spay complications

[Stacy]

I just had one of the worst mornings ever.  So I’m going to tell you my story because I know you will understand. With the disclaimer that this was a freak thing that will probably never happen to anyone else.  And that it might be a little gross.

 

The timeline of events goes like this:

 

Wed. 10/12 Ava was spayed

 

Sunday night 10/16 I noticed some drainage from her incision and her vagina.

 

Monday 10/17 we went to the vet and they said she had a fluid collection under her incision and it would be fine. They gave her some steroids and antibiotics and told me to try to express the drainage. The vaginal drainage they attributed to her possibly being in heat recently prior to being spayed.  Now, I hadn’t seen any signs of her being in heat or that she had been in heat – but they’re the vet. I noted that the drainage looked the same as what was coming out of her incision, but they didn’t seem concerned.

 

Thursday 10/20 I woke up and noted a small amount of frank blood coming from her vagina. So we went back to the vet. My vet wasn’t there but the other vet in the practice examined her and thought she would be okay. Gave her more steroids and antibiotics. He didn’t really give me a good explanation of what was going on. I was afraid she was hemorrhaging internally, but he kind of poo-poo’d me and sent me home. My fear was that she needed more surgery, so I was happy to accept that they didn’t think she did. My gut told me that something was still wrong. And I should have listened to it. (Let that be a lesson, always listen to your gut) But when the vet says what you hope they will say it’s hard to argue with that. He kept mumbling about her being an older dog. I was thinking she’s 6. It’s not like she’s 13. But still. He said what I wanted to hear, so I heard it.

 

Friday 10/21 at 3:30 in the morning I woke up, I think because Ava was licking herself. She was still wearing the cone, so she couldn’t reach her incision but she could reach her vaginal area.

 

And that’s when my nightmare really begins. She was hemorrhaging. And I’m not talking about a little blood. There was blood and golf ball sized clots. She was actively bleeding everywhere. I threw on some clothes and we went racing to the emergency vet. I got pulled over right before I pulled into the parking lot, but bless the heart of the nice policeman, when I asked him to give me the ticket fast because my dog was bleeding, he shined his light into the back seat and escorted me into the vets office. Later I heard that he looked a little green in the lobby – there was a lot of blood. But my hands were shaking too hard for me to notice.

 

They called the surgeon in from home and they did exploratory surgery. When he came out he told me that both ligatures had slipped off the uterine body. The uterine body had sealed itself to the top of the urinary bladder and that’s why it’s been a slow leak until this morning when everything kind of burst loose. I won’t keep you all in suspense, they think she will make a full recovery. But they’re keeping her there until tomorrow. He also said there was still a collection of fluid under her incision line and that tissue didn’t look viable so they excised that and she got a bit of a tummy tuck.

 

The estimated vet bill for my “free” sort-of-rescue is about $4000. But she is so worth it. I love that girl so much. I don’t know what I would do without her. I just wish that she hadn’t had to go through so much with this. And I would be lying if I said that the cost didn’t hurt me just a little too.

 

Now I feel really torn. I’m in health care, so I get it. No surgery is completely without risks. But what on earth happened here that everything went so wrong? And when I took her back twice with concerns how did it still get missed? I’ve been using the same vet since 2005 and this is the first time I’ve had a problem, but it’s a pretty big problem. Do I need to change vets? And not only that, I’m angry at myself. I should have pushed harder. I knew something was wrong, but I let them tell me what I wanted to hear even though I didn’t really believe them. If we had done something yesterday then maybe it wouldn’t have gotten to that critical point.

 

And I’m sure they will never read this, but I just want to give a shout out to VCA Mission Animal Referral and Emergency Center and Dr. Hazenfield. They were amazing. Wonderful, kind, compassionate. I’ve been there on several occasions for several different things over the years and they are where you want to be when you have an emergency.

 

And now I am going to try to clean up the crime scene in my car. Seriously. CSI worthy!

 

Squish all of your healthy doodles tight this morning

Stacy

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

This is great news!  It sounds like she's a tough little doodle! 

[Stacy]

She is the sweetest thing. When she lays beside me she puts her arm around me like a hug. I absolutely adore her.

[Carol and Banjo]

What a horrible, frightening thing to go through.     I hope sweet Ava comes home in much better condition and the healing is fast for her.     If it were me, I think I'd be thinking Small Claims Court.    

[Stacy]

It was pretty rough! But I think Ava is going to do fine this time. I have a much better feeling about everything now. And I love how the surgeon reassured me about how much he sewed! 

I'm not sure court is a viable option. I mean, bleeding is one of the known risks of surgery. I just wish that we had caught it yesterday before it became so emergent. But at the same time, I'm not sure that I would have wanted him to operate on her again. The girl at the desk this morning, I'm not exactly sure what her role is, came over to me and reassured me that he is a board-certified, all the education you could possibly have surgeon, and that he was the best. I was very glad to have the best.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

JD has taught me that vet specialists are a very good thing, lol. 

[Stacy]

I could have kissed him! That probably would have been totally inappropriate, so I restrained myself. But I could have! Did I mention that when Ava was spayed I took 2 dozen donuts for the vets office? So they would take extra special good care of my girl. I want my donuts back! 

And my family took me out for dinner and beer this evening. I had 2 beers. Big ones. But I feel much better about this whole situation!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And that makes all of us here feel much better, lol. :) 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

OMD...what a horrible, scary thing to happen to Ava. I feel so badly because I told you everything would be ok in a previous discussion. You just think it is supposed to be an easy surgery and then something like this happens. I am so glad everything seems to be ok now. I think, at the very least, I would call or write my vet a letter. I think they should be responsible for some of the bill, but in the end, Ava is going to be fine and that's what counts. 

[Stacy]

Don't feel bad Laurie! She is going to be okay. I wouldn't call this the easiest surgery I've ever experienced, but I really think this is a once in a million freak thing that happened. 

And in the future, I might give more consideration to having boy dogs! I feel like neutering can't possibly be this traumatic.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's usually most traumatic for the human father, lol. 

[Stacy]

I might also do a little online retail therarpy. I mean, I've already broken the bank today. What's a few more dollars? 

But in all seriousness, I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan. And it's such a comfort to know that while I whine about this really big vet bill, there was never a moment when I questioned Ava's life vs. the cost of the procedure. I didn't ever get a quote on pet insurance because I figured that she would be one of those dogs whose premium would be impossibly high. But for all those puppy people out there, pet insurance would have been an amazing thing today. No one thinks it will ever happen to them. But then it does. And that vet bill gets big in an instant. It's something to really think about.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Amen.