg pred and I weigh a heck of a lot more than these little dogs :lol:
 
He's on 2.5 twice a day. Now we are going to do once a day & see how it goes. The reason it's so low is because he's had reactions before, he's has reactions to A LOT of medications & vaccines. It was supposed to step down to once a day on Sunday for 1 week & then once every other day for a week.
 
Staples come out tomorrow!!! Thursday will be 2 weeks since surgery. So to sum up what's going on now, since Winston is on the low dose of pred we've been getting up once during the night to pee and/or poop so we are a little tired everyday. He's been scratching at his head more than usual but it's very difficult at this point to know if it's pain from the SM or the incision & staples. They don't want him to wear an e-collar so thats a challenge. He doesn't scratch while he's in his crate so he does spend a lot of time in there & resting. It hasn't been too difficult to keep him resting because of all the meds. He seems very happy & comfortable. He is starting to become quite smelly so we are really looking forward to a much needed grooming in a few more weeks. I wish I had him groomed right before the surgery but I didn't want to stress him out needlessly. He is pretty much his old self. Time will tell. If anyone has any insights regarding their experiences after surgery please chime in. Thanks so much.
 
So glad Winston is doing well. It won't be long now before he is running around again. As for being smelly, maybe you can get some doggie wipes and just spot clean. They're scented so will help with the smell.
 
Back
Top