This Past Weekend

Well, this past weekend the weather was really nice. My humom put out two big bowls of ice cubes for me and Smokey to play with. That was fun, though I fell asleep with my face in the ice.

I still wear out pretty quickly and sleep more than normal, but mom tells me that's normal.

Today, she left her bedroom door open for me so I can sleep in my favorite place - her bed.

There's not really much new here, except that I'm still healing. I wish the fur would grow back on my tummy a little faster. Mom always is touching my belly or kissing my belly. It's kinda weird.

Hope all is well with all of my furry friends!

Hugs and Drool,
Kel

Staples BE GONE!

Hey all! It's Kelsey and I'm doing great! I read all of the wonderful prayers and I see why my mom was crying all the time. You are all so sweet and caring. And all of that was for me? Crazy. I love you all too and am glad that you're my friends.

Enough of the mushy stuff from me. I'm a strong manly husky. :>)

Well, my staples came out yesterday. It didn't hurt at all. I couldn't really even feel it. Then the surgeon, Dr. Thoesen, came in to see me and I gave him a kiss on the back of his head while he was looking at my belly. He says that we're in the clear! My health is restored. Hmmm, now what can I find to chew up? Mom and dad cleaned the house top to bottom and there's no fun stuff out for me anymore. This stinks.

Anyroo, I'm back and will be taking over the blogging from now on. Thank you for all being so kind to my mom during this stressful time. I know she was an emotional mess, but she's happy again and I get more hugs and kisses than ever!

Hugs and drool to all my furry friends out there. Sure did miss you all!

Kelsey

Pictures

Here's Kelsey after the first surgery. He was still out cold.
Here is Kelsey with his "poodle" paws.

Here's what Kelsey ate that got stuck inside him. Here's his bruised stapled tummy. This is from the day we got home. The bruising is gone now and the swelling is going away too.

Here's Kelsey on his blanket and pillow that he gets to use. There's one on each level of the house so he can be comfortable wherever he goes. This was taken about 5 minutes ago. Well, we're progressing slowly. He's eating more and is more active. However, I don't think we're completely out of the woods yet.

This Thursday, we get our staples out and have our first check up post surgery. We are hoping for a positive report. The love we have for this little guy is amazing and so is his will to live and be loved by us.

Thank you all again for all of your support through this. This blog site is such a great community for pet owners and pets to talk and get things off their chest. You are all very dear to me.

Thank You!

Cody

Kelsey's Progress

Well, we're getting there. Kelsey has been improving daily. He is becoming more playful (not sure if this is good or bad) but wears out pretty quickly.

He's eating more and is taking his medications like a good boy.

We've been fortunate enough to have vacation time to stay home with him while he recovers. Don't want to come home to any "suprises" if you catch my drift.

I will get some pictures on the site this weekend. I am worn out emotionally and have experienced the let down of stress relief with his return home. I need one really great night of sleep and I'll be good as new. Right now though, I sleep like I did when my son was a newborn and wake up with each little sound.

We're still not 100% in the clear, but my prediction is a happy ending with a long life ahead.

Thank you all so much again for your well wishes. Please check back Sunday for pictures. I'll get a bunch of them and post them for you, just don't tell Kelsey I did it.

Cody

Terrific Tuesday!

Well, I spoke with the surgeon just a couple of minutes ago (lunch time) and he said that Kelsey has eaten TWICE and has kept all of it down. He's listened to his tummy and has heard strong bowel sounds and apparently Kelsey has made it outside to make a #2 lawn deposit (poopy) already twice too! His temperature has stayed down and is at 101.2 right now!

But, the BEST NEWS??????????


I get to pick him up and bring him home today!!!!

If he's up to it, I'll let him use the computer so he can thank you all himself for all the prayers and well wishes. We'll see how he's doing.

More soon!

Cody

Still getting there...

Last check of temp was 101.4. It was 102.5 four hours previous and I was able to go visit with my Kelsey. I would like to think that I helped bring it down.

The vet had to give a medication to stimulate the intestines because after eating his "intestinal diet" he vomited after 5 hours.

He is shaved and I told him that the other huskies were going to call him a poodle. HA!

He looks so much better and made sure to slather my face with Kelsey kisses (oh how much I have missed that).

I spent about an hour with him today, but he's still at the hospital. Until he keeps food down, he can't come home.

Smokey smelled him on me though and finally ate and seemed to cheer up.

Home soon? I sure hope so.

I'll get some pics of him and post them soon.

Thank you all again!
Cody

Sunday Update

The surgeon called this morning, as promised. Kelsey's temperature is now 103.1. We're going up instead of down. This is very upsetting to me, moreso than you will ever know.

They changed his initial IV port in case that was the cause, so I guess time will tell.

On the upside, he's holding down water and he's not appearing to have any leakage from the intestinal repair, which is good. He is going to start to eat a ID (intestinal diet) food today at around 2:00, so again, time will tell.

I'm starting to feel like I'm going to lose my mind over this. All I do is cry and feel sick to my stomach. I just want him home again so that I can touch him and smell his fur and look into those beautiful blue eyes. I miss him so much.

Please continue to pray, and again thank you all so much for all of the prayers already made.
Cody

UPDATE...

So far so good. The temperature is holding at good 102.3 which is down from 102.5. I know it's not much, but for all he's been through it is a huge thing.

He's going to the bathroom all by himself (another huge thing).

We're still in the window of time where things can turn on us and go down hill (3-5 days) however, I'm trying not to let that be a thing I think about.

I will know more in the morning between 8 - 9 so I will update at that time.

I'm very proud to tell people and their pets that I'm a member of such an extraordinary group. You are the best friends that a dog and his mommy could ever have.

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for all of your paw-rayers.

Cody

Keep those paw-rayers a comin please...

You are all so wonderful and Kelsey is so blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends. Your warm words and well wishes have made me cry more tears of joy than you could ever know.

At 4:30 this morning, I woke up again (not sleeping real well) and called the emergency hospital where he is. His temperature has come down to 101.3, which is even lower than it was when we first arrived at the specialists office (102.6). The nurse there said that he's sitting up and standing to move around in his cage (oh how much I wish he were home on the bed with me), and that his foot swelled a bit from the coban wrap that is used to cover the IV, but she re-wrapped it and it is doing better.

So far, so good, but we're still in that window where all could fail. I am trying to think positive. I know he's a fighter and he's still got a lot of life in him.

Please continue to pray and cross those paws for him. I will update as I have more.

Thank you all so very much. This has been a sort of release for me too. If you ask Holly's mom, you'll know that Kelsey's mom is having an extremely hard time with all of this.

Smokey isn't dealing with it well either, so we're thinkin about a nice walk today since my foot's better.

UPDATE: The specialist just called and said that Kelsey's blood count and protein counts look really good and are holding steady. He is producing urine which is good and they took him outside to walk around a bit and he seems to be walking well.

He did vomit last night, but the Dr. said it was after they had given his IV antibiotic and it could have been from that or the obvious stress. He said that for all Kelsey's been through, he looks great.

He said that there didn't seem to be any fluid in his tummy (which is good) and that his temp is 103 at this time, but they had taken it after he was moving around and so he felt that to be ok.

They will check his temp every 3-4 hours and will continue IV fluids with pain management today and hopefully tomorrow or later tonight introduce water back in.

He said he would call me this afternoon around 5:00 pm with more updates. Sounds like he's in excellent hands, so the rest is up to Kelsey's sweet white body. I'll let you all know more as I have it.

Thanks again to all of you.

My love,
Cody

Pics I promised

Ok, here are some pics of Kelsey post surgery. The top one is with the tubes and iv still going. He was making small swallows, which were good signs.

This is his incision. He obviously will be very sore after coming to.

This is what NOT TO EAT. While leather tastes good, please don't eat it. Your humans will have to endure the same stress and tears that I have. If only Kelsey knew what I've gone through.

UPDATE: I went and saw Kelsey after work tonight. He jumped out of his kennel at me and licked my face (the vet tech told me it would take two people to get him out - HA!) We went outside to try to pee (he keeps having to be catheratized) and instead of using the "facilities" he burrowed his head in a snow drift which he obviously missed.

After I left, he threw up again. I think it was just too much too soon. Tomorrow will be moist food, so we'll see.

I will keep you all posted on his progress.

Hugs and drool from Smokey and love and thanks from his family.

Cody

Asking for prayers.....

Hello to all. This is Kelsey's mommy and I'm calling for all the prayers possible.

If you've ready Holly's blog, then you know that Kelsey is in the hospital. The purse he ate that got him into HULA and is pictured on Meeshka's blog from January 27, got him very sick and he had to have emergency surgery.

Holly's mom was kind enough to come and console me while I waited for his surgery to end so that I could see him. I did take some pictures and will post them later tonight when I get home from work.

As of right now, he's still in a large amount of pain. He's on pain meds and is drinking water without any problems. He won't urinate on his own though, so they have to catheterize him from time to time to empty his bladder. The last time produced 540 cc's, which is quite a lot.

The vet tech said that he's up walking around and has gotten so many kisses that the fur on his nose is gonna start thinning.

So far, there's no fever so that is an awesome sign of a full recovery. Time will tell. I've given it to God on my end, and ask that you pray for his full recovery. I will be Kelsey proofing the house and will be hiding all the purses, shoes, and anything else that might be tempting to chew on.

He will get soft food tomorrow if all goes well today and could possibly come home Saturday.

To those who have already crossed their paws for him, thank you! It means so much to me to know that so many of you are thinking of him.

My love to all of you sweet fur babies and remember that just because it's fun to chew on doesn't mean that you should,

Cody