Surprise! Surgery was actually yesterday!

Ollie seems happy to be home.
Ollie seems happy to be home.

 


 

So, we took Ollie in to the surgical center on Thursday for what we thought was a consultation with the surgeon.  After a wonderful, but brief consultation, during which we gained the utmost trust in Dr. Brourman, we learned he had Oliver’s surgery scheduled for yesterday, not today.  Color us surprised!  Still, we felt great about sending Ollie in with Dr. Brourman, so we quickly agreed to go ahead with the procedure.  We also learned the cost for total hip replacement was quite a great deal higher than we were initially quoted.  We had been told the cost would be around $3,800 to $4,500 and discovered, literally moments before the surgery started, the actual cost estimate to be in the $7,200 to $7,900 range.  It turned out to cost $6,700, which may have been a slightly gracious rate.  The surgical center apologized for the misunderstanding, and seemed deeply embarrassed.  We still have the utmost faith in them.

They called us this morning to update us on Oliver’s status.  His vitals were good, and he was eating and going to the bathroom.  They told us they felt good about us taking him home today.  We went to PetCo and got him a crate.  To say Ollie has never enjoyed a crate is a severe understatement, but we are determined to try.  We don’t want him to put any weight on it for at least a few days.

We went to get him this afternoon, and met with the nurse to get an overview of his home recovery plan.  He is wearing a Fentanyl patch for pain.  It stays on until Monday.  He’s taking Tramadol twice a day for pain, Rimadyl for an anti-inflammatory, and the antibiotic Cephalexin.  The nurse brought Oliver in, and he was so incredibly happy to see us.  We both almost cried, and he was definitely crying with excitement.  They had shaved almost his entire backside, and the incision was extraordinarily clean and much smaller than we expected.  It is on the outer thigh, starting at the hip joint and going about four or five inches down the center thigh.


 

Ollie's leg has a new look.  Like it?
Ollie’s leg has a new look. Like it?

 


 

He seemed eager to get home. Getting him in the car was a lot easier with the HelpEmUp harness.  I sat in the back with Olliver on the way home and made sure he stayed lying down.  Having both of us there to pick him up was a very good decision.  Getting him out of the car required a little acrobatics, but we managed.  Ollie was extremely good and basically let us carry him.

We brought him inside and got him set up on a palette of bedding on the floor, and one of us is sitting with him at all times.  We took the cone off, since we are keeping such a close eye on him.  Once we got Ollie down, we let Lou out of her crate, and she was amazing.  She came out so slowly, and gently approached Ollie.  She smelled all around, gave him about a thousand kisses, and demanded we remove the cone at once.  She always seems to get what she wants, that one.

Right now, Ollie is sleeping and Lou is sitting in her window seat watching the neighborhood and keeping guard.  Thank you to everyone who has followed us this far.  We’ll have another update soon.

Surgery in four days.

There's no friend like a sister.
Lou has always had Ollie’s back.

 


 

We took Oliver to the surgery center last Thursday to get some pre-op x-rays.  They had to sedate him, so we were there for about two and a half hours, which was a bit longer than they expected.  When he was awake enough to walk a little, we got to take him home.  He was very groggy and seemed confused and scared.  We had to use the special Help’EmUp harness which we got for his ACL surgery to support him for a few hours because he was having a hard time walking, he was a little sore from being stretched for the x-rays.  By the end of the night, though, he was moving around much better, and was just a little tired from the sedation.

He has been in generally good spirits lately.  Some days are better than others, and he is definitely still taking it extremely easy.  He does have days when he seems full of energy and wants to chase Lou around the yard like his old self.  We are trying to let him enjoy himself as much as possible this last week before surgery, but are being vigilant and not letting him play once he begins to show signs of fatigue or pain.  We’ve been walking him as often as he seems to want to go, which is about every other day.  The walks are very short, since he starts to get tired easily, but they seem to do him good and he seems to be in less pain after a walk.

We have our consultation with the surgeon in a few days.  There are lots of questions on our minds, mostly about how immobile Oliver will have to be and how we can best keep him from putting any stress on his new hip before he is healed enough to do so.  Fortunately, Lou has been extremely gentle with him anytime he starts to show any signs of pain and we feel confident that she won’t try to push him beyond his limits.

Our friends and family have been amazingly supportive, as has the internet community.  Your positive energy has been overwhelming.  We are confident that Oliver will come out of this experience stronger than ever!