Hi.....Here is tonight's update. Monday was a rough day..treatment right now is for the Aspiration Pneumonia. According to the doc at the day clinic, he remained status quo for the day, no declines, no bumps in the road. They tried to feed him a little but he had no interest in eating from the techs. When we picked him up tonight, he was more animated about his surroundings. He did give me kisses after we got to the car and he was on Dave's lap. He was up and looking around taking in the sights and watching me. His eyes were brighter tonight, he was yawning more and only did a little puffing for about 30 seconds when he got excited. Once we got into downtown Spokane, we opened the car windows, and he sat up in Dave's lap and held his head high and sniffed the air especially when we drove by the fast food drive-ins!
When we got down to the night hospital, he was active which hasn't occured since Saturday. I was holding him and he wanted down so I thought he had to go to the potty. His temperature was normal and his gums were pink and looked good. When the doctor came in, he commented that it appears he is showing improvement. He said his activity of looking around and wanting down was a happy sight. I indicated that I thought he might have to go potty. The doc asked if I had walked him in and I said no, I carried him. So he said, come on and let's take him out to their potty area and see if he had to go. Well, first thing was the cone caught on the grass. So the Doc took the cone off and little Earl did the doxie shake and kinda sniffed...no potty.....but he immediately started jumping up on my leg. The doc said that was a sight to see! He did start puffing a little due to excitment. The doc said to pick him up and I got to take him to his home away from home and in he went. Boy did I get the look when I put him in there. Told him I loved him and I'd see him tomorrow. It's a nice big oxygen crate with a nice blanket in it. The doc didn't put the cone back on him as he said that they would do a fluid injection and get the cone on then along with all the other antibiotic injections he is getting. They were also going to do an exercise with him of working the chest to get that strong again and he also said that tonight he was going to give him the sedative so he can relax and sleep good and do a pre-empt of last night and his anxiety. As Dave and I drove into town, I wondered if it would work if I attempted to hand feed him with the techs present....maybe he would take it from me rather than from them. The night doc said to talk to the clinic tomorrow and he strongly urged that I try to feed him.
I told Earl that he had a whole platoon of people pulling and praying for him and that he is a little fighter. So, we'll see how tonight goes and on to tomorrow. I'll pick him up tomorrow morning and transport him back to the day clinic. Thank you for all your prayers and rays.
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Dee & Dave
God Bless you and keep you..
Don't give up. Do your best, then regardless of the outcome, you can be proud that you did the right thing.
Sending out more prayers and vibes for Earl. So great to hear those good improvements, way to go Earl!
I'm so glad to hear he is improving!! We are praying really hard for a quick recovery. :pray: :comfort:
Bless him, what a little fighter he is. We are so happy there is a little improvement and think trying to hand feed him yourselves sounds a great idea. We are rooting for you all, hang on in there.
He's a fighter for sure! I'm sure you and Dave are exhausted! Rays and hugs head to you all!
Glad to hear he's feeling better. Rays and prayers still going your way. thanks for the updates.
Baby steps...and tears in my eyes.... You all have been through so much..... What a precious picture !!!
Bucket loads of rays headed Earl's way !!!
Thank you mucho for the awesome reports !!!
And tons of prayers headed GreenAcres way.....
:comfort:
Yay, Earl!!! Keep getting better and better, little buddy!! :hello2: :headbang: Thank you so much, Dee and Dave, for keeping us up on what's going on. All the love you have for him, helped a little by the powerful rays from this Board, are going to be the best medicine we could ask for. Reading about the l@@k when you had to leave him was an "awwww" moment for all of us, I know, but Earl is such a smart little dude that he'll figure out in no time that he has to put up with this temporary situation for now. More rays and prayers coming from FL!!! :comfort: :pray: :heart:
Yay Earl!! Keep gtting better! Your in our thoughts!!!
It's Wednesday.....I went to pick Earl up at the night hospital and transferred him for another day to our day clinic. He is much more observant and active, watching people and moving around. The doctor this morning when she gave me the report for last night, said that he did very well with no problems. She said that he should spend the day at the day clinic again. He is being loved by everyone. She also said that he is a very smart dog.....I shared earlier about his having to wear an E-collar because he was attempting to chew the cap of the catheter in his leg......well they have really wrapped the catheter well so he doesn't have to wear the collar. However, she said she knew he was feeling better because last night after they started the IV fluids, he was really watching people. Now they have the IV on a hanging pump outside the crate and run the tube through the side and into his catheter. Well, he would watch people (and they were watching him) and Earl would very slowly inch his way closer to the tube, thinking that no one was watching him......he got close enough to it, to get it in his mouth and very lightly started to chew on it thinking no one was watching. Well, they were, so they told Earl no, he couldn't do that. They then moved the pump and tubing to the other side of his crate and ran the tube across the back and into the crate thinking that he would see it. Wrong, he looked around and found it and again managed to get it loose enough so that he started to chew lightly on the tubing. Told him no again and finally got a set up so that he could not get to the tubing. The doc said for him to do that, he is showing that he is feeling better......he is paying much more attention to his surroundings.
When we got to the day clinic (our regular vet), he went to the farthest corner of the crate and did not want to get out. I got him out, had him on the leash and he did his potty job before we went inside. When he was done, he trotted back to the car. Boy did he give me the look when I picked him up and carried him inside! He will be at the day clinic for the day....hopefully he will eat for them. I asked if he would not eat for them that they call me and let me come in and see if he would eat for me. Will know more tonight on where we go from here....back to the night clinic or home?? I'm thinking that the vet will say night clinic......we'll see. Thank you for all your rays and prayers! Earl thanks you all, also!
Way to go Earl! :thumb: Yeah!
So glad to hear that he is improving. Contined rays coming your way for Earl and you. Don't forget to take care of yourself, too. :comfort: :comfort:
Darcel
Quote from: DeeanDave on June 23, 2010, 10:08:16 AMI asked if he would not eat for them that they call me and let me come in and see if he would eat for me.
Oh, Earl, honey pie, you are SO smart!! You just keep feeling better, but get Auntie Dee to feed you by hand, then once you get home, she'll be your slave FOREVER!! :comfort: She'll never be able to resist your l@@K! :wink3:
Sending you a big, big kiss and hug. :hkiss: Oh, and Auntie Karen says "rays to Earl." :hug:
Ima DoraBelle :bkiss:
Good to hear Dee, they can be very sneaky when they want. I know the shucffle routine we had to do it with Amy for a while with her back. Hope he gets his appitite back.
Da Gang
It's 3 pm and here is the latest on the Earl-man........I called at Noon to check on him and was told that he had been a naughty boy! The girls have been keeping a close eye on him since he still had the IV catheter in (which had been wrapped....they thought safe enough).....Becky left the back to go up front for just a few minutes and when she got back, Earl had chewed through the tape and gotten to the catheter which he was promptly removing from his leg! So they quickly removed it...which had to come out today anyway just sooner than the Doc planned! Nicole tried to feed him some of the dog food that they have there.....she put some on his nose and he licked that but said no thank you to any more. So I asked if I could come in and try to feed him....the answer was yes. It was suggested that I bring in baby food....chicken and to make sure that it had no garlic or onion in it. I picked up a jar of Gerber Chicken baby food (only contains chicken, water, and cornstarch) and in I went. They set Earl and I up in a room and while he did not want to take the food from the stick they gave me, he did lick some from my finger and then he started to lick the baby food right out of the jar. He ate/licked half a jar and as of this moment, he has kept the food down!!!!
I go back in at 7:40 pm tonight and see what the plan for tonight.....
Fantastic news!!!! :apls: :headbang: :hello2: :meme: I hope he holds that food down. :pray: Sounds like he liked it. He must be feeling much better to have all that energy to devise a plan to pull out the catheter. :2funny: Keep getting better sweet Earl!! :heart:
This is one time for sure when naughtiness is a wonderful thing!! :hello2: :headbang: He's not only feeling well enough to try to deal with something that's annoying him, he knows to do it quickly, before they catch him (even though he thankfully wasn't quite successful with it.... :chairfall:)! Way to go, Earl, with your progress in getting better!!! Keep up the good work with the recovery part, but leave the other stuff alone --- it really is for your own good. :comfort:
Thank you, Dee and Dave, for this good news update! I'll bet he'll do just fine with the baby food. You made a perfect choice of type and it sounds like he's being cautious in not trying to vacuum the whole jar at one time. :hello2: :hello2: :heart:
Prayers and rays continuing, will be looking forward to the next update! :hello2: :pray: :heart:
I keep thinking that this is one of those time that Earl's youth and energy is going to be in his favor. I really hope he is ready to be at home tomorrow, at least by tomorrow evening. I know it must be breaking your heart (and his) to have to leave him each time. I'm looking forward to reading about the big brothers' reaction when he returns.
Sort of teary reading that. Wee man you have lead them a merry wee dance..............
Hugs Dee and Dave and our brave wee man
More Rays & Hugs cannot hurt sounds like he maybe getting to come home soon did they ever decide if Earl has Mega esophagus if he does aspiration pneumonia is a part of that disease dogs get it very easily with Mega. Very glad to hear Earl is feeling better hard for a dog to over come Pneumonia ask your vets what can you to help keep it from happening again.Papbouv