Surgery on Saturday
This case was one that came in late on a Saturday morning; we normal close at noon, and since all the other animals were seen that day I assumed that was still the plan. Until I saw my co-worker (and boyfriend) Andrew setting up for surgery. Surgeries on Saturdays are uncommon unless it's an emergency or a bulldog c-section. Saddie was about 35-40 lbs when she was brought in; and had the appearance of an overweight dog, with a swollen belly.
She was friendly, and sweet and close to 12 years old; this had to be something big because older dogs don't come in for surgery unless it's something big. Her owner seemed very distrait over Saddie's condition; even though she was informed of the length of the surgery she wanted to stay and wait in the lobby. Andrew and I put Saddie under anesthesia, scrubbed and clipped the area for surgery; while Dr. J went to change for the surgery.
This was when I first started tech school about a year ago; so I had so many question for Andrew as we worked. He told me Saddie was going in for a Spleenectomy; which is the surgical removal of the spleen. I didn't understand why he sent me for a litter box and to heat a fluid bag; however I would soon find out. The surgery began and Andrew, having more experience then I did, scrubbed in along side Dr. J to help her with the surgery. Since everything else was done for the day I was allowed to stand-in and watch the surgery; and help with any dirty parts of surgery.
(A "Dirty Surgery" or the "dirty parts" of surgery are the non-sterile parts of surgery. For example the fluid bag, the litter box, the towels that were under the surgery table and the lights above it are considered dirty. Because, like the surgical instruments, gowns, gloves ect., Dr. J and Andrew were staral. Think of Patrick from Spongbob yelling "Don't touch me I'm sterile." If Dr. J or Andrew were to touch any "dirty" items and touched Saddie; Saddie could get an infection. So "dirty" in surgery doen't mean unclean.)
Anyway I watched Dr. J cut Saddie's abdomen from her sternum (Just under the ribcage) to close to her vulva. I was amazed at what I saw next; Dr. J pulled and tugged to get this massive tumor out of Saddie. What I had thought was fat wasn't; it was the tumor on her spleen; the tumor had taken over most of her spleen, leaving only half a paper dollar length of spleen visible. To put it more in perspective; think of an average little box, not the big ones for overweight cats but a normal litter box. Once the tumor was taken out and Saddie's abdomen cavity was flushed with fluids; it was placed in the box.
The tumor filled the litter box all the way around aside from a two inch gap; and was 5 in from the lip of the cat box. It was round and weighed 8-9 lbs. Saddie was stitched up and a sample of her tumor was sent off to the lab.
