Leo check-up at 9:15 a.m.

Today's appointment went much better - there's a light at the end of the tunnel! Although some stitching is coming out it is still covering the patch work so it is protected and doing it's job. I have to take Leo back in Friday to see how well it's holding up. If it's OK then they'll leave the stitching for 2-3 more days. If it's coming undone then they will operate and take out the remaining stitches on Friday. I cannot wait! Finally Leo will have his eye back. He still has to wear the cone but at least there is no odd-looking eye lid flap covering most of his eye. He seems fine with it but it looks sore and unhealed but thankfully nature is doing it's job and the eyeball is healing.

Leo check-up at 9 a.m.

Friday, April 23 - Leo goes to see Dr. Lavoie again. He is given more medication and different eye drops (something to sooth the eye).

3rd eye lid flap

By the time poor little Leo went under the knife more stitches were letting go so another approach had to be taken. After hearing a lot of veterinarian-technical talk, with "extend the graph" this and "central corneal" on the phone I wasn't sure what to expect. I showed up around 6 p.m. to pick Leo up and his right eye was completely covered over in white... But, bless his little soul, he is dancing around excited to see me. I am so happy to see him!

Basically Dr. Lavoie stitched the inner eye lid over his eye ball to protect it, keep it under cover. It has no irritants at all now. Leo opens his eye even wider - he cannot see through that lid but it's not sore either. He needed more stitching but now it can heal better. Perhaps this was a method of healing they wanted to avoid and the previous surgery was considered 85% successful but although his eye looks very peculiar it seems to be working!

"Dehiscence of flap at distal aspect of conjunctivial flap, 5% of corneal ulcer revealed will resuture after scarification of ventral flap."

He earned a larger Elizabethan collar which I trimmed a bit to allow him to eat on his own and chew bones. He managed to maneuver the other one enough that he was almost able to rub his eye. The e-collar must remain on at all times.

As you can see, the collar doesn't really bother him.  He is as curious of everything as he was before!

At least he still has his energy. After his first overnight stay after surgery he wasn't as peppy. He was a little groggy but definitely ready to be on the go again.

I have to take him back Friday at 9 a.m. for a check-up and the invoice indicates "suture removal is required in 14-30 days." I am looking forward to hugging my little buddy with no cone head.

Another perk of being a good customer (or just somebody who manages to need operations for every one of her dogs) is that I wasn't charged for the re-surgery. I received a 100% discount. Pretty good when it is worth $330... half of which accounts for blocks of surgery time. I love my veterinarian. I'm loyal and drive 15 km out of my way to see him.

2nd follow-up appointment for Leo

What I thought would be a "Yes, he's healing great; just keep his cone on for 2 more weeks"... turns out to me ending up leaving him there again! There is a stitch laying across his eye that can be removed and the vet wants to restitch a couple at the top.

Good news is that the flap is healing so that's why the stitch was coming out. Lorne came with me so Leo could have gone home but there was a possibility he'd be able to get operated on today. Unfortunately, that didn't work out so he is there overnight anyway, fasting from midnight on. He would have had to check-in by 8:30 a.m. tomorrow anyway... so sadly, he is boarding at Cedarbrae Veterinary Clinic tonight.

I am supposed to call at 2 p.m. tomorrow to see when he'll be ready to go home. He had better be coming home tomorrow night! I don't want him there much longer. They close at 7.

Follow-up appointment

Dr. Kim O'Reilly examined Leo first and was so pleased with what she saw she wanted Dr. Luc Lavoie to see his handy-work. They were both impressed with how Leo's eye has been healing the past 48 hours and so am I!

Dr. O'Reilly referred to Dr. Lavoie as the new king of corneal grafts. :) Just because this was his fourth such surgery doesn't mean he cannot do an excellent job!

Leo has to wear the e-collar for 3 more weeks and come back in just 1 week for another follow-up appointment.

This is after the first eye surgery:

Post-surgery

Brittany and I picked up Leo around 10 a.m. and he was excited to see us. He was wearing his Elizabethan collar and had the hair around his right eye shaved down. It was swollen and mostly shut but when he opened it I could see white where they patched it. The veterinarians had to use the white of his eye that contains blood vessels for healing to repair the cornea. It will grow over and be a permanent scar - and he will be able to see out around it - but through that patch he will not be able to see.

It is a little bizarre but amazing at the same time. It is healing on its own now and we're to have Leo wear the 'cone' as much as possible. He doesn't seem to mind it for the most part but is still getting used to it. He is less active than normal but his usual energy and joie de vivre is resuming.

Leo is resting overnight

Dr. O'Reilly called to say they finished surgery. There was no longer anything in his eye but something did pierce it and went all the way through his cornea to the end. So they repaired it and put on a flap.

He is unmonitored over night but he is on a narcotic so I hope he sleeps for most of it. I can get him after 10 a.m. I'm a little nervous for him.

Leo needs emergency surgery

I feel bad now that I didn't have him checked out sooner. He didn't just get a poke in the eye. He has something literally embedded in his cornea! Poor little guy.

Under the bright lights of the vet's office I could see how red it was. The vet explained that there are no blood vessels in the cornea, it's not made of much, so the outer blood vessels are trying to feed it to heal it.

I saw Dr. Kim O'Reilly for the first time in 11+ years although she called in Dr. Luc Lavoie - my main veterinarian at Cedarbrae Veterinarian Clinic to get confirmation. She could immediately see that something was in the eye. At first Dr. Lavoie thought it may be on the eye surface but unfortunately it is inside his eyeball. It sounds really awful. The cornea cannot grow back so they have to take a "flap" from another piece of his eye and transplant it there then let it heal/grown. He will have to wear a 'cone' (for lack of not remembering what she actually called it) and must wear it 24-7 otherwise he will rip out the surgery.

I was really upset as I couldn't believe my poor little Shih-Tzu had been suffering for days and would now have to go under the knife and general anesthetic. I thought I'd be done with my appointment within an hour but it was longer than that and I have to leave him there overnight. I pick him up tomorrow by noon.