Blood test results assistance

[Spider8ait1994]

Hello,

He looks great! It appears he is very happy there, also! I hope the Ampicillin does well for him. Be sure
to keep him well hydrated, too. You may have to wear gloves if you are sensitive to penicillins. I am so
happy that he is doing so well right now!

Tracie

@Drache613
Yes I’ve been wearing gloves as is when I do stuff with him at the moment just to minimise any risks of transferring anything to him.
About 5 days ago he had a bit of an impromptu DIY proceedure where he decided to remove his feeding tube himself.
Thankfully he did a great job of it and didn’t do any damage to himself and the vets have said that they’re happy for the tube to stay out at this stage as he’s eating well.
He still has his appointment with the specialist on the 30th of this month to check the infection and general healing progress.
As for what I’m doing with him at home now it’s one ampicillin injection every day, oral Meloxicam at 0.22ml every second day and Cisapride at 0.12ml via mouth daily.
I’m also washing the wound where the tube was daily with an iodine rinse followed by a saline rinse then application of an iodine ointment.
He’s continuing to make improvements and I think he’s looking forward to having all his enclosure decor back hopefully soon.
His surgical wound in the throat area is healing great and the wound where the tube was is noticeably closing up and hasn’t had any bleeding, discharge, bad smell or discoloration at all. It was initially a bit moist after he removed the tube but that’s dried up quickly and the exposed flesh I can see is a consistent healthy color for a reptile.
I’ll check in again here after his appointment on the 30th or sooner if anything happens between now and then but so far so good for him.
Here’s some more photos showing healing progress, the tube site and him in general.
As for how the time came out it appears that the scales it was stitched into had been ‘shed’ off resulting in the tube essentially being unsecured and he simply turned his head one afternoon and it half popped out then just kinda slid the rest of the way out. He thankfully did have a dose of pain relief earlier that day so hopefully that meant this whole situation wasn’t too uncomfortable for him.
This photo is immediately after he removed the tube:

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sorry I missed this reply~
Wow, you can't blame him there, he really wanted that tube out! Bless him.
It is all healing up really nicely now, without any infection at all, that's terrific. Just continue with
keeping it clean daily as you are doing & it should heal up completely pretty soon.
His surgical site is healing really well, too. Overall he is very lucky that there was a vet who was
willing to help out so much. They really did do a great job with him, that's hard to find.
I hope he doesn't have anymore problems. Are you putting any type of ointment or cream on the
surgical site at all or is it just healing up on its own?
That is wonderful he is eating on his own now. I bet he is so happy to be able to do that now!

Keep us posted, the updates are wonderful.

Tracie

 

[Spider8ait1994]

Hello,

Sorry I missed this reply~
Wow, you can't blame him there, he really wanted that tube out! Bless him.
It is all healing up really nicely now, without any infection at all, that's terrific. Just continue with
keeping it clean daily as you are doing & it should heal up completely pretty soon.
His surgical site is healing really well, too. Overall he is very lucky that there was a vet who was
willing to help out so much. They really did do a great job with him, that's hard to find.
I hope he doesn't have anymore problems. Are you putting any type of ointment or cream on the
surgical site at all or is it just healing up on its own?
That is wonderful he is eating on his own now. I bet he is so happy to be able to do that now!

Keep us posted, the updates are wonderful.

Tracie

@Drache613
I’m mostly just visually monitoring the surgical site at this stage though earlier in the healing process I was spritzing it with the iodine wash followed by a saline wash then carefully patting it dry.
At this stage really it’s just the iodine wash -> saline wash -> iodine ointment routine with the wound where the tube was.
I had another look at that today and it looks like the underlying flesh has pretty much all closed over now so it’s definitely healing up pretty quick.
He ate 7 smallish blueberries today without my needing to cut them in half which is more progress with eating regularly again.
I did find at first when reintroducing him to regular eating he was seeming to need to almost learn how to use his tongue to move food around his mouth again but for the most part now he’s doing alright with that and it’s only occassionally I’ll have to help him move a piece of food out from his lips usually on his left side so I’m thinking that was possibly just his throat healing up and being a bit unusual feeling for him and/or just being out of practice having been fed through the tube for as long as he was.
His energy is coming back as well so yesterday he actually had a short swim in the bathroom sink while I was giving him a wash and had a great time splashing everything in range and scooting in circles and he’s starting to get back to teasing his little brother.
Interestingly I’ve noticed differences in their interactions while Spike was recovering and had the tube and even now. Prior to this my younger dragon was always performing dominance displays at Spike but when Spike had the feeding tube the younger one basically did a 180 display wise and started exclusively waving at Spike like he knew Spike wasn’t well so he had to be nice.
And interestingly now the tube is out Spike saw this younger dragon for the first time without the tube and I noticed Spike opening up his mouth and tilting his head in a manner that was not indicating of any sort of agression or such and it was almost as if he was saying ‘look my throat is fixed now!’
I know they’re more intelligent than people give them credit for but seeing this change in how they’re communicating to each other when they see each other during this time has been a really interesting experience.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great to hear the wound where the feeding tube is closing up & healing. The iodine has amazing
properties & is safe.
Wow he is really able to chew a lot better now. I bet he is thrilled about being able to eat better too. I'm
sure he did have to relearn how to eat & move food around in his mouth, after this ordeal. It does seem
his throat has healed up pretty well now & is on the road to full recovery.
They are very intelligent, & people often don't realize just how much they communicate with you & with
other dragons. He probably was telling his brother how much better he felt! That is very interesting &
great to hear you take the time out to observe things like that.

Tracie

 

[Spider8ait1994]

Hello,

That is great to hear the wound where the feeding tube is closing up & healing. The iodine has amazing
properties & is safe.
Wow he is really able to chew a lot better now. I bet he is thrilled about being able to eat better too. I'm
sure he did have to relearn how to eat & move food around in his mouth, after this ordeal. It does seem
his throat has healed up pretty well now & is on the road to full recovery.
They are very intelligent, & people often don't realize just how much they communicate with you & with
other dragons. He probably was telling his brother how much better he felt! That is very interesting &
great to hear you take the time out to observe things like that.

Tracie

@Drache613
More good news for him as this afternoon he’s broken off that dry shrivelled section on the end of his tail so he’s really in the mood for sorting out everything he has going on himself lately.
He didn’t seem to be in any discomfort and there wasn’t any active bleeding so I’m treating it the same as I did when my other dragon lost an old damaged part off the end of his tail which was to apply the iodine ointment to the end and cover it temporarily to prevent fibres and such getting stuck in it while it’s starting to heal over.
So in a few days I’ll take the dressing off but for now he looks to be very pleased and proud of himself with his removal of this piece.
With how well he’s healing up I was also able to give his teeth a gentle brush today as well.
I’ve added some photos I’ve taken of the tail after he knocked the shrivelled piece off. It looked to be a nice clean break that’s gotten rid of the entirety of the affected section. So he’s suddenly found himself 2.7cm shorter

 

[xp29]

Man Spike is a trooper. This story had been hard to follow (painful) but it makes me happy he is recovering.
You mentioned how your boys interact. I've been saying for a while now that they are a lot more social than people believe. My two rescues seek each other out and cuddle every night. (On the couch, I don't cohab) and lately Snickers and Sinatra have started moving together and pushing their faced as close as possible.
I have no doubt your younger dragon understood there was something wrong. It's sweet and telling that he responded to it also.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh wow, he has sure been active hasn't he! Knocking his tail around trying to get it off, so I see his
efforts were successful! Good grief, well it will heal up pretty quickly especially with you wrapping it
up like that. At least there wasn't much of any blood & it was a clean break.
Is he eating alot now?
I'm happy he is getting around so much now!

Tracie

 

[Spider8ait1994]

@Drache613
Huge news!
Spike had what’s looking like his last specialist checkup this morning and he’s got the all clear!
With the new antibiotic the infection he developed has cleared up, his surgical wounds are all closed up, the hole where the feeding tube is is all scanned over nicely and the end of his tail where he knocked the bad bit off is closing over nicely too.
The specialists removed the external stitches in his beard/neck, said there’s no signs at the moment of the tumor coming back and he has the OK to have his regular enclosure setup back together.
He’s also able to stop the oral medication which was the Cisapride and Meloxicam and as for the antibiotic injections it’s just one a day until the end of this week and he’s done.
Overall they’ve said that he’s well exceeded what they were expecting with what he was diagnosed with and from this point on it’s really just at home monitoring for any signs it’s come back but the way he’s gone they don’t expect that’ll happen for quite a while if at all so he has the potential to be able to live out his natural lifespan before it comes back.
Needless to say he’s very happy to have all his stuff back.

 

[hdochow]

THAT IS SO GREAT TO HEAR!!!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, I am so happy for you both! I do have to commend both vets & any others working on
his case, that they were very caring & did a great job. I think he looks terrific, very happy &
alert. I'm glad to hear his infection & wounds are cleared up & he will be off all medications,
finally!
Bless him. I know how relieved you have to be for this to all be over with & have such a positive
outcome now.
Feel free to post more pictures & updates here for us & stay around on the forum!


Tracie

 

[NickAVD]

@Drache613
Huge news!
Spike had what’s looking like his last specialist checkup this morning and he’s got the all clear!
With the new antibiotic the infection he developed has cleared up, his surgical wounds are all closed up, the hole where the feeding tube is is all scanned over nicely and the end of his tail where he knocked the bad bit off is closing over nicely too.
The specialists removed the external stitches in his beard/neck, said there’s no signs at the moment of the tumor coming back and he has the OK to have his regular enclosure setup back together.
He’s also able to stop the oral medication which was the Cisapride and Meloxicam and as for the antibiotic injections it’s just one a day until the end of this week and he’s done.
Overall they’ve said that he’s well exceeded what they were expecting with what he was diagnosed with and from this point on it’s really just at home monitoring for any signs it’s come back but the way he’s gone they don’t expect that’ll happen for quite a while if at all so he has the potential to be able to live out his natural lifespan before it comes back.
Needless to say he’s very happy to have all his stuff back.
View attachment 85008 View attachment 85009 View attachment 85010

This is great news! I've been following your thread from the very beginning and I was really worried about Spike. It's so good that in the end we have a happy ending. Spike is a real trooper and it wasn't easy to get through it all.
let the guy enjoy his favorite things, he definitely deserves it!

 

[xp29]

OH WOW!!!! That is fantastic, WAY TO GO SPIKE, YOUR THE MAN!! I am so happy fot you both.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, we aren't always lucky to see such great results & happy endings on here! So, when we do,
it makes our day, we were all pulling for him!

Tracie

 

[Spider8ait1994]

@Drache613
Some more updates on Spike now. He’s continuing to do great and is eating mostly without difficulty at this stage (with the exception of his needing to have the food given by hand due to vision).
He’s definitely back to his usual habit of not wanting to go to the bathroom unless he gets to do it outside on the grass.
Additionally he shed on his beard and neck area today and the underlying scales/skin is looking great. The surgical incision is all but healed and the hole from where the feeding tube was is entirely closed over now with new skin but doesn’t look like scales teeth though he may just have some so small I don’t see them which I know is the case with a scar my younger rescue has where he had the spikes at the rear of his head I’m assuming bitten off at some stage prior to coming into my care.
In addition to this the specialist vets got in contact with to ask my permission for the surgeon who did Spike’s proceedure to write about the case in a veterinary medical journal so of course I’ve given the ok for that and I’d love to give the piece a look when published.
They’ve requested some photos of the intra-oral surgical site for documentation with that so Spike is booked in for a dental check with his usual vets tomorrow where they’ll be able to take those photos and send them off to the specialists.
I’ll definitely ask if they can send me a copy of those too and add them in here but for now I’ve got two photos I’ve taken just this evening to document the external healing progress. He was a bit cranky because he was sleepy at the time and not a fan of being disturbed.

 

[Spider8ait1994]

Got the all good from his regular vet and had those photos taken. Previously off and on he’s had a bit of inflammation in the form of a mass in the rear left corner of his mouth and that has recurred just this week so the vet checked that out too and for now we’re just going to keep his mouth and teeth clean and monitor this inflammation since previously it’s resolved itself and since he’s just gone through a whole lot of antibiotics and medications with this we don’t want to start up more antibiotics again at this time if it’s not going to be necessary but if I see abnormal redness, growth or oozing/bleeding he’ll go back to the vets and get something to help this out.
Attached here are the photos taken today primarily for documentation of the internal recovery from his big surgery but it also shows this inflamed mass too.
As you can see at this stage if you didn’t know he’s had a surgery just looking at the internal condition you’d never know he’d been cut open.
I know his dental condition is pretty bad but nothing seems to be progressing and it’s being managed with special brushing and diet adjustments.