DECATUR, GA.....PORTER is a 3 month old Blue Pit Bull puppy that was brought to Animal Control in DeKalb County, GA. He was skin and bones when he arrived. He didn’t look like a typical abuse case but was clearly starving to death. After the first day they had him, they soon realized why he was so thin. He could not keep any food down. They sent him to a vet to get an x-ray done to see what the problem was. It came back that he had a pocket in his chest that was preventing him from taking in food. They posted and called everyone to see who would help this adorable little puppy. He needed surgery and needed it quickly or he would die from starvation. We were Porter’s last resort. It was us or he was going to be put down. Dekalb found a volunteer to bring him to our vet. We did more x-rays to find out exactly what was wrong with our new little patient. After doing the x-rays, we were told he has a Megaesophagus caused by a 4th Aortic Arch which has a stricture that is causing food to not go down into his stomach. He has had it since he was born. Because food has been collecting in his esophagus, it has become enlarged and is now a big pocket. He also has a terrible case of pneumonia which is a side-effect of his condition. The surgery to correct this is complicated and has lots of dangers since the area they have to work on is right next to the heart. His only chance was to operate or we would have to put him down. That was not something I was ready to do. When you look into his beautiful slate blue eyes, euthanization is not an option. I was told all of the downside and gave the go ahead to operate on our little boy. The surgery required going into his chest cavity and cracking open his chest. Porter survived the surgery and is still in critical care. The stricture that was causing the problem was corrected. His esophagus has to go down a lot before his food will go directly into his stomach. Only time will tell if we have to do another procedure to take up the enlarged area of the esophagus. We are feeding him in an upright position for 30 minutes to give the law of gravity a chance to help the food go down. He will be in critical care for the next week or more to make sure the food does not come back up and get in his lungs. Porter is not out of the woods and will still need lots of prayers for him to have a full recovery.
PORTER Update.....Our little boy is not doing well at all. He had two good days after surgery and then he started going backwards. I rushed him to the ER in Charleston a little while ago where they are doing all they can to stabilize him. Because he has not been able to keep food down, he has gone into shock. He was gaining weight from the first surgery while eating in an upright position, then yesterday, he started throwing up again and has not been able to hold any food down. The ER team thinks he has another stricture that is further down that is causing the food to come back up. His bills have gone through the roof with him being in Intensive Care which is why we have had to raise his Chip-In amount. If you haven't donated, please do and forward to all of your friends. This little boy needs all the help we can give him to get him through this. We are all heartbroken over this little pup. We thought the worst was over and now we are having to start all over with more surgery. Keep him your Prayers that he gets through this.
PORTER Update....I wanted to let everyone know that our dear sweet boy made it through the night. The doctors have him conditionally stable by giving him extra heat to control his body temperature which was very low after surgery. It is not staying up on it's own because he does not have enough body fat to regulate it. He has been given three feedings in his feeding tube since he had the surgery and tube inserted which have stayed down. Just because he has a feeding tube he could still regurgitate the food back up which has not happened. His best chance now is to be able to get as many nutrients as possible in him so he can regain his body mass. He will be in Intensive Care getting round the clock care for the next week to make sure he remains stable. Right now he is not stable on his own. Since he is a puppy, the surgeons believe he will stabilize on his own in the next couple of days. He is surrounded by people that love and adore him. Last night is the first time since his surgery he began to look around with his beautiful eyes to take every thing in. He knows we are all doing everything possible to save him so he can live a long healthy life and is so sweet and loving with everyone. Thanks for caring and sharing.
Our sweet little Angel is doing everything he can to fight this. He values are still not normal but have not gotten worse over the last 24 hours. He is getting round the clock care and will remain in Intensive Care until he is well enough to leave. He is getting lots of love and hugs all throughout the day.
PORTER Update.....Our Little Angel does not seem to have any energy today. We just did more blood work and he has become anemic. We are starting him on iron and that does not work, he will get a transfusion. The anemia is probably what is causing him to feel so down. His eyes are still very alert. We have taken him off of glucose and phosphorous and he is holding his own. He is still on his IV to get fluids in him and is on supplemental heat. The picture above is of him during rehab. All in all, he is doing great for a little pup that has been through so much. I am sure tomorrow will be a better day. Thanks for caring and sharing.
Our sweet little Porter is out of ICU and has been moved to a regular vet where he will be getting 24 hour care. He still has his feeding tube and will be fed through that for the next 6 months because his esophagus has not changed any since the surgery was done. He still has a MRSA infection around his port site but his blood work is improving every day. He still has a long way to go but he has come so far that we think the worst is over for him. Thanks for caring and sharing.
PORTER is doing incredible. It is hard to believe this is the same dog that was on Death's Door two weeks ago. He has gained 5 pounds over the last 10 days which is amazing. We had a new Low Profile feeding tube surgically put in yesterday which is a lot better for a pup as young as he is. We have decided that he is always going to be a small Pit and will probably never be more than 25 pounds. He has 10 more pounds to gain before he will be at a normal weight for a dog his size. He is so alert and happy all the time now. He will have to be fed from his feeding tube for another 5 months before we can try food by mouth. His esophagus has not gone down any since his surgery. The good news is that the barium that was in his esophagus has almost all disappeared. That is a miracle all by itself. Our little Angel is full of Miracles this week. Love and Prayers have worked their magic.
Sweet Porter is doing better than incredible. Our little boy wonder has proved to all of us that he is worth fighting for and to never count him out. He has had a journey that would have killed a much bigger pup, much less one his size. He is gaining weight and not having any issues with using his feeding tube. Because he is growing so much, he keeps popping the stitches holding his feeding tube and we have to keep getting them re-stitched. We will not be testing him on any food by mouth for several more months. We still need for his esophagus to go down. There is a chance that it will never be normal and he will have to be on the feeding tube for his entire life. We are hoping that is not the case but if it is, that will be fine. We are just so thankful for everyone's help. His journey has been a very expensive one that has been filled with lots of tears of joy and sadness. He fought to live and we fought to keep him alive. The light in his eyes is shining big and bright and hopefully will never be dim again.
Our dear little boy is growing up right in front of our eyes. He has come so far and is doing incredible. Up until a week ago he still had his feeding tube in. Last week, he proceeded to take his little toe and reach up and grab his feeding tube with it and PULL it out. The surgeons decided it was time to see if we could feed him by mouth which is what we just started doing. The good news is that our dear friends Marsha and Bill Sutton made an adjustable Bailey Chair that was delivered to him yesterday. Here he is waiting for his first meal in the chair. So far it is working. After he eats in an upright position, he then has to stay in the chair for 30-45 minutes to allow the food to go down. Let's all PRAY this works for our dear boy. He is one of the happiest pups you will ever meet.
I am happy to say that we have finally approved a wonderful home for our dear Porter. This boy has been through more than most and has finally come out the other side. He is still having to eat our of his Bailey Chair but is able to take small amounts of food without being in the chair. We hope he will eventually be able to eat normal again. We are so excited for our sweet boy. Our big bundle of love will soon have a home all his own.
