I drove straight to the clinic right after work. Couldn't even eat any lunch....was just too anxious over this case.
Herliyati Christine and her two friends (Angie and Zax) were there. They were going to wait until the surgery is over. They are all students from Monash.
So, together we waited...with bated breath.
I don't know how long we waited....
Then, the vet's assistant came down, and she said everything looked alright. It was a very difficult surgery, but the vets were in the process of suturing Chewie up now.
Phew....that's a big relief, but we still had to wait for the vet to come down. We know this is a touch-and-go surgery.
Soon I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
Our vet came down and said it was a "total disaster" during the surgery, but all seemed well now.
The vets could not pull all the organs back through the tear in the diaphragm, so he had to cut the ribs in order to get some of the organs back into their proper places.
We all followed him up to see Chewie.
As we were walking up, I asked how the prognosis is now that Chewie has survived the surgery. The vet said 80% of the work is done successfully now, so 20% is in how well she will recover. Still, anything could happen.
From left, Herliyati Christine, Angie and Zax. Good friendship is all about being there for each other.
Hey Chewie! Shh...she hasn't woken up yet.
The vet checking her.
The vet explained that the diaphragm was so delicate, he could not mend the tear. Instead, he had to suture the diaphragm to the sternum. But all the organs are in the proper places now. The vet said the abdomen almost did not have "enough space" to contain the organs because they had been residing in the lung cavity for so long!
However, Chewie's liver is in bad shape. This is because the liver had been in the wrong place for too long. The whole liver is swollen. Chewie will start on Liv 52 (a liver supplement) after she wakes up.
This is Chewie's injured leg. Amputation is an option, but treatment is also possible. We will talk about this later. Now, she has to heal from this surgery first.
Chewie has also been spayed since the incision extended right down to the lower abdominal area.
Chewie might be in pain after she wakes up because of the cutting of her ribs. If she can bear the pain, she will not be given painkillers, but if she winces or cries too badly, either morphine or pethidine will be given. These two painkillers are more suitable and safer than NSAIDs, for Chewie's case.
Christine, Angie, Zax and I spent some time upstairs with Chewie. She still had not fully woken up when we finally left, but she reacted when the vet pressed her leg.
This has been one of my most worrisome cases.
I'm glad the surgery went successfully.
Now is the next step. Recovery. And here's where we can all help - please send positive healing thoughts to Chewie.
All said, I salute Christine, Angie and Zax for all that they have done.
Even on the (mid)night of the rescue, Angie's friend had already agreed to adopt Chewie. The friend is still willing to adopt Chewie now and Angie will help keep an eye on Chewie as they live very near each other. Christine was doing the hot compression for Chewie throughout the weekend.
You've got to hand it to these kids. They sure put some adults to shame. We have adults who'll dump animals on us, emotionally-blackmail us ("if you don't take, the animal will die"), those who don't pick up the animal after surgery, those who don't even bother to ask around for fosterers and adopters but instead, throw their problem to us, those who promise to share in the cost and don't pay up, those who are sneaky, dishonest and lie through their noses. I could go on, but hey, I don't want to dwell on that!
So, why don't I just give a deep bow to Christine and her friends for all they have done.
And many thanks to our vets and the vet's assistant for putting in their best efforts to save Chewie.
Disclaimer: I may have got some technical facts wrong in this posting, so I shall take full responsibility for those errors, if any. I'm tired and overwhelmed, too. But I am SO relieved!
And sorry the photos are a bit blur. Hp photos.
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