Graphic Photo: Bama's Miracle Tailor

I'm finally caught up on this blog so people don't have to deal with long e-mails and picture attachments! Here's the news for today:

I thought you might find it interesting to learn about the creative approach the lead vet on Bama's team used to sew her up. In a previous posting, I mentioned that a couple of the vets told me he had used a technique that was similar to the way braces are gradually tightened. Today, I was able to watch a vet change bandages since it was Sunday and they were not open for other customers. Apparently, after the lead vet realized I wasn’t going to go to Virginia Tech and was relying on him for a solution, he went to Wal-mart and bought bright pink buttons, fishing line, and the little silver sinkers. I hope you are not squeamish and can look at the attached picture to see one of the wounds that uses this technique. It’s remarkable how much the wound in the picture has closed in a few days. Each day, the vets pull the string a little tighter through the sinker on the button. The sinker holds the thread against the button. Wow! Ingenious! I knew these were the right vets to help my little dog!

The vet today told me they never thought Bama would come back when her albumin level was so low. They thought she would die the same night that, out of desperation, I went to the gas station and bought her some yogurt. I don't know whether it was keeping her home, adding another antibiotic, feeding her yogurt to increase her protein level, or a combination of the three. I'm simply incredibly grateful that she is still with me.

Thanks for your interest in her story!

Buster Thinks Bama Is An Alien!

This is an e-mail I sent friends on May 14 about Bama (five days after the accident). We were still afraid we were going to lose her at this point. She had stayed at the emergency clinic over the weekend:

Bama is still hanging in there. Last night I talked to the vet at the emergency clinic, and she was concerned about some of Bama’s wounds. Dad and I went down to see her at 12:30 AM. She perked up when she saw us. I wanted them to let me hold her all night, but they refused. Because I drank caffeine to stay awake when I drove there, I only got an hour of sleep before I had to get up to get her from the Emergency Vet before 7:30. (If you are up to 30 minutes late, they charge you an extra 30 dollars. If you are more than 30 minutes late, they “dispose” of your animal as abandoned. You all know me well enough to know that added to my sleep challenges.)

They have been filling her with so many fluids that she is looking pretty chunky. We took her to a park today before taking her back to the vet hospital this morning. She ate some egg and made huge liquid and semi-solid deposits on the grass. She was wagging her tail the whole time she was walking around on the grass. We took the other two dogs out of the car one at a time to see her. BigDog gave her kisses, and she kissed him back. Buster was scared of her e-collar at first—he looked at her like she was an alien! When I started touching her face, he decided she was safe and came over to greet her. She gave him her standard low-growl, I’m-in-charge-here-and-don’t-you-forget-it,-Bub comment. She’s a strong spirit, that one.

The vet was going to remove some more dead skin today. The way I handle something like this is to research it. I found some info on copper peptides being effective for all mammals to heal wounds and regenerate skin. The vet is going to read the research and decide about using that technique if a local pharmacy can compound some. He says he also uses sugar to help with granulation of wounds.

I told him that I hope when she is past all this that I might be able to take her to the hospital to provide pet therapy for kids who have been burned. I could tell he was touched by the thought. They all love Bama. I hope we can find some way to bring something good out of this awful tragedy.