JJ Status 20061107
Original sender: Eric----
So sorry for the gap in updates. Since he’s been home it is tough to set down what has changed. There have been no daily consults with vets to keep y’all abreast of.
Saturday 11/4 I drove JJ to Gainesville to have his sutures removed. It was a very mixed bag of results.
His weight is up slightly (11.6 or 11.7 kg depending on how tight the leash is) from 11.5 kg the week prior.
The culture of the fluid in his drain that was collected when the drain was removed was negative for bacteria but positive for yeast. He’s restarted taking the anti-fungal liquid along with its potential for tummy upset.
They suggested changing over-the-counter tummy meds from Pepcid to Prilosec (guess what I bought a big bottle of at Wal~Mart Friday night).
He seems to be adequately hydrated. A good sign.
There is a small hole on the inside of his thigh that is about the diameter of the non-writing end of a papermate pen. The good news is that it is acting as a drain and helping some of the remaining pitting edema to subside. The bad news is that the tissue under the hole does not look so healthy and the surgery folks would open and abrade if he were stronger.
The surgery folks strongly recommend making an appointment with the internal medicine folks for the placement of a feeding tube. This is the second week they have told me this. I am hesitating because I don’t know about the long term placement of a tube or just how to pay for it. I’m kicking myself for not having them do a blood workup on him to get a progress report. I sort of feel that since I did not schedule the feeding tube, the surgery folks think I’ve given up.
Getting food into the little shit is an up and down battle. On more than one occasion I have been ready to drive him to Gainesville for an emergency admission. Typically he will then choose to have a big drink and eat a fair bit of food. Last night for example he ate 8 pieces of Hundenflochen from my hand and then a golf ball sized bit of ground lamb and about half as much ground beef. Otherwise it is a battle to syringe feed him either baby food or his magic slurry of canned dog food pureed with a doggy sport drink along with some other tasty stuff and supplements. When he is really down he won’t lick and swallow the stuff in his mouth, rather letting it run out onto the floor or whatever is under his mouth.
This morning he had a decent bowel movement and a big pee.
I’ll be calling the Gainesville folks later today to see about working up a strategy.
So sorry for the gap in updates. Since he’s been home it is tough to set down what has changed. There have been no daily consults with vets to keep y’all abreast of.
Saturday 11/4 I drove JJ to Gainesville to have his sutures removed. It was a very mixed bag of results.
His weight is up slightly (11.6 or 11.7 kg depending on how tight the leash is) from 11.5 kg the week prior.
The culture of the fluid in his drain that was collected when the drain was removed was negative for bacteria but positive for yeast. He’s restarted taking the anti-fungal liquid along with its potential for tummy upset.
They suggested changing over-the-counter tummy meds from Pepcid to Prilosec (guess what I bought a big bottle of at Wal~Mart Friday night).
He seems to be adequately hydrated. A good sign.
There is a small hole on the inside of his thigh that is about the diameter of the non-writing end of a papermate pen. The good news is that it is acting as a drain and helping some of the remaining pitting edema to subside. The bad news is that the tissue under the hole does not look so healthy and the surgery folks would open and abrade if he were stronger.
The surgery folks strongly recommend making an appointment with the internal medicine folks for the placement of a feeding tube. This is the second week they have told me this. I am hesitating because I don’t know about the long term placement of a tube or just how to pay for it. I’m kicking myself for not having them do a blood workup on him to get a progress report. I sort of feel that since I did not schedule the feeding tube, the surgery folks think I’ve given up.
Getting food into the little shit is an up and down battle. On more than one occasion I have been ready to drive him to Gainesville for an emergency admission. Typically he will then choose to have a big drink and eat a fair bit of food. Last night for example he ate 8 pieces of Hundenflochen from my hand and then a golf ball sized bit of ground lamb and about half as much ground beef. Otherwise it is a battle to syringe feed him either baby food or his magic slurry of canned dog food pureed with a doggy sport drink along with some other tasty stuff and supplements. When he is really down he won’t lick and swallow the stuff in his mouth, rather letting it run out onto the floor or whatever is under his mouth.
This morning he had a decent bowel movement and a big pee.
I’ll be calling the Gainesville folks later today to see about working up a strategy.
posted by Elf at 1:38 PM
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