Charlie update....

Hi everyone,

Below is an email that I sent to a few people last night - apologies that it is a pretty lame way to update everyone - but I have pretty much just copied and pasted it below, as I am just too exhausted to retype it. I am sure you all understand - and it gives a good picture as to what is happening with Charlie.

I rang the hospital this morning - and he is doing well, his heart is beating as it should after the adjustment - so everything crossed he will be home on Monday and we can start getting him better and on the road to recovery.

Thanks again for all your messages of love and support - they mean alot.

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Hey guys,

Sorry for the "mass mailout" - but I am only up to writing this once, so I am sure you all understand.

Charlie is back in the hospital.

He was so not himself this morning - and I was worried about him - he was just laying in the kennel and didn't move for hours. I put in a call to Peter (the Surgeon) and whilst I was waiting for him to call back - I went and checked on him - he barely lifted his head when I patted him, and as I left to go back inside he tried to follow me. Got up - and out of the kennel - then fell over and fainted.

I make an emergency call to Peter and they say bring him in straight away. So, 12.15pm - I bundled him in the car (he was fine at that stage) - locked Opy inside (we have had issues with her escaping and hurting her paws if we leave her outside) - and I made the made dash to the surgery.

Peter took Charlie straight in and couldn't find anything wrong with him !!!!!! We sat down and had a chat and I basically said I am not leaving til we get to the bottom of this. Peter agreed - so we started doing some tests - blood tests, xrays, ecg's etc etc etc. When he was having his xrays done - he had been lying down for awhile and when Peter got him back up, he fainted again. He did this twice more with Peter - each time after laying down. It was good in an odd way as Peter could see for himself what we were experiencing.

What's happening ?

Peter came to the conclusion through the ECG's that Charlie's heart is not firing everytime the pacemaker sends it a shock. He showed me the ECG and I could see exactly what he is talking about. When his heart doesn't fire - like when he gets up after resting - that's what makes him faint.

After Charlie was operated on - his heart did not stabilise initially - it was beating too fast. Peter says that he has formed more scar tissue around the lead implant than normal because of this initial instability. WHat he thinks is happening is that depending how charlie is laying, depends on what direction the shock goes into his heart - sometimes it gets through with no problem, but other times it can't get through the scar tissue. His initial week after the operation was good - but obviously, the scar tissue started to form in the second week, and that is why we have had so many problems this week.

The solution ?

Peter called the pacemaker people and they came in and adjusted the voltage coming out of the lead. It was at 2.5v and not it is at 5v. Before they did the adjustment, they did a printout of his "trace" and you could see where it was skipping - after they did the adjustment, it was firing and beating perfectly.

He is being monitored until Monday at the hospital - and then we go back on Wednesday. We will have the results of all the blood tests etc on Wednesday - so that will rule out any other problems.

Greg was working today out at Calder Park - and I had to take Charlie to Essendon for his monitoring (to the hospital there) - and I then picked Greg up from Calder Park. We got home just after 8pm.

Poor Gruffy - she had weed and pooed inside - and ripped the shit out of the screen door, obviously trying to get out to go to the toilet. 8 hours was far too long to leave her inside - and I feel horrible now for doing it - but I didn't think I was going to be away for so long.

As shitty as today has been - I count ourselves fortunate for the following -

Fluking that Peter was working today.

That I checked charlie early enough in the day to make the emergency dash - and didn't leave it too late for Peter's surgery to be closed.

That Charlie had 2 episodes whilst at Peter's and that helped Peter work out what may have been going on.

That the pacemaker people came so quickly - and that his pacemaker can be adjusted.

I really don't know how much we can all take of this - Greg and I are so stressed and tired, poor Charlie must wonder if he is ever going to feel better again, and poor gruffy probably will never be able to be left alone again !

Thanks again for caring - it means alot,

Brooke

Charlie......and so it continues......

Charlie is back in the hospital - it's been a rough week, culminating in today's events that have led us to find that his pacemaker is not firing his heart properly - it needs adjusting.

We hope to have him home Monday - will update more tomorrow.

I don't know how much more we can all take of this........but one of Greg and my favourite songs is "Calling all Angels" by Train - it has a line that says "I won't give up, if you don't give up".

Charlie our darling boy - "We won't give up, if you don't give up". Stay strong sweetheart. We love you with every fibre of our souls.

Brooke

A funny story.......mum's new tattoo.........

So, mum stayed downstairs with us last night, and we were bugging her for breakfast from around 6am. She finally admitted defeat around 7.30am and went upstairs to get the eatables.

We waited patiently for her return. Waiting, waiting, waiting !!!!!!!

She was trying to be real quiet as dad was still asleep, he was trying to catch up alittle, and mum said that he could stay in bed for as long as he wanted.

Anyways, we were just about dying of starvation by this stage - when there was this almighty BANG, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP - and the whole house shook.

"What the freak was that" ? I said to Charlie

Next thing, we hear over our heads - footsteps running down the hallway upstairs, and mum yelling "I'm okay - I have just fallen down the stairs, but I am okay".

I look to Charlie, all concerned - I hope she didn't drop the eatables !!!!!

So, from what we could observe - dad was helping mum up - looking very striking in his undies (commonly known as "derps" in our house - underpants) and footy socks, I might add - and mum blubbering like she had just rewatched "The Notebook" again !

As the day has progressed she has got the bestest ever brusies on her butt - I will spare you the pictures - but trust me - they are awesome !!!!! They are the size of tennis balls and there are two of them, and they are the prettiest purple ever ! She is now whinging as to how sore she is.

For the record, she fell from the top step to the bottom - managed not to go through the big window, and also managed not to drop our eatables. Very impressive !!!

Oh - and she wasn't even drunk !!!!!!!

In other news, mum finally got her tattoo pawtrait done of me and Charlie - check it out. How cool !!!!!! It took nearly 4 hours and mum sat like a trooper - although she said that the last 45 minutes were brutal. Below is the tattoo - and the original - what an awesome job Gina (their tattooist) did, mum is so happy with it - although, it is also alittle sore too. (Please ignore the double-chin, don't ya know the camera adds 100pounds ;) She also reckons it is lucky she has such a fat arm - as we were both able to fit in the tattoo :) Dad also says that she can't lose weight now as we will end up looking like shar-pei's :-)

The outcome of this story is - mum is no longer allowed to go upstairs, she has to stay down here with us FOREVER !!!! She can't be trusted on those stairs !!!

Oh - Charlie is continuing to do well - each day he is getting stronger.

Now can you please turn the heater on mum !!!!!!!!!!

Love

Opy
the gruffpuppy with the clumsy mum

Crikey, it's cold !!!!!!!......the Polls are open......Charlie......

Hey everypup,

It's good to be back !!!!

We have all decided that Melbourne brings a whole new meaning to the word cold !!!! Check out these pictures mum took this morning ! It is the third day in a row that we have woken to frost and ice - probably not a big deal to all you Canadian and U.S pups - but it's freaking cold to us, let me tell you !!!!The DWB Polls are now open - head on over to The Bone Zone to cast your vote -

Awesome Blog Award
Photo of the Month
Post of the Month

If you aren't a member of the Bone Zone, and would like to be so you can vote etc - please send me an email opyatgruffpuppydotcomdotau (without the "bits").

Charlie is doing well - although mum and dad took him back to the Surgeon on Thursday as he was coughing and where his pacemaker is has come up in a big lump. I swear, we are gonna have some fun with this :) Charlie just has to look sideways and mum and dad go into meltdown mode and get all worried - it is hilarious to us !!!!

Anyway, Peter said that the pacemaker has a fluid sac around it and his body will reabsorb it in due course. His lungs and chest are clear. They also did an ECG - and it is pawfect, his heart is sitting at 100bpm. Peter even took some of his stitches and staples out - the rest will come out on Wednesday. Overall, he is doing very well - now we just gotta get mum and dad to stop freaking out and relax alittle !

I have SO much to tell you all - I need to gather my thoughts, so I best have a little rest first.

Mum - get that freaking camera out of my face !!!!!!!!!

Love
Opy
the gruffpuppy who hates the cold !

Dad's home.......

This may be my last post before I turn Opy's blog back to her......

Greg came home yesterday - we were all so pleased to see him. I don't think either of us truly realised the emotional toll that the past week has taken on us. Once he was home - we both pretty much fell in a heap and the week just really caught up with us.

Charlie is doing GREAT ! He had his first night last night where he didn't cough, or do the panting/rapid breathing thing. He is also getting alittle cheeky and starting to try and put it over Greg and I. He has sulked alittle this morning as he wants to go and lay outside - but we won't let him as it has been raining and it is very wet - he can't get his stitches wet, so he is stuck inside. And is none too happy about it, let me tell you ! Charlie likes to be inside - but he likes to be able to wander outside as well.

He gets his stitches out Wednesday week - and he will also get his pacemaker analysed and an ultrasound done at this time too. Fingers crossed it will all be a good result.

I think we can all relax alittle now - everyone that has been crossing things for us, praying, sending us pawsitive thoughts etc etc - take a breath and have a break. I think we are gonna be okay :)

Actually - if you can take some of the prayers/crossings/thoughts etc and go visit Tasha - that would be appreciated. You all got us through this very tough time - lets see if we can do it again for Tasha and her family.

What an amazing community we have here - I am truly overwhelmed.

Brooke

Charlie update........part 1023b

Hi everyone,

Well - it sure is great to have Charlie home - we just gotta keep him quiet now. He can't do too much as there is a possibility that the lead can discharge itself from his heart - definately not what we want ! It will take about a month to settle in properly.

He did pretty well last night - although he was breathing pretty rapidly and panting alot during the night. It has settled down this morning - so will just keep an eye on him. I have rung his surgeon today to ask him if he thinks this is "normal", and he has said that the symptoms of his CHF (coughing, panting etc) will take about a week to subside - so he didn't suggest that I worry too much. I just wanted to set my mind at ease - coming into the weekend and all.

He is on lots of pills at the moment - the main ones are antibiotics and pain relief - it is really crucial that he doesn't get an infection - so he is on heavy duty antibiotics 3 times a day. He is pretty tired - but that is to be expected. The surgeon is hoping that by the time he goes back and gets his stitches out we will be able to take him off his heart tablets and his fluid tablets - which would be fantastic ! He has also said that he doesn't think that Charlie has a thyroid problem - and thinks that it is all connected to his CHF - so, we may be able to take him off the thyroid tablets as well. Fingers crossed !

Greg will be back early tomorrow - he will leave Sydney probably around 6pm - and drive right through. He is pretty eager to get home - he is sensible though, he will stop if he is tired. We will all be glad to see him - it has been a pretty emotional week ! We will all have big hugs for him when he gets home - except Opy, who is still having a major sulk ! I have been trying to spend some time with her whilst Charlie is resting - and she is giving me the big gruff "talk to the paw" attitude - she is such a character :)

Hopefully once Greg is home and can help Charlie update his blog - Opy can reclaim hers. I am sure she is bursting to tell you all how hard done by she is now that Charlie is home, and how much of a big meany I am :) LOL !

Here is a pic of Charlie's tummy - poor baby, it looks alittle sore :(

Thank you all for the love and support - it has been appreciated more than I can ever express.

Brooke

Look who's home :-)

Welcome home Charlie - we missed you so much !

Guess the title says it all :)

Will write more later about all the technical medical stuffs - but at the moment, we are just enjoying having him home.

Snaffled a bone as soon as he got home - and think he is alittle shy about his shaved tummy as he won't show me it to look at his stitches. Maybe later when he settles down alittle.


Opy is sulking - I think she enjoyed having the place all to herself and getting all the attention. Plus - I think she wants her blog back. "Soon" - I have told her.

We are SO happy to have Charlie home - I am sure you can all imagine.

Thanks everyone.

Brooke

Charlie update.....part 643a !

Hey everyone,

Better news today - Peter called me this morning and Charlie is doing better than he was yesterday. His heart has dropped down to around 150 b.p.m - and is starting to stabilise. He did have a few "spikes" of around 170 during the night - but by and large, he has stayed at around 150.

Peter is convinced that once the swelling and bruising starts to subside even more from his heart, that his heart rate will be back to what it should. Which will be 100 b.p.m - as that is what the pacemaker is set at.

I found out alittle more about how the pacemaker works as well - as I didn't quite understand it all. Basically, the pacemaker increases the heart rate - it does not decrease it. So, at the moment - the pacemaker is just in "observing" mode, it does not kick in until his heart rate drops - then it keeps it at a constant 100 b.p.m.

Peter said that Charlie's vital signs were all good - kidneys, blood pressure etc etc - and that he was giving the nurses lots of kisses, and that all the nurses had fallen in love with him. This is typical Charlie behaviour !!!!

I was also told that I could go and see him if I wanted to - but, as much as I would have loved to, Greg and I decided it was best for Charlie if I didn't, as I didn't want him to get excited to see me - or that he may think he was coming home. It's always about what's best for Charlie.

Peter wants to keep him another 24 hours just to make sure his heart settles right down - but with a bit of luck - he will be home tomorrow afternoon sometime.

Fingers crossed !!!!!!

For those who are concerned as to how Opy is coping - well, I leave you with this picture that I took last night - count the bones - I think you will see 5 !!! Spoilt much ??????

Thanks again for all the support - it is so greatly appreciated, and lets hope that Charlie gets to come home tomorrow.

Brooke

Charlie update....

Hey everyone,

Just got off the phone with the Surgeon, and Charlie won't be coming home today :-(

He had a comfortable night, and was doing well this morning. His heart was beating along quite merrily at 100 b.p.m.

The pacemaker guy came and checked it all out - analysed the data from overnight etc - and all was well.

Then all of a sudden, Charlie's heart beat went to about 200 b.p.m - and that is where it is sitting now.

Peter (the surgeon) said we don't need to worry - as this is not unusual when the heart has had a trauma like putting the pacemaker lead into it. His heart is bruised and swollen. They have him hooked up to an ECG machine - and have decided that the best course of action is to just "wait and see" - he doesn't want to give him any drugs to slow his heart rate down as he is confident that once the swelling etc starts to go from his heart - it should return to the 100 b.p.m that it should be sitting at.

So, they will keep Charlie in for the next few days. Disappointing for us - but I would rather he stay there and stabilise, then come home when he isn't ready.

Please keep your fingers and paws crossed - seems we aren't quite out of the woods yet. Peter has told us not to worry - but we still do, we just want Charlie to be better.

Thanks everyone.

Brooke

Charlie surgery update.....

He made it !!!!!!

He freaking made it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obviously, he needs to get through the night - we aren't out of the woods yet - but he freaking made it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apart from his heart dropping to around 30 b.p.m - which was expected - the Surgeon said that the surgery went as planned and there were no complications. He has come out of the aneasthetic and is looking around wondering what all the fuss is about.

Mummy needs a scotch and a new heart herself, as hers just about stopped when the phone rang !

I have to phone in around 10am tomorrow to see how he is doing - so please all keep your paws and fingers crossed that he has a good night.

Thanks everyone.

Brooke

Charlie update.....

Well - the day started off alittle odd. I had not long left home and I got a call from the Surgeon asking if I could bring Charlie in today for his operation - rather than tomorrow as the pacemaker dude had to fly to the U.S tomorrow.

Sent me into abit of a spin - as I was unprepared for it, plus Charlie had had his breakfast. They said that was okay - as they didn't need him there til 1pm.

I have only just got home from dropping him off. Watching Greg say goodbye to Charlie on Saturday night was the hardest thing I have ever had to witness - me saying goodbye to Charlie today was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I was a blubbering mess ! Charlie was none the wiser.

We will know sometime after 5pm as to how the surgery went - it is going to be a long afternoon. Will keep you all posted - keep us in your thoughts, we need as much love and support as you can all spare.

Thanks again everyone.

Brooke

A Charlie Update.....

Hey everyone,

Firstly - thank you all for your love and good wishes to Charlie and us in this very difficult time. It means so much to us.

Secondly, today was what we will now call a "good day". Compared to the previous few, it was good.

Charlie is hanging in there and today is the best that he has been since the weekend - he has been alert and responsive and just about pulled Greg's arm out of the socket at the Specialist's to say "hello" to another pup.

I was initially happy when we took Charlie to see our Vet on Monday as Charlie had put on 3kg's - I thought my "fattening up" foods were working. Little did I know that it was all fluid, and once again, Charlie's heart and lungs were drowning. He had two pretty horrible seizures on Monday night and his heart rate was down to 45 beats per minute - it should be 100. Monday night was a terrible night - and once again, we thought we were going to lose him. His heart is that big that it is pressing on his windpipe and that makes him have seizures.

I was able to bring his Specialist appointment forward to Tuesday - so we took him on Tuesday morning to see the heart specialist. He had lost 1.5kg's overnight - just because we increased his fluid tablets and he was whizzing like there was no tomorrow.

The heart Specialist was EXCELLENT - worth every cent. We were very impressed - they were very compassionate and very professional. They did an EGC, Xrays, and Ultrasound - they were very thorough and made us feel that we could put our trust and faith in them completely. Unfortunately, the news wasn't good. Short of it was that Charlie has 2 months max left with us - our choice was two months, or a pacemaker.

Obviously, we asked all the questions - what was best for Charlie, would he survive the surgery, his quality of life etc etc etc - we left no stone unturned. We were told that other than his heart, he is in excellent health - and a very good candidate for the pacemaker operation. If you took the cost of it out of the equation - this was our only option.

So, we left the Specialist feeling happy that we had a choice - but so very sad that it had come to this. We were just shellshocked.

Yesterday we were still shocked - but knew that we had made the right decision to at least meet with the Surgeon and see what he had to say. Emotions were very high yesterday - we were all trying to stay "strong" but sometimes the sadness would become overwhelming and the tears would flow.

Greg and I have been taking turns sleeping downstairs with both of them - as Charlie has to be taken out to wee every 2 hours, otherwise he leaks everywhere - so, very little sleep we have had. Plus we have been monitoring him to make sure he keeps breathing.

He was much brighter this morning - and we had an appointment with the Surgeon at 3pm. We went and took Charlie and met with the Surgeon. He was fantastic - and made us feel very much at ease. He has done 100's of these operations - and Charlie is a prime candidate. Obviously, there is a danger with the aneasthetic (spelling - sorry !) - but once they get the pacemaker in, they can start to regulate his heartbeat immediately. The danger period is from the time they put him under - til the time they get the pacemaker in. Initially we were told that they would operate through his neck and thread the wires down through his jugular vein into his heart - but after talking with the Surgeon he felt that opening up his chest was a better option for Charlie. We never thought that we would agree with such an idea - but we did. It is definately the best option.

We left the Surgeon feeling alittle surer that we had made the right decision. We are now waiting for the Surgeon to co-ordinate with the pacemaker people as to when they can do the operation, but it will most likely be Tuesday next week.

It's going to be a rough week. Greg is away in Sydney with his job - and I will be down here in Melbourne dealing with Charlie - it is going to be terribly hard on both of us - but there is no other way around it, so we will just have to deal with it. I hope that I have the opportunity of worrying about how I am going to get Charlie out of the car after I pick him up from the hospital by myself - that is definately something that I look forward to worrying about as it will mean that he came through the surgery okay.

So, that is pretty much where we are up to. Please keep us in your thoughts, and prayers - tonight is the first night that Greg and I have "breathed" and it feels kinda strange.

An aside - when we got home tonight, Opy had yet again broken out of the little yard that her and Charlie share - she was running around the front yard again, lucky the gate to the property was closed. I don't know what we will do with her on the day of Charlie's surgery and the day after when he is not here, and I am at work. It seems she doesn't like being by herself - I am alittle worried about that, but we will cross that bridge next week. We are getting by one day at a time at the moment.

Thanks again everyone - and sorry this is so long - I just wanted to give you an update whilst I felt emotionally able to.

Brooke

The Choice.......

Well, I wouldn't really call it a choice - two months, or a pacemaker......

we will try the pacemaker.

Please see Charlie's bloggy for further details.

We are all exhausted and emotional - so I apologise if Opy's blog and DWB in general takes a "back seat" for alittle while. We need to concentrate all our strength towards Charlie, and eachother at the moment.

Thank you all for caring - and we will try and keep you updated.

This really sucks - I can't find the words, but I am sure you all understand....

Brooke

Back on the Rollercoaster again :-(

Charlie is very sick again - we nearly lost him again last night.

He is at the big Vet specialist in Melbourne having xrays, ultrasounds, and EGC done on his heart.

Please keep us all in your thoughts......

Opy
the worried gruffpuppy

It's no surprise really..........but, who is copying who here ????

I am Oprah -
Oprah is Oprah
Am I like her ?
Or is she like me ?

Hmmm - a vexing conundrum indeed !


http://www.dogster.com/quizzes/celebrity_pet_quiz/

Your dog is Oprah!

When Opy barks, people listen. Yes, indeed, Opy is Oprah Winfrey. A true rags-to-riches story, Opy is a comeback pet who has not only survived a troubled start, but uses her success to lend a helping paw to others. Well-rounded and hard-working, Opy has re-written the rules of stardom and continues to spread her influence throughout the animal kingdom. Still a down-home country girl, Opy's one weakness is the chow that she knows from her youth, and she's not afraid to gobble up a little gravy every now and then. Opy manages to keep her positive reputation intact, despite being hounded by the press and her thousands of diehard fans everywhere she goes. Opy is smart, creative and innovative and has used these qualities to build up an empire the likes of which have never before been seen. Love Opy the one and only gruffpuppy !