Tuesday, November 19th

Heart Felt Appreciation

I can’t believe it is really happening!  The generosity of friends and animals lovers is beyond words!  We have raised enough money to pay for the surgery!  Thank you to all of Nash’s benefactors:

• my lesson students who
  • choose to ask for donations for Nash instead of birthday presents,
  • raised funds through their schools – Nickles for Nash
  • put out Nash Cans at local businesses.
• the friends of Nash & GSF who give of their own money
• friend who organized a raffle for tickets to a football in Nebraska
• friend and amazing photographer Judy Reinford who donated a photo shoot & images for the fundraising flyers and postings and had a client out for a photo shoot who donated to the campaign.
• Fretz Western Wear for agreeing to have a Nash Can on their counter and their customers for donating.

I have not yet closed the fundraising due to the cost of aftercare and in case of  any post surgery complications.  If  there is any money left after he is healed and recovered I will donate it to a worthy horse rescue group.

Now for the Details

I spoke to Dr Eric Parente on Wednesday.    He is the a professor of surgery at the New Bolton Center for large animals.   He explained that we will have to minimize Nash’s feeding schedule for 2 days prior to the surgery.  The goal is to decrease bulk in his colon so that there is less pressure on the surgical site.  So this means no hay starting Sunday, November 17th and he can only have 1 -2 cups of grain every 4 – 6 hours.  He is going to be so mad at me!

Nash will be admitted to the hospital for 4 – 5 days. I can bring him in either Sunday night or Monday before noon.  On the first day Dr Eric will ultrasound the hernia to find the margins and how close it is to the last rib.  He will use the ultrasound to figure out what to anchor the surgical mesh to.  If it is close enough he might even use the rib for anchoring.

The surgery would consist of general anesthesia and the insertion of the mesh.  After the surgery he would have a belly bandage for support.  They would use IV antibiotics followed by oral antibiotics.

He should be able to come home  on Saturday.  I scheduled his release during the week of Thanksgiving when I am off from work and my parents are up visiting.  That way I can be there for him and spend time with him during his early recovery. Once Nash is home he would have to be in the stall for 2 -3  weeks with only limited hand walking.  This will allow time for the important scar tissue to form.

The end result is that the mesh would provide support from it getting bigger.  The results would not be flat against the stomach because it will have a round shape as the scar tissue fills in.