MONDAY EVENING (DAY OF SURGERY) 3/18/24

The surgery was challenging, four hours and the surgeon called us when she was in and opened him up and explained that it was going to be a lot more risky than she had imagined. She asked if we wanted her to continue because she was going to have to go through his diaphragm and chest to reach the shunt and it was hidden way down past a lot of veins that could get cut. We had not other choice, if she didn't forge ahead with the risky surgery and closed him up and woke him up, we would have had to euthanize him. His quality of life has been so sad, lethargic, tired all of the time (and this is with fully medication and the hepatic food). So we told her to continue on and then waited by the phone for a few hours hoping and praying he would survive the surgery.

He survived, and he is now in the hospital's ICU wing under 24/7 medical supervision. Things they need to monitor for right now are his blood pressure, seizures and regulate his pain management very very carefully as his liver is not healthy. The liver itself looked awful, was in really unhealthy condition. They sent out a sample for a biopsy. This poor dog should have had this surgery months ago, we wish his former owners hadn't waited so long to bring him to a shelter. They are giving him plasma transfusions for the next 24 hours, he needs the nutrients from it. The original plan was to keep him there for 48 hours post op but because the surgery turned out to be so much more challenging, they might keep him longer (and we want him to not be discharged if there is any chance that something can go downhill quickly).

The best case scenario is the surgery is a success (we don't know yet if it will be, he has much to recover from). If his recovery goes as best as possible, then he will be on medication for life and the hepatic food for life and he could have a quality of life. We simply don't know what that will look like. They also removed the bladder stones and neutered him while he was under anesthesia. The bladder stones were gross looking, the result of the liver not functioning properly. The hospital won't call us overnight unless his condition takes a turn for the worse, so no news is good news.