Quite a day so far. On our last update, I had gotten some Tylenol 4 with codeine last night for Syd. I figured that if he got a good night's sleep and rested, maybe he'd be able to get up to go outside to potty since he hadn't been since Friday morning. I gave him the Tylenol 4 with codeine and all he did was kept fighting going to sleep. My husband thinks he's scared to go to sleep cause the last time he did, he woke up and had one less leg. Yesterday afternoon, all he did was whimper and cry. He would occassionally scream if he tried to go from a lying on his side position to a "down" position, but mainly whimpered and cried. We gave him 2 tablets last night and he never fell asleep. He kept looking into the other room like he wanted to go in there, so my husband laid down with him and they both got up around 4am and went into the other room. He got another 2 pills of Tylenol 4 and my husband said he stayed awake, just looking around until he would put his hand on his head and he would lay down.
This morning when I got up, Syd and my hubby were still asleep so I took everyone else outside for breakfast. I had to leave to run some errands before my husband left for work. I came back home and Syd was still downstairs and we left to go to Wal-Mart. Now our basement has that ramp going from one of the spare rooms to the garage. We have 13 steps that go up to the main level, then another set of steps that go outside of the kitchen into the garage (L shaped with 5 steps going to a small landing, then 3 more steps to the garage floor). We figured Syd would not try the steps. Before we left, Syd had moved from where he slept this morning closer to the steps. So we figured he'd be okay there.
When we returned about 1 hour later, I walked into the garage to go check on him and guess what? That little stinker was lying in the garage! I looked to see if the door was open for him to use the ramp and my husband had closed it. So I knew he had gone up the steps! <yikes!> Of course, he was oozing watery bloody discharge from his stitches, but he had managed to go up a straight run of 13 steps, hobbled to the kitchen door (approximately 30 feet), down an L-shaped set of 5 steps, a landing, then 3 more steps to the garage! I was shocked! Of course, it was a big "step" to take (no pun intended) and wore him out. Since it is supposed to be 103 today, I gave him some water, and put a box fan out on him. I tried to get him up and he didn't want to. He did scream a few times while I was inside as he would lay down on his side, then try to get up to a "down" position. I went out a little later and he had a pool of bloody watery type discharge under him so I cleaned it up and got it stopped oozing so much. Knowing he had overdone it, I went and got some Phisoderm liquid soap and some warm water and gently rinsed off the amp site. Syd still had his stitches in, so I was very careful not to rub those, but he seemed to like having the warm washcloth rub the shaved area above and under his stitched area. We then applied some first aid spray that was both an anti-bacterial and antiseptic, which numbed the wound. We got him back downstairs where it was cleaner and he even used the ramp this time! Every hour, we would clean his amp site and once in awhile, I would take a warm washcloth and just gently place it o ver the amp site to help draw out the fluids and prevent seromas (which are a settling of fluids and blood), which our vet had wanred us about. He said to also look for extreme redness and being hot to the touch. The would kept oozing or trickling down this real light pinkish liquid and it would cause Syd to try and move his muscles, which would make him scream. So I tried to keep it as clean as possible. Because it would ooze more when he moved or shifted his weight around and sometimes it would build up along his stitches. It would then become a little coagulated and be harder to wipe off easily since it was right up against the sensitive skin and the sutures. So that had to be done very gently. But as the days wore on, it became less and less sensitive.Since my husband thought I had fed him this morning, he hadn't fed him. So I cut up some chicken and he refused to eat. 3 of the other dogs were standing around, so I gave them a few pieces and he decided he needed a couple of pieces, so at least he got something to eat (along with a Tylenol pill!)
About 15 minutes later, I tried to get him up so he could use the ramp to go downstairs where it was cool. He must have thought he was going to have to go through that whole ordeal of steps, cause he refused to get up. My husband was getting ready to leave for work and tried to get him up, but said he didn't want to. He went back inside and I heard Syd scream once. I knew he had gotten up, so my husband ran outside and he said Syd was outside peeing. While he was up, he had him "go see Momma" and he reluctantly came down the ramp. There is a slight step up at the beginning of the ramp and when he stepped up he started going too fast down the ramp and kind of stumbled forward. I caught him and helped ease his way down the ramp. Then he had a hard time turning to the side to step off the ramp and stumbled and just laid down with his butt half on and half off the ramp. I helped pull his butt back up so he could move a few steps farther to lie completely down.
I laid down with him for about an hour and he fell asleep. Now that I just got up and went to the computer (a whole 6 feet away), he is whining and crying and panting. It's just like he doesn't want me to be away from him. So I laid back down and he just seems restless. Everytime now, that he goes from a side lying position to a "down" position, the oozing of watery bloody discharge trickles out. I tried to clean it up with a couple of paper towels, and I got the paper towel all pink. Of course Syd smelled the blood and was anxiously trying to lick the paper towel and he could feel the tickle of the towel and the oozing and kept jerking around. I finally had to tell him to stop. I just gave him another Tylenol, so maybe he'll get sleepy in a little while. I'm not used to this whining/crying/screaming ordeal. It breaks my heart to hear it, but know that he is going to have a little pain, that it's all the process of healing.
A couple of questions: Am I okay to baby him everytime he whines/cries when I get up from petting him? Or after a few more days, should I start ignoring him or tell him to stop so that he doesn't gave that Pavlov's effect (you know, he knows if he whines and cries, I'll come running and pay attention to him). I just hate to really have him hurting and want comforting and me ignoring him or getting mad at him and telling him to hush. I think the continued use of the Tylenol 4 will help, because I just gave him some cephaxalin pills and one Tylenol 4 pill and he's not whining and crying and lying there just looking around. I know the poor guy has to be bored out of his mind. He probably wants to do something, but hurts to do it. Did any of your dogs become crazy with separation anxiety? I know Syd's not to that extreme point yet, but he just whines and cries until you get back to him. He's also been loving, but never to that extreme. I recall someone mentioning that occurred to them after their dog's surgery. Also, I had asked the vet last night about oozing, etc and he said he stitched it up pretty good inside (3 layers, he said) so he didn't feel like a drain was indicated. He said some oozing would be normal. I'm sure since Syd went up and down that many steps before he was actually ready, it kind of broke something loose slightly, so the oozing should be okay. He just hasn't oozed that much since he fell on his incision 12 hours after surgery when it started squirting out a little blood (which stopped right away with pressure). The oozing is more like pinkish liquid and is enough to form a pool just smaller than my palm. Just making sure that's normal. The vet last night did recommended for any fluid retention that I take a warm washcloth and put it on the area to help draw out that fluid. I have tried to do that, but Syd sure doesn't like anything draped across his incision. Also why would Syd really relax when I stroke his skin above the incision? From what my vet said, the nerves for the shoulder come from underneath the armpit. I'm sure there's nerves on top of the shoulder as well. Is that possibly what I'm doing is massaging the nerves when I stroke him there? Just curious.
Unless something momentous happens, I think this is status quo for today on Syd. Hopefully as he gets better, I'll be able to just post milestones in his recovery! |
