Gunner made it thru surgery.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

After being told he is only given a 50/50 chance-hubby and I were devastated. So I don't remember a lot of where the surgery was. He had 2 bad areas. I think one was in the lumbar area and I think the other one was in C-2. I'm realy not sure. All I could hear was the 50/50. I will write it down tomorrow and let everyone know. When I talked to my daughter she said he only gave Chapo a 50% chance when he had neck surgery--then i felt better.
We deceided to come home once surgery was over, cause we can't see him today. We will go back at lunch tomorrow. You can only visit one hr at lunch and one hr in the evening.
The Tucson clinic is about 75 miles from Sierra Vista--thats were we went.
If we went to Phoenix--there is a good neuro there also, that would be 300 miles.
I'm glad we took him, but we are devastaded. Petunia is lost without her buddy.
Hubby couldn't stop crying, then I cried.

[lotsadox]

I think sometimes the surgeon's don't want to be too optimistic so they give low odds. Or maybe it's just that until they get in they just don't know. And they don't know what kind of care the dog will get afterwards. But it does seem like they give low odds. I'm so glad that you got him in and can go see him tomorrow. Give him kisses from his DLC aunts and uncles and all the puppers.

Sending :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: and :pray: :pray: :pray: and :hug99: :hug99: :ditto:

[LUVMYGUNNER]

Thanks Patrice, I had a white rosary in my purse and I asked the doctor if he could put it on Gunners cage and he smiled and said--I will do it.
Neuro--said we will take one day at a time. Once surgery was over he seemed more optimistic. so keep the rays and prayers coming.
Again Amy THANKS.:hearts: For being there.

[Barb]

Irma, my heart is hurting for you both - it is so hard. But don't discount a doxie's will !!! He is where he needs to be to get better. We are here for you, hubby and Petunia. Try to get some rest tonight and we will all be waiting for an update when you can report in (or through Amy !)
:bighug:

[Lisa]

He made it through the surgery and that is an awesome step! They did give Pogo a 50/50 chance too. I think it is the number they put out there to cover their basis. The most important thing is to focus on his recovery and rest. I am so surprised they let you see him. The wouldn't let us see Pogo until we took him home, they felt he would get too excited and then depressed when we left again. That's cool they have a different philosophy, I wanted to see him so bad, because I missed him so much.

Did they give you any idea on when they would release him? For us, it was only after he peed on his own. That was three days.

Lots and lots of rayz for Gunner. I am glad you were able to get him in for surgery :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz:

Hugs for you too. December 4th, 2008 was one of the worst days of my life, so I know exactly what you are going through. :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: The tears do eventually stop and the healing does begin once he is home safely.

[Azaren]

Adding my :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: and :hug99: :hug99: for Gunner and you. I'm sorry I couldn't post earlier, but I'm glad to hear that the surgery went well.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

Lisa "we did not see him", thats why we didn't spend the night.... We got to see him before he went into surgery....We are going down tomorrow, for visitation. He will have to stay until he pee's. He said sometimes thats a week :(
We are hoping he gets to come home sometimes this week. He said he is pretty swollen right now, and he is on pain medication.

[Chris]

That's fantastic news! :cheer3:

[Lisa]

What I meant is we had no visitation at all we dropped him off on Thursday and we picked him up on Sunday, and we weren't allowed to visit in between. Hi vet tech Lindsey, would phone us 2 X a day to give us updates, but that is it.

:crossfin: :crossfin: He pees super fast so he gets to come home. He is in an awesome place and getting great care so your little guy will be home and healing in no time! :hug99: :hug99:

[Rafi]

Sorry to hear about what has happened.. but now its time to move forward towards recovery. Take things one day at a time and at a slow steady pace.

Having gone through this recently we know too well what you are going through.

We are here for you and will help you anyway we can.

If your hubby needs to talk to someone, let me know.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

Lisa, I'm glad you checked out the place for me.
Hubby said he doesn't know about having anymore pets...to painful when something happens.
I'm gonna work for a few hrs. tomorrow then head on to Tucson.
Lisa we sat there most of the morning and left there about 3:30. The neuro wanted to talk to us before and after the surgery. Surgery actually didn't take as long as he thought. They also have an hr of visitation for family and friends at noon and evening.
Now if we can just get him to pee, so he can get home.
I read about all these people that got their doxies well on crate rest, and boy do I envy them. I hate that he had to have surgery, I realy tried with the crate rest. It was so pathetic to see his little feet give out.

[oceangirls]

Don't start thinking you failed with crate rest, because you didn't. Some dogs are just going to have to have surgery, and sometimes (not always, but sometimes) crate rest is just delaying that inevitable reality. There are certain benefits to surgery, in some ways - for one, you'll probably be able to (and SHOULD) get him up and moving around soon to make sure he doesn't lose muscle strength. Sounds like you have fantastic doctors, so go with whatever they recommend. You and your DH are obviously very dedicated, caring parents, so your little guy has absolutely everything in his favor :thumbup:. Lots of :bigrayz: :hug99: :bigrayz: :hug99: :bigrayz: for all of you.

[oceangirls]

Hubby said he doesn't know about having anymore pets...to painful when something happens.


It's the same risk with loving people and having them in your life. You balance the pain with the joy, and you're always taking a chance. :hearts:

[LUVMYGUNNER]

Kim thats what I told hubby.
This specialist is very keen on Ester-C and Fish Oil.
If needed Gunner will get water therapy and accupuncture.

[areese]

They didn't let me visit Laika either...until it had been 4 days and the surgeon thought I needed to see her...to see she really was ok and still Laika. She did go crazy when I saw her so I'm glad I didn't go earlier. Crying , thrashing around..it was a little scary. The good thing was that when I had to give her back (they let me walk her around with the sling and hold her) she willingly went to the arms of her surgeon and kissed him. That made me feel better.
Although I hated that Laika had to go through it, I was glad to have the surgery. I'd feel like she had a time bomb inside if we didn't. I read a lot on the surgery and esp. the fenestration (which she had) and I think it was a really good thing.

[lotsadox]

Some dogs are able to come back without surgery and some need the surgery. I've had two that came back and were fine with no surgery and one that had to have surgery. It's nothing that you did or didn't do.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

I'm not sure if he did fenetration or not, fenetration is good.

[areese]

I'm not sure if he did fenetration or not, fenetration is good.

I guess it's controversial but I am glad Laika got it although I didn't know she got it until I read the whole detailed bill. He might have told me but it was hard to take everything in, ya know???

[LUVMYGUNNER]

I'm not sure if he did it by Gunner or not. I will see when I get the break downs. At this point, I can't remember anything he said.

[JuneyTrixie]

Irma, I'm so sorry to hear about Gunner. My heart and prayers go out to you. I remember him being such a sweetheart when I met you in Phoenix. Hugs to you and your husband. :hug99: :hug99:

There is a lady in the Phoenix area that works with downed dogs and uses water therapy and the dogs do regain the use of their legs. If you want her name, I'll look for it and then you can get advice from her.

Rays for Gunner :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz:

and hugs for Petunia :hug99: :hug99:

[Patt]

:bigrayz::rayz::bigrayz::rayz::bigrayz: :rayz: :bigrayz: and positive healing thoughts for Gunner.

I would go with the vets recommendations on whether to visit Gunner or not. Each dog is different and sometimes dogs get really excited to see their guardians and won't lay quietly. Hopefully Gunner will be able to see you though. :crossfin:

[doxrox]

:bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Gunner and :hug99: for you. Charlie has had 6 surgeries, 1 fof those or his back. He almost had 2 on his back but fortunately the second back episode was corrected with crate rest. We were allowed to see him the day after his surgery. The surgeon told us it was harder on us than him to not to see him which was probably true. It about broke my heart in two when I saw him post op and then had to leave him overnight again. Keep us posted and give him an extra smooch from me when you see him.

[Lisa]

From what I understand (and please correct me if I am wrong), IVDD incidents fall into 4 general categories.

1) They have a slow disk rupture, With strict crate rest and prednisone, the disk can heal itself and the dog can recover in time from the little bit of material that goes around the spinal cord.

2) It starts as a small leak, but the disk doesn't heal itself and more and more fluid is released compromising the spinal cord. The dog still experiences deep pain and is able to and recover from surgery.

3) There is a full disk rupture, the dog goes down very quickly but can still experience deep pain and therefore is a candidate for surgery but you have a very small window to get them operated on - 24 - 72 hours.

4) There is a full disk rupture but they are no longer experiencing deep pain. Even if the dog has surgery the likely hood of a full recovery diminishes.

[AgileOllie]

I just saw this. We're thinking positive thoughts for you and Gunner:hug99:

[Alex's Mom]

Just seeing this, Irma. He's in the best place for him right now, and he's got the best parents on the planet waiting to get him home. I remember when Maxe had her lung removed...they wouldn't let me come see her (she was at the Vet College in Charlottetown, PEI, which is about a 5 hour drive from here) until she was ready to go home. it took a week and just about killed me. And when Alex had her cancer surgery, they wouldn't let me come for the first 4 days...in the end, I was really glad I waited, cuz she was SO sick even when I got there. Again, a week without her tore my heart out :sosad: But it passes, and then they come home, and you move heaven and earth to get them well again. Drs tend to give the worst case scenario just in case...prepare for the worst, and hope for the best, which is not a bad philosophy! Keep us posted...thinking of you guys a lot!!!:hug99::hug99::hug99: for you, DH and Petunia, and of course, tons and tons and tons of :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz:for Gunner.

[Frzframe]

:bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Gunner and many, many :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: for you.

[areese]

I wanted to say not to be uspet today, Irma, if Gunner doesn't seem happy or like himself. He'll be on heavy pain killers and has gone through a lot and a lot of people on dodger's list get very upset because they visit their dogs after surgery and the dog is not "himself" (or herself). But that comes back!
I can't wait for an update on how he is doing today...

[Barb]

I wanted to say not to be uspet today, Irma, if Gunner doesn't seem happy or like himself. He'll be on heavy pain killers and has gone through a lot and a lot of people on dodger's list get very upset because they visit their dogs after surgery and the dog is not "himself" (or herself). But that comes back!
I can't wait for an update on how he is doing today...


:hug99: :hug99: Irma - we are thinking of you, hubby, Petunia and of course Gunner !!! Good advice Amy !

[Frzframe]

I wanted to say not to be uspet today, Irma, if Gunner doesn't seem happy or like himself. He'll be on heavy pain killers and has gone through a lot and a lot of people on dodger's list get very upset because they visit their dogs after surgery and the dog is not "himself" (or herself). But that comes back!
I can't wait for an update on how he is doing today...

While I haven't been through major surgery with any of my gang this is even true when they've had their teeth cleaned. Yeah, my gang are whimps, I guess. But it takes them a day or two to bounce back from having a tooth pulled. So please don't be surprised for upset if he doesn't respond like he normally would. :hug99: :hug99: :hug99:

[lotsadox]

From what I understand (and please correct me if I am wrong), IVDD incidents fall into 4 general categories.

1) They have a slow disk rupture, With strict crate rest and prednisone, the disk can heal itself and the dog can recover in time from the little bit of material that goes around the spinal cord.

2) It starts as a small leak, but the disk doesn't heal itself and more and more fluid is released compromising the spinal cord. The dog still experiences deep pain and is able to and recover from surgery.

3) There is a full disk rupture, the dog goes down very quickly but can still experience deep pain and therefore is a candidate for surgery but you have a very small window to get them operated on - 24 - 72 hours.

4) There is a full disk rupture but they are no longer experiencing deep pain. Even if the dog has surgery the likely hood of a full recovery diminishes.

I think that's about right, Lisa. Amanda had the full disk rupture and had to have surgery. She came back about 90% which was okay. She could run and play with the other dogs, she just never had the balance or strength she had before surgery.

I know that my other 2 were lesser back problems and recovered with only the crate rest. It depends on the situation.

And Amy's right. Amanda was very "off" when I first brought her home which was the day after surgery. In fact, they told me to crate her in a room away from activity for the first few days so that she would just rest and she never complained about being away from the rest of us. She mostly wanted to sleep. It took a while for her to be her normal self.

[michelehbc]

Thank goodness! Ya'll are in my prayers! :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz:

[Rae]

Irma I am so sorry to be late to this - we are still without electricity and I have not been on DLC much. :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Gunner and his worried hoo parents!!

Although Duchie has not had to have back surgery (Lord knows she's had about every OTHER kind!) we've been through those agonizing scary times of waiting and waiting and "should I have done something different, could I have done something different" at our house too.

I think the answer is no. You are a wonderful ani-parent and I know Gunner and Petunia are your babies. You noticed he was off, you took him to the right people at the right time, and you will continue to do everything possible for him when he comes home.

:hearts: :hearts: and extra :bigrayz: :bigrayz: just in case with a side order of :bighug:

[Tex]

Having gone through this with Jax (and a very emotional hubby too!), I totally understand where you are coming from. Continued :pray:s and healing :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Gunner and big :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: for you and hubby and Petunia!