Today's encounter with health care
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@George-K said in Today's encounter with health care:
@Larry said in Today's encounter with health care:
Wow! ICU to spay a cat?
Boris was neutered and had a complication. Apparently they had to intubate him because he became a bit, er, unruly during the procedure and he needed general anesthesia.
The intubation was traumatic, and it lacerated his trachea causing "subcutaneous emphysema." The air tracked into his tissues under his skin and also around his heart. He was sick as hell for a few days.
It should have been, as you say, a 'nothing,' but it became a BFD.
Boris was neutered on Thursday of last week, and he did great. It's almost as though nothing happened. He came home happy and hungry.
This morning, he seemed a little listless, and the first clue was that he didn't sleep with us. The second clue was when I went to feed him, he didn't seem ravenous. He hopped down from the desk he was sleeping on, and rubbed on my leg, a bit, when I popped the can of wet food. He ate about ¼ of the can, and went back to the desk...
Hmmm..
Just didn't look right.
I took him to our vet, and she diagnosed subcutaneous emphysema. Basically, this is a collection of air under the skin. It can occur in various situations. When you feel him, you can feel "pops" like bubble wrap (but much smaller, of course).
The most worrisome is an anaerobic bacterial infection. These bugs produce gas that collects under the skin. However, he had no fever, and the rest of his vitals were OK.Second cause is trauma. If he gets into a fight with another cat (Maggie still hasn't accepted him because he pesters her, a bite on the neck can cause a laceration of the trachea, allowing air to escape into the surrounding tissues. Blunt trauma, such as being hit by a car can do it too. A third possibility is that, during the neutering, he was intubated, and that caused a tracheal laceration. Seems like that's the most likely possibility.
Our vet seemed concerned enough that she recommended taking him to a place where they can give more "intensive" care for him, including monitoring, oxygen therapy, etc.
Usually, the treatment is just supportive - make him comfy with O2, pain meds. If he deteriorates, he might need surgery to repair a tracheal laceration.
The plan is to watch him for at least one (probably two) day to make sure he's not getting worse.
He sure looked miserable when we left.
He's had a horrible week, poor guy.
The red arrows point to the collections of air under his skin:
Geez, George!
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@taiwan_girl said in Today's encounter with health care:
Good news indeed. It'll be weeks/months before you really know. However, it sounds like it's a good thing so far.
Please keep us posted.
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Best wishes to your dog, Horace! That sounds awful for him, really miserable. Anything to do with the face is miserable for a human, so I would think it's as bad for a pet, too.
So glad you're able to move your thumb again. Use of your hand pretty much requires the thumb to participate fully and be social with the rest of the gang. Can you send your bill for this one to the doc who messed up the first time?
Seriously, what recourse is there for you on the financial side for all this? -
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in Today's encounter with health care:
@brenda said in Today's encounter with health care:
what recourse is there for you on the financial side for all this
I'll bet zero.
"Shit happens" will be the response.
That's what I would expect, too. No guarantees are typically given for medical procedures.
Are there ever any exceptions?
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@brenda said in Today's encounter with health care:
That's what I would expect, too. No guarantees are typically given for medical procedures.
That's right. Your only recourse is legal.
When Boris had his trachea lacerated during his neutering, resulting in $2K of hospital bills, all I got was "Gee, we've never seen this before, sorry it happened."
At least he was insured.
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@brenda said in Today's encounter with health care:
@George-K said in Today's encounter with health care:
@brenda said in Today's encounter with health care:
what recourse is there for you on the financial side for all this
I'll bet zero.
"Shit happens" will be the response.
That's what I would expect, too. No guarantees are typically given for medical procedures.
Are there ever any exceptions?
I suppose the idea is that insurance covers it and insurance covers the redo if necessary.
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@Horace said in Today's encounter with health care:
The amox clav pills are too big for it though.
Try cutting them in half first.
