Thursday, August 16, 2012

Thursday, August 16

What a day to be thankful for! Bravo is done with surgery and now starts his road to recovery. I would like to say thank you to everyone for your prayers, kind wishes, lit candles, etc. for Bravo's surgery.
Here is the time frame from yesterday:
10:02 am Just leaving Kate's house. She is driving so I can hold Bravo. He is purring.
10:34 am We have arrived.
10:53 am Physical done, sedative gien. Getting sleeping, still purring
11:21 am Just took Bravo to get him prepped. Getting his IV placed and legs shaved. We will go in soon to watch.
12 noon Surgery not started yet. His blood pressure is good
12:12 Surgery started at 12:05
12:25 Working on right leg first. Blood pressure good, temp was a bit cool but now warming up
12:42 Warming up a tiny bit. 1/3 done with first leg. Pulse, heart rate good
12:52 Right leg removed, now major stitch up job. Trying to do it in such a way to minimize contact with foor. Blood pressure good.
1:16 Okay, first leg is done. Will take 20 minutes to prep second leg. Color good/pulse, oxygen level, heart, blood pressure good.
1:48 Starting second leg
2:10 Little trouble with this leg due to rotation of the entire leg. It also has rotated the muslces, vessels, ligaments. Blood pressure is good. Temp is down a little
2:20 Left leg definitely proving to be difficult. Much rotation of leg
2:32 Left leg removed. Definitely have a major job of stitching ahead. Many deformities of this leg. Very little bleeding. Temp is good
3:02 Surgery done 3 hours of anesthetic Now to recovery
3:26 On way home. Very out of it boy

I wish to say extra thanks to Dr. Darcy, Dr. P and the tech, entire staff. They are awesome. Bravo is having a bit of trouble with the pain. Last night was difficult. Dr. Darcy called 4 times to check on him. Today is better, still hard to hold without soreness, which is to be expected. We have Bravo either in a big crate in my house or in June's Room with a very padded floor. We will take his IV port out today.

I was so joyous last night though. After syringe feeding him, I placed him down and he took 4 steps WITH HIS TORSO UP! We are not sure what he will end up doing--whether he will be a bottom scooter (like Bella) or a torso up walker or a combination of both. Any way he does it, is fine by me! Bravo spent the night in the house with me so I could keep up with his various meds and continue to syringe feed him.

He has 3 sutures that will be removed on Friday. The other sutures we will remove in 10 days. We want him to be low-keyed for the next week to 10 days. This will be hard for Bravo, as you know, he prefers to be active. But, this was major surgery--so rest is important.

Again, thank you all for your support of Bravo.

Our week for Be an Earth Angel continues. Saturday night is the end. What an awesome 2 weeks this has been. The support you all do is phenomenal . I am greatly appreciative of each and every donation. We will have an update on the total amount of donations tonight after boxes!

We will have BOXES tonight. There's a possibility that boxes will be at 6:00 tonight. This would allow me to get done a tad earlier (very short of sleep). Bravo and I need an earlier night tonight! I'll shoot for 6:00, but as you know, sometimes it gets crazy here and things happen!

All else is wonderful here. The cats are awesome and the kittens are wonderful! Lots of playing going on. Their energy levels are astounding.
Marishka
Mariska says Thanks for helping with the Feliz Navidad Fund for the Be an Earth Angel week! She is doing great.
P1050295
The cats love their plastic jug--the best place for a nap!