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.
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.