| |
| PET
HEREOS ... |
| |
|
Meet
Oscar ...
|
| |
|
|
|
Hello…
I’m Oscar and I want to tell you my story….
I’m a Westie and only a puppy and like eating(!)…
unfortunately I didn’t know you could eat the wrong things…I
managed to get hold of a lamb chop and swallowed it, pretty
much whole, and straight away I felt ill…
My owners were very concerned and took me into the vet where
they discovered that I had a chop stuck in my food pipe, the
oesophagus, in my chest just above my heart…
|
|
|
This was apparently very dangerous
because at any moment it could tear through and rupture
the huge vessels around my heart…
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The team spent 5 hours
operating on me that day… It involved opening up my chest
and the anaesthetist, Elisha the qualified nurse.. (and at
the end of my time in the hospital a very good friend of mine
as you will see…) took control of my breathing and the
surgeons worked at opening between my ribs and getting down
to the bone in my food pipe…
There were some very delicate moments by all accounts as the
space that they had to work in was very tiny due to my size!!!
A special tube was put down my throat
to allow the wound to drain from inside my food pipe..
|
|
|
|
A chest drain was
put in and then my chest was closed using special stitches
around my ribs to pull them back together again…
|
|
|
|
A special dye was
put down my throat to make sure there were no leaks at this
stage –at every point of my procedure my team may have
had to decide to put me to sleep as it was so dangerous and
delicate so you can imagine what my owners went through that
day…
|
|
|
|
Then my tummy was
opened and another piece of the bone was removed from my stomach,
a feeding tube was placed that would allow me to have food
while my oesophagus healed in my chest…
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I was bandaged and
woken up…
|
|
|
|
 |
|
This was scary as
I found it very hard to breathe for a short period and had
to be in an oxygen tent while I became used to everything…
|
|
|
|
That was only half
the story…
|
|
|
|
The next few days
I was critical – I was in intensive care for 10 days
altogether –I had tubes everywhere but I did feel much
better, I didn’t feel like vomiting at all like I had
done before the operation…
|
|
|
My nurses drained
my chest every four hours, I also was being fed directly in
to my stomach every 2 hours... Day and Night....
Day 2 and I found it hard to breathe
again, everyone was very concerned, they found that my chest
drain was blocked and thankfully cleared it quickly so the
fluid that had collected around my lungs and heart was drained..
Instantly I felt better again!
Unfortunately the fluid now showed
that I had an infection in my chest – apparently a
really nasty one that was resistant to a lot of antibiotics…
I had over100mls of fluid taken off my chest every day which
was quite a lot seeing as I was only 5kg big!
|
|
|
|
I was being fed a
liquid diet down my feeding tube, this was lovely and warm
and made me feel full but I had to have this done every 2
hours so it was quite disturbing although I was very pleased
to see everyone each time!
|
|
|
|
 |
I was on lots of medication
also and it had to be given all through the night too and
at lots of different times – luckily didn’t have
to swallow tablets though (!) as they made a special solution
and put this into my feeding tube too..
I had my bandage changed every day and I behaved really well
apparently – it all happened on the prep room table and
I was also fed at this point too so there was something nice
at the end of it each time..
On day 6 after my operation I was feeling better and was
allowed out in the sunshine and was allowed to wander around
the garden with Biccy the dog and Alfie the cat – I
still had all my tubes in so wasn’t allowed to do too
much and someone sat out with me all the time…
|
|
 |
|
Day 7 and the fluid
in my chest changed dramatically – there was less infection
in it and suddenly much less was coming out… I kept my
drains in for 4 days after this started to happen and felt
much much better… I was even allowed to start to have
something to eat which was BRILLIANT!!
|
|
|
Day 10 and they took
my drains out – this was really weird - I still had my
little ‘jumper’ on to prevent any problems…
They kept me in the hospital for another night just to make
sure I would be strong enough to go home…
My owners came to collect me on day 11 – it was so good
to go home again!
It was still touch-and-go until my
next check as the fluid and infection could still return
and so I was looked after very carefully at home until day
14 for my check up.. I had another scan of my chest and
all looked good so I was given the thumbs up!!
PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO SWALLOW BONES AS IT
CAN BE VERY VERY SERIOUS!
|
|
 |
|
|
