On Friday the 21st, at 6.30 mum and dad came to collect us to get us to the vets for 8.40 check in. I knew we would be early however if we set off later then we would be too late and miss our slot with the vet. We got there round 8 so sat outside for a while and both of them went to sleep!! We headed in round 8.35, leaving Jade in the car and taking Harry in alone. As always with any surgery, Brendan talked me through what was going to be done, what the risks were and I reminded them to clean his teeth whilst he was under sedation. He said that they should be done round 2pm or so. At 2.30 having not heard anything I phoned to see how they were getting on. The nurse told me that Brendan was still 'working on the mass' but that his chest x-ray and blood work came back clear and that they were happy that it was just this one tumour.
At around half 4 Brendan called to say that he had finished and the nurses were cleaning Harry up in recovery but that the operation had been much bigger than expected. He suggested that we head over around 7.30 to collect him after they had finished for the day. I asked one of the vets if it had been a big job and she said it had and it was a bit of a mess, I ended up a bit upset and crying so they got me some tissues and offered me a cup of tea (funny how when someone is crying that's what we do!!!). Around 7.40, Brendan carried Harry though to the room. He was still totally out of it and wearing a large pressure bandage around his back end over the dressings. With him being as he was, I said to Brendan that I would prefer him to stay in overnight and he totally agreed with me on this and said that he had been going to suggest it. We arranged to come over on the Saturday to see him and hopefully collect him but this was very much fluid depending on how he was.
On Saturday the 22nd we went to collect a greyhound to re-home on behalf of the charity that we help out with, and took him to his new mum. As we were driving too and fro I phoned to see how he had been and spoke with Brendan who said that he had had a quiet night, had gone out for a wee in the morning and had ended up fainting due to the lactate build up in his muscles (either that or he looked at his bum!!). As he came round, one of the practice cats, Eric was headbutting his head gently!! He must have thought that he was seeing things! Brendan advised us to head over for round 2.30 so we could have some time with him as they were going to keep him again overnight. We finished with the re-home around 12 and headed over to the airport cafe so we were near the vets and could have some lunch before we went to see him at 2.30. I could feel I was getting anxious as I was nervous as to how he would be. I was trying to hold it in and not show Lel but I didn't manage too well and ended up mopping up my tears a little before we went in. I heard them walking him steadily down to the room where they had put the pad down for him to lay on. As we walked in, he was standing on the pad and was shaking. He was having what Brendan called a big case of 'the jitters' and turning his front feet in as though he didn't know what to do with himself. He had a drip line in and I think couldn't work out how to lay down. Brendan took hold of him very gently and lay him on his side. He was still rather tired and a bit out of it. Charlotte, one of the nurses brought a bowl of water in for him and Brendan asked what his favourite food is. Harry drank the water, I topped it up so he had about one and a half bowls of water whilst we were with him. Brendan was laughing at him and saying that the nurses have offered him water every half our and he has refused it so it's as though he's been showing them up! They brought some cubes in for him to try which he turned his nose up at, (not surprised, he's fussy at the best of time!) Charlotte asked if there was anything else he might eat, we said he might go for a venison tin, which again, he turned his nose up at for us. He clearly was still not feeling well. We sat with him til round 3.45 or so in the consulting room where the window was open. They said we could stay as long as we wanted and at the point of us saying we were leaving, they said they would leave him there asleep in the sun as he was happy and chilled out and they didn't need the room. Bless him. Brendan suggested that we try and get some pants for Harry to keep his dressings in place so we headed to Tesco as we got back to Skipton and bought a variety of pants including women's sanitary pants which are good and stretchy around the waist and hopefully will hold the dressings in place!
On Sunday 23rd, as I woke up, there was a message on my phone from Charlotte from the previous night saying that he had eaten half a tin on food before he went to bed. This simple thing made Lel and I feel so much more happier. Around 8.30 she sent a video of him walking around the garden doing a wee with no problems. This made us both feel so much better about collecting him at 11am. On getting over there we waited a couple of minutes whilst they brought him through to the nurses room. As we went through he was standing on a mat with a blanket covering it, his compression bandage was off and he wagged as we got in. We went through all his medication, they put some of the sanitary pants on him and cut a tail hole for him. We sat with him for a while before Brendan came through to talk us through everything. After going through all of this, we took him out to the car where Brendan picked him up and put him in the back for us. I sat in with him whilst Lel went back in and paid then we headed home. On the way back I realised that I hadn't booked his follow up to have his drains out. By this stage, the vets was closed so I set an alarm to remind me to phone the following day!
On getting him home we took his pants off and let him out for a wee. He did a big wee, we put his pants back on and he lay down and rest for the rest of the day. We took him for a short walk round the block at bed time, he did a wee and a poo so we figured he would have a quiet night. After a couple of noises that indicated he may be in a little pain, I gave him a painkiller as we had been told we could.
He had a quiet night as did Jade, although she had the runs so this morning we were cleaning poop up. He has a slightly swollen leg but other than that all seems good today and we have another appointment for Thursday at 11am.
I've just phoned the Drs and apparently my bloods are fine so I'm heading down now to collect them, hopefully fine means that my WBC and neutrophils are where they should be. I'll update when I get back...
So, my WBC was at 4.2 and neutrophils at 3.2 so well within guidelines and hopefully good for treatment on Wednesday.
On Sunday 23rd, as I woke up, there was a message on my phone from Charlotte from the previous night saying that he had eaten half a tin on food before he went to bed. This simple thing made Lel and I feel so much more happier. Around 8.30 she sent a video of him walking around the garden doing a wee with no problems. This made us both feel so much better about collecting him at 11am. On getting over there we waited a couple of minutes whilst they brought him through to the nurses room. As we went through he was standing on a mat with a blanket covering it, his compression bandage was off and he wagged as we got in. We went through all his medication, they put some of the sanitary pants on him and cut a tail hole for him. We sat with him for a while before Brendan came through to talk us through everything. After going through all of this, we took him out to the car where Brendan picked him up and put him in the back for us. I sat in with him whilst Lel went back in and paid then we headed home. On the way back I realised that I hadn't booked his follow up to have his drains out. By this stage, the vets was closed so I set an alarm to remind me to phone the following day!
On getting him home we took his pants off and let him out for a wee. He did a big wee, we put his pants back on and he lay down and rest for the rest of the day. We took him for a short walk round the block at bed time, he did a wee and a poo so we figured he would have a quiet night. After a couple of noises that indicated he may be in a little pain, I gave him a painkiller as we had been told we could.
He had a quiet night as did Jade, although she had the runs so this morning we were cleaning poop up. He has a slightly swollen leg but other than that all seems good today and we have another appointment for Thursday at 11am.
I've just phoned the Drs and apparently my bloods are fine so I'm heading down now to collect them, hopefully fine means that my WBC and neutrophils are where they should be. I'll update when I get back...
So, my WBC was at 4.2 and neutrophils at 3.2 so well within guidelines and hopefully good for treatment on Wednesday.
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