Surgery Part II

Louie about a week before surgery, March 2012

The day we went in for Louie's surgery I was sick to my stomach. I'd been obsessing and worrying for weeks, each day closer to the date getting worse.

Louie wasn't. He was his happy, wonderful self.

My husband and I drove to the veterinary hospital where Louie's vet was. We'd rehearsed what we were going to do when we got there. No matter how scary this was for me, if removing Louie's eyes meant he would be pain free for good, then I had to do it. The only thing Louie thought suspicious was that he missed his beloved breakfast. He kept reminding me with his goofy 'roo-roo-roooow, I'm hungry!' bark. Louie is so fricken cute.

We met with a vet, a man that had been in practice for a very long time.
He told me he had never done a double enucleation (eye-removal surgery) before. This terrified me. He had done many eye-removals, but not both eyes at the same time. We talked about what it really meant; that his eyes would be completely removed and his eye lids would be sewn shut. That's the part that really got me. I'm well versed in horror films and I'm sure I've seen it more than once. I tried not to picture an evil doctor cackling in a lightning storm.

We confirmed that we did indeed have a full understanding of what this surgery entailed and what recovery would be like, how it would look and so on. Everyone in the room agreed that if Louie could be free of pain, he could sacrifice his weird looking eye balls. He wasn't using them anyway.

We left Louie that morning and I cried my eyes out on the drive home.
Good thing my husband Paul was driving. I took me a bit to get it together before I went to work. I didn't think of anything else all day. I constantly checked my phone, I held it in my hand waiting for a call. It felt like forever. Around noon my phone rang. My mind was immediately racing, is it too early to call? did something happen? ah!

"Hello? This is Lanni."

First they say Louie hasn't had anything done yet, phew. The vet had spent some time talking with his son, who is also a doctor there. The younger of the doc's is who Louie normally saw for regular check ups. He said he knew of another option; We could have a antibiotic injected into a specific part of the eye ball that would destroy some of the cells that were producing fluid. The problem with this procedure, and why I think it's not more well known, is it will cause the eye to go completely blind with no chance of regaining any sight. Well, who could think of a better candidate than Louie? He's already blind! They wouldn't have to put him under for as long or as deep as the enucleation and he would be able to come home the next morning!

We were beyond thrilled. Louie could keep his eyes. I starting researching online as soon as I hung up the phone. The more I read about the antibiotic injections, the better I felt about the last minute change of plans. The only downside? The eyeball will shrink in size, and recede into the socket a bit. There's a chance of an injury because he's blind and still has eyes, he just doesn't know when to flinch or blink. So don't store your pool cue's at dog-eye level anymore, okay? No big deal!

The next few days were hard. Louie was on some pain meds and needed lots of help up and down the stairs. I had cleaned the house and made sure everything was in it's spot when he came home. I always thought, 'maybe he can see a little.' Just maybe. This surgery was taking that last little bit of childish hope away for good. I knew that was okay, although I did mourn the loss.

As Louie healed from the operation, I knew this was for the best.

Louie's favorite 'year-round' hot dog costume, notice only 2 legs on the floor.

When Lou was off the pains meds he was back to his jolly self, only better! He had so much energy, he didn't sleep as much and he had no more of a problem getting around! His left eye became a little stubborn. We ended up doing another injection in that eye a few months later. That was difficult but much easier now that I had such trust in my vet. Everyone at the hospital loved Louie! This is when I first really saw it. Louie just has a way of inspiring people by just being himself. He's brave, optimistic, friendly and honest. Everything you'd want in a best friend.

My vet said to me one day when we were back for a billionth time "Louie's a nice guy, it's like if he barely knew you and you puked in his car, he wouldn't even get mad and he'd clean it up and still give you a ride home the next day." I'm sure my awesome vet would be very proud of this moving and passionate quote. Louie is that kind of a friend. He couldn't have been more spot on.

*Authors Note: The injections mentioned in this post are called intravitreal injection sometimes called chemical ablation, or pharmacologic ablation. I hope this helps when discussing your options with your vet.