Charlie Update - Leg was saved and in one piece (sort of).. after a 4 hour surgery!

4000$, 12 screws, 1 fourteen inch plate, a bunch of wires, 4 veterinary technicians, 2 surgeons, and over 4 hours later.. Charlie's leg was able to be saved.

... out moto is, we will see our rescues through thick and thin, through everything that may come their way. Once we take them into the rescue, they are our responsibility and we will fight teeth an nails for them until the very end. Well.. Charlie certainly took us for the whole 8 yards on this one..

Charlie went into surgery today at around 2pm.. and got out of surgery at 6:30pm. The extent of the injuries was one of the worst the specialist has ever seen, and the worst he has operated on successfully. Charlie was under anesthesia for over 4 hours. The surgery was long, and gruelling, Dr. Auger is the number one orthopaedic specialist in Montréal. If he could not do it, no one could. At times he felt like it was mission impossible and complempated just amputating, but had already gone so far and done so much work, so he pushed forward. It was a puzzle in there, with missing pieces and the pieces that were there just did not seem to fit. He has eleven screws, many wires and one 14 inch plate holding everything together. At least he is bullet proof now (or i hope so), i don't even want to think about trying to get him through airport security. Apparently he will be sensitive to cold in that leg now, go figure? At least the mission impossible was accomplished, and Charlie's leg is there to stay. Amputating it would have been about 300-600$ for us, but we just did not find it ethical to remove a leg that had the potential to be repaired and functioning again (call us crazy).

We were there from 5:30 pm to 8:30, amd went to go see him in the Intensice Care Unit at around 8:00pm before we left. He was totally out of it, completely un responsive. A combination of the anethsia he had been under, his epidural and iv drip fentanly/Metetomadine. Lets just say Charlie is seeing stars right now, and no longer in pain. He was in so much pain last night he was going into shock when he arrived.

His pre-op blood came back pretty normal, so we are not worried about any other damage. Just elevated liver enzymes which is normal with the fact that he was going into shock and muscle damage.

However the hardest part is not over yet he now has 8 weeks cage rest, many check ups, and not to mention physiotherapy. Expected recovery time is at least 3 months. Charlie has already been for adoption with us for seven months.

It is estimated he was hit at about 70 to 120km and hour, also tire marks that curve off the high way over a skunk (Charlie was probably investigating - which is second by his sunk reek) indicate that he was probably targeted by some sick, sick people. The fact that he was hit in the rear and not head on also seconds that. Oh and the tire marks on his back indicate he was fully run over, and is lucky to even be alive.

On another note i can not tell you how many times we were told today "He is such a good dog!!" by the surgeon himself Dr. Auger and every tech that had the pleasure of meeting with him. Even while in x-rays and in such pain he was going into shock.. he still did not even come close to trying to snap at anyone, all licks and tail wags. I can not say for myself i would be that patient if i was in that amount of pain.

Alas once again here we are.. any donation is sincerely appreciated and no donation is too small. We honestly are so grateful for each of your support, we can not even stress that enough.

See his Before and After X-Rays for yourself:

- BEFORE-

- AFTER -

..... we just can not wait until he is back to his normal self and playing with his favourite little friend again..