The Surgery

In mid-June our tough guy was taken to the "hospital" and dropped off one Thursday morning to stay for a few days. The procedure was done by a surgeon specialist that afternoon. The surgeon ended up having to do exactly what they predicted, and take the right half of Logan's lower jaw from the hinge up to the front/center - teeth, tissue and all. This sounds just horrifying, I realize. But our research told us, as well as the vet and specialists, that this surgery is fairly common and that dogs fair very well afterward. They adapt incredibly, as we're seeing with Logan.


The surgeon sent the removed portion of Logan's jaw to the lab to get input on whether or not she "got everything" related to the cancer. The lab confirmed that she indeed had, but again - there's no guarantee.


Of course we were on the phone off and on all evening with the hospital getting statuses on our boy, and thankfully he was pretty groggy and on heavy pain medication as well as a morphine drip, so he was resting comfortably.


We went to see him during "visiting hours" the next afternoon, and tried to prepare ourselves for seeing him post-op. I didn't even know if I wanted to go at that point. I didn't know if I could handle it. But the doctors told us Logan wasn't eating for them yet, and sometimes if the owners come in and give it a try, the dog will eat. So, we had to go!

Seeing Logan for the first time really wasn't as bad as what we had pictured. In fact, what bothered us the most wasn't even his jaw, or the appearance of him being in any kind of pain, but rather the fact that the poor guy couldn't walk!! He just has major jaw surgery, but couldn't walk?? He was unable to lift his hind end off the floor at all! The nurses were literally dragging him into the visiting room. We took him outside to try to get him to go to the bathroom, and it was heartbreaking to watch him try to get even to the door. The staff told us it was because of the hospital's "slippery floors". Ummmm....whatever! Yes, it's difficult for dogs to maneuver on shiny, tile floors, especially a dog with arthritis and joint issues, like Logan, but...this was ridiculous!


The staff mixed up some "dog flurries" in the blender and we got Logan to eat two bowls for us, which was great! We then had to leave him behind for another night. This was actually fine, though and would've been requested by us anyway because we felt more comfortable having him monitored one more night in a place where they can react quickly if anything should go wrong. We worried the whole way home about the walking issue. Then of course once again, I got online and read about how this type of sudden lameness can be signs of all sorts of horrible problems! We called a few times during the night, but the staff couldn't tell us much related to the lameness.


The next morning we talked to a helpful surgeon on call, and he explained that he sees this lameness a lot with larger dogs that have to stay in the kennels there at the hospital and do not get very much exercise or stretching throughout their stay. This made us feel a little better about things. He told us that if we can show him we can get Logan to eat that day, then we can bring him home! So, off to the hospital we went!


When we got there - Logan was walking upright! Yayyy!! Wobbly, but not dragging his back end! We were also able to get Logan to eat - and then some! So we got our discharge instructions and brought Logan home to start his recovery. He was wearing an e-collar, had stitches the entire way down the side of his cheek (inside and out), and a drain in the bottom of his jaw/neck. All things that we would have to monitor very closely. His tongue also now hangs out of his mouth from the right side of his mouth, and we were told that it always will. Kind of cute, actually! ;)


Luckily I was able to work from home the entire first week Logan was at home. We also boarded our other dog at the doggie "hotel" for a few days to make sure Logan has some peace and quiet. He didn't seem to mind the e-collar much, and the drain didn't bother him either. They were both kind of tedious to keep up with, but that's ok. It was very important to keep everything as dry as possible, which was difficult with all of his drooling.


Meal time was interesting. Logan was required to stay on "dog flurries" from the blender for two weeks (mainly canned food and water or broth). Our house smelled so bad (like nasty canned dog food) for those two weeks, and so did Logan (no offense buddy)!! We also had everything covered in sheets and towels. Even though we'd clean him up after every meal, he'd still be "leaking flurry" for a while after he ate. We were told it would take him a little while to teach himself how to use his "new mouth". This surgery causes "drift", which means - Logan's bottom jaw swivels back and forth left to right and is very difficult for him to control (considering there's now no hinge on the right side to hold anything in place). So, obviously this impacts his eating, drinking, the way he holds his tongue, etc.


I told my friends that although we didn't have any "human children"to know from experience, I was convinced that this must be what it's like to bring home a newborn baby! I was doing nothing but prepping food, washing dishes and dog bowls, doing dog laundry, shopping for the dog, and keeping a constant eye on the dog for days on end. Crazy. He's totally worth it all, though...don't get me wrong.


Not much more left to bring this up-to-date. Will post more later.