Another MCT ... surgery Thursday!

[teresalg]

Mct

Cami,
I posted about a week ago about my dog Gus and am still waiting for the pathology report. I have noticed tho' that he is extremely itchy lately and was wondering if it was connected and then remembered your fantastic posts. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your great and informative posts. I have a much clearer head about myself since Gus had his two big tumors removed last week and have since located an oncologist here in Memphis with great references from people that I know. After Gus's reaction to the surgery - I am going to look into the Vetalog injections. Gus is 9+ yrs old and the evening of the surgery - he keeled over flat on the floor - like a brick. I have promised myself that we aren't going to do anymore chopping away on Gus - it was just too hard on him. I will post again once I know the path reports but have found great comfort in reading all the useful posts here and specifically wanted to thank you and others for supporting those of us who are going through this for the first time.

 

[kelseighgirl]

Hope everything goes well tomarrow. Please let us know. Fingers and paws crossed here in Maryland. Give that baby girl a big ole hug from us. group

 

[haleyandmark]

Wonderful news!!!

Hey guys!

I checked this post last night from my phone which is why I didn't post back, so here I am! I did give her a HUMONGOUS hug from everyone before I left for work this morning (my hubby had to take her to the Dr., which was probably a good thing, ha)!

Soooo ...

They ended up taking off four lumps! One of which I hadn't seen in a while and thought it was just a bite at the time! One was just a skin tag (although it looked exactly like her first MCT), another was smaller than the head of a pencil and nothing to worry about, the one in her neck was a subcutaneous cyst (whewwww!) and the fourth (the one I hadn't seen in a while) was a hernia! NO MCT's!!! I am so thankful! I cannot even express how excited I am about this!

Cami, thank you for your wise words on MCT's! I talked to our vet about Vetalog for future references and he is very familiar with it and has used it on other dogs before, so YAY!

Kelseighgirl, thank you for your support! I told Asia last night that a lot of people were pulling for her (namely you two) and that she HAD to be okay! Ha!

I have class tonight, so my hubby is going to pick her up around 6.30, but I hear that her incisions are rather large! The one on her neck is probably at least 2 inches and the one on her side from the hernia is probably in between 2-3 inches! The hernia one also has a drain! :( Yikes! An E collar won't work because of where the neck incision is, but we were told that putting a t shirt on her could help? I don't know, but this should be interesting! Poor baby! But, I am so thankful that she is okay!

Thank you guys so much for your well wishes!!! =)

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[kelseighgirl]

and a big old group.......but the group is a gentle one :D.

I am so glad to hear that all went well. Thats awesome and a huge relief im sure.

Thank you so much for the update. I have been checking on and off all day to see if there was any word on Asia.

 

[haleyandmark]

I just got home from class. :( My poor baby can't keep her eyes open! She has about a six inch cut on her left side with a tube sticking out, and about a four inch cut on the right side of her neck.

There was another post going around here about Banfield and how they use ACE. Oh my, I cannot tell you how upset I am! My husband decided not to tell me until I just got home ... they used ACE on her. They have never done this before, but we have never used this Dr before for her surgeries. Our normal surgery Dr (who points out to me that she did not use ACE every time) is out of town. The Dr who did her surgery today is familiar with her supposed heart condition from years ago, and her seizure episodes, but not necessarily her MCT history. We have NO ACE written everywhere on her record. EVERY WHERE! My husband wrote it down on the paper today when he signed it giving them permission for her surgery.

Apparently, during surgery the Vet Asst. called my husband and asked him why we didn't want ACE to be used, because they had just used it on her. He told her he was upset about it but I would be even more upset (correctamundo)! When he went to pick her up, they brought him in to a room to speak with him about it ... voicing his concerns and why we don't want it used, the Vet Asst. said, "She has seizures? Really?". Did you not read her file? ACE is not only bad for Boxers, but it is even more terrible for dogs that have seizures! Seriously!

I am livid. I really am. I would be OK if she was OK, but she's not. She cannot keep her eyes open or function whatsoever, and this is not normal for her. She won't drink water and she didn't even get up when I got home (totally not normal for her, even after surgery)!

The ONLY reason we would stay with them now is if we never used this Dr again and stuck to our normal one (who we all just love)! Ugh ...

Is it possible for dogs to have adverse reactions to ACE after they get home, or will all the problems occur during surgery?

They gave her Etogesic 300mg 1/day and Cefpodoxime Proxetil 200mg 2/day. This isn't bad for Boxers, is it? I'm doing research before I give them to her!

They are going to get an earful tomorrow ...

 

[Cami]

From how I understand it in layman's terms....
ACE can cause arrhythmia's after administration. If a patient already has arrhythmia's it can make them worse. Sometimes resulting in death. *Most* surgeries performed by a traditional vet do not include ECG (EKG) monitoring, especially on a patient with no KNOWN heart issues. This is one of the areas where the problem lies. If the heart IS being monitored one would know if any problems were to occur while under anesthesia and measures could be taken ASAP if something happened. Blood pressure monitoring is different and more commonly utilized during surgical procedures however you are dealing with two totally different things. A patient might very well maintain a normal BP reading yet have issues with arrhythmia's that can go undetected.
Some patients who are perfectly healthy otherwise are slow to come out of sedation. Factor in problems and this may also occur more frequently. Heart patients especially *may* have problems in this area.
My girl is notoriously slow to come out of her sedation. It can literally takes DAYS (usually about 4) until she is "normal". She can have a mild twilight type sedation and another med after the fact to counter act it and STILL be groggy 4 days later. With full blown anesthesia it isn't rare for her to not be "right" for a week or more.
The fact that the vet tech called AFTER administration seems very odd to me and grants further investigation. Why in the heck would they look at the paperwork AFTER the fact? I might very well think something was amiss once they gave it to her and it was only THEN that they got curious enough to check her file. But that is just my opinion.
I hope she recovers quickly and you get some answers.

 

[haleyandmark]

The fact that the vet tech called AFTER administration seems very odd to me and grants further investigation. Why in the heck would they look at the paperwork AFTER the fact? I might very well think something was amiss once they gave it to her and it was only THEN that they got curious enough to check her file. But that is just my opinion.
I hope she recovers quickly and you get some answers.

This, exactly! That is exactly how I'm feeling! Why did they think to call after it had already been given to her?

They did have her hooked up to an EKG and they apparently told Mark that it seems as though she has an enlarged heart (something I didn't think an EKG could tell you?), but we already knew that! That leads me to believe something went wrong and they didn't tell my husband. They will surely be telling me!

I am going to be calling the vet today and getting some answers.

She is up walking around now, which is great! I just got home from work and she had just gotten up (my cousin was here to stay with her)! She is also thirsty and VERY hungry! Poor baby ...

 

[kelseighgirl]

I am so glad to hear that Asia is up and moving around. Boy was I worried last night when I read your post...as Im sure you were as well.

Please pass this along to the idiots at the vets office who obviously messed something up. After you are finished with them this is how they should look !!!!
This should have never happened!! We, as good boxer owners, go to great lengths to keep the ones we love safe...if plastering it all over the chart, paperwork etc isnt doing the trick what do we have to do...accompany our babies into the surgery room??

As always...give that sweet girl big ole, but gentle group from us in Maryland!!!

 

[Cami]

Enlarged heart huh?
Did they take x-rays to confirm this diagnosis or do an ultra sound?
I'd ask to have them show me the EKG print out from when she was hooked up (it will be a part of her file). Have them point out what they saw along the lines of increased heart rate and irregular beats.
Then off to the cardiologist!
You need to know if this is true if so how advanced and what meds are needed to aid the heart.
Glad that she is waking up!

 

[kelseighgirl]

Big group for Asia in hoping that she is healing and feeling better.