• A Beautiful Reprieve •
This has been an extremely stressful, upsetting week but I'm happy to say Scotch is still with me and barring any unforeseen complications, now has a new lease on life.
It's easier to talk about now but without the surgery he had on Friday, this would've likely been the end of the road for Scotch. In fact, as awful as it sounds to say, I was desperately trying to prepare myself for this possibly being his final weekend with me.
He's resting comfortably and healing from surgery to repair his almost fully paralyzed larynx, a condition called Laryngeal Paralysis. I'll spare the technical details but essentially the mechanisms that help allow air in and out when breathing were losing functionality and the result is basically a slow suffocation. If you imagine a drain that's slowly getting clogged until absolutely no water can escape, that's similar to LarPar and Scotch was nearing that that inevitable end.
Something changed over the last week following his birthday and his strained breathing now verged on total distress and despite being so happy, it didn't seem like he could continue like this much longer. 5 minute walks outside would lead to 45 minutes of uncontrollable panting and in turn, the panting was developing into silent strained gasps, with him moving his head and neck around trying to find a position that would allow air in. He literally looked like a fish out of water and it was extremely hard to watch, since all I could do was pet him and try to keep him calm. I called the specialty vet first thing on Thursday morning, relayed my concerns, and asked if he could come in to see if he's still healthy enough for the surgery. They asked if Monday would be OK to come in and that's when it sort of sank in how bad his condition had gotten. I told them I didn't think he could survive until Monday and I'd take an appointment with whomever can do the surgery. That night was very difficult for me and it seemed like his fate would ultimately be decided in the morning when the vet would let me know if he was still a candidate for the surgery or if it was beyond that point. My concerns this summer were about the risks, tremendous cost, and whether at this point he could handle a major surgery again but this became the last resort and I hoped for some type of last minute reprieve.
People always tell you that when it's time to say goodbye to a pet, you just know and for the last few months, I wondered if one day I'd wake up and see something that made me realize and understand this. Each day that his breathing worsened, he still was always extremely happy and trying to run or play even if it was exacerbating his condition. Even this last week when it seemed like he was a few days away from losing all ability to breathe, I saw no sign from him that he was ready to give up and it was heartbreaking to think of having to potentially put down a dog who still desperately wanted to be here.
When we all headed to the vet, the doctor was one of the more calming and reassuring vets I've ever met and I left Scotch there relatively confident I'd get to see him again soon. After the anesthesia kicked in, they did find his airway almost completely closed and shut down and a few hours later, I received the call that the surgery was a success and everything was textbook. Probably the biggest relief I've had in as long as I can remember. My brother and I drove to the hospital this afternoon when he was ready for release and he was so happy to see us. His breathing was already close to normal and he even looks younger. A smiling dog is nice but a dog who spends most of his time awake smiling because he can't catch his breath is not and seeing him without that huge grin was amazing.
He has to stay calm for a few more days (even though he's already trying to run everywhere) and then in a few weeks, he'll get the stitches removed from his neck and can go back to...normal activity. This surgery will not reverse the damage done or other aspects of his older age and he now has some risk of aspiration from food and/or water that can lead to pneumonia but he alive which is the important thing and will presumably be able to do anything a healthy senior dog can other than swim and eat certain foods or treats. We will be able to go on walks for as long as he wants, he'll be able to run off leash, and now can enjoy the mountains a few hours away once the snow starts to fall. To say I'm happy is an understatement and I'm so glad my his time isn't yet up. Who knows, maybe he will start enjoying the car again and can come with me to shoot some sunsets, just like we used to.
_______________________
So...on to tonight's photo. This a 4 shot panorama from last sunday at Venice Beach. I spent the majority of the time there shooting straight out to sea, facing West and watching this amazingly moody sky. I think now on every single trip to Venice, I've attempted to take various panoramas of the pier, but rarely at this size. There was virtually no color out at sea other than a few stray purple/pink clouds, the thin ribbon of a sunset that swept across the horizon just below the cloud cover and the dark ominous blue and gray sky that never really changed much. I was fascinated by these conditions and figured I'd continue to photograph that view until it was too dark to effectively shoot in that direction. As usual, the views facing more South towards the pier and East towards the town of Venice and the boardwalk were better lit and there was actually some break in the clouds as well. I went with the 4 overlapping panels because I really wanted to capture the shifts in color and light that start over by the homes along the boardwalk and end out at sea. The sky to the right of the image is the same dark cloud mass present in nearly all my previous posts from this day. This color didn't last too long but fortunately I had enough time to get enough images for the panorama to mostly match up. When his health was fading, my desire to go out and shoot decreased dramatically and I started to skip beautiful sunsets to hang out with Scotch. Now that he's on the mend, I hope to get back into my routine soon.
WHEN & WHERE
Venice Beach Pier
Venice, California
October 30th, 2016
SETTINGS
Canon T4i
EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
4 panel panorama
@18mm
ISO 200
f/7.1
1/8th second
**I also wanted to thank everyone who took the time to listen to me rant about Scotch's health on here and offered support while I was trying to deal with and understand it all. As I've mentioned, I always grew up with dogs in the family but I was either too young or too far away to have any sort of knowledge on dealing with the last chapters in their lives so it's been a lot of learning as I go with Scotch. You all were very helpful and reassuring and I truly appreciate it!**
• A Beautiful Reprieve •
This has been an extremely stressful, upsetting week but I'm happy to say Scotch is still with me and barring any unforeseen complications, now has a new lease on life.
It's easier to talk about now but without the surgery he had on Friday, this would've likely been the end of the road for Scotch. In fact, as awful as it sounds to say, I was desperately trying to prepare myself for this possibly being his final weekend with me.
He's resting comfortably and healing from surgery to repair his almost fully paralyzed larynx, a condition called Laryngeal Paralysis. I'll spare the technical details but essentially the mechanisms that help allow air in and out when breathing were losing functionality and the result is basically a slow suffocation. If you imagine a drain that's slowly getting clogged until absolutely no water can escape, that's similar to LarPar and Scotch was nearing that that inevitable end.
Something changed over the last week following his birthday and his strained breathing now verged on total distress and despite being so happy, it didn't seem like he could continue like this much longer. 5 minute walks outside would lead to 45 minutes of uncontrollable panting and in turn, the panting was developing into silent strained gasps, with him moving his head and neck around trying to find a position that would allow air in. He literally looked like a fish out of water and it was extremely hard to watch, since all I could do was pet him and try to keep him calm. I called the specialty vet first thing on Thursday morning, relayed my concerns, and asked if he could come in to see if he's still healthy enough for the surgery. They asked if Monday would be OK to come in and that's when it sort of sank in how bad his condition had gotten. I told them I didn't think he could survive until Monday and I'd take an appointment with whomever can do the surgery. That night was very difficult for me and it seemed like his fate would ultimately be decided in the morning when the vet would let me know if he was still a candidate for the surgery or if it was beyond that point. My concerns this summer were about the risks, tremendous cost, and whether at this point he could handle a major surgery again but this became the last resort and I hoped for some type of last minute reprieve.
People always tell you that when it's time to say goodbye to a pet, you just know and for the last few months, I wondered if one day I'd wake up and see something that made me realize and understand this. Each day that his breathing worsened, he still was always extremely happy and trying to run or play even if it was exacerbating his condition. Even this last week when it seemed like he was a few days away from losing all ability to breathe, I saw no sign from him that he was ready to give up and it was heartbreaking to think of having to potentially put down a dog who still desperately wanted to be here.
When we all headed to the vet, the doctor was one of the more calming and reassuring vets I've ever met and I left Scotch there relatively confident I'd get to see him again soon. After the anesthesia kicked in, they did find his airway almost completely closed and shut down and a few hours later, I received the call that the surgery was a success and everything was textbook. Probably the biggest relief I've had in as long as I can remember. My brother and I drove to the hospital this afternoon when he was ready for release and he was so happy to see us. His breathing was already close to normal and he even looks younger. A smiling dog is nice but a dog who spends most of his time awake smiling because he can't catch his breath is not and seeing him without that huge grin was amazing.
He has to stay calm for a few more days (even though he's already trying to run everywhere) and then in a few weeks, he'll get the stitches removed from his neck and can go back to...normal activity. This surgery will not reverse the damage done or other aspects of his older age and he now has some risk of aspiration from food and/or water that can lead to pneumonia but he alive which is the important thing and will presumably be able to do anything a healthy senior dog can other than swim and eat certain foods or treats. We will be able to go on walks for as long as he wants, he'll be able to run off leash, and now can enjoy the mountains a few hours away once the snow starts to fall. To say I'm happy is an understatement and I'm so glad my his time isn't yet up. Who knows, maybe he will start enjoying the car again and can come with me to shoot some sunsets, just like we used to.
_______________________
So...on to tonight's photo. This a 4 shot panorama from last sunday at Venice Beach. I spent the majority of the time there shooting straight out to sea, facing West and watching this amazingly moody sky. I think now on every single trip to Venice, I've attempted to take various panoramas of the pier, but rarely at this size. There was virtually no color out at sea other than a few stray purple/pink clouds, the thin ribbon of a sunset that swept across the horizon just below the cloud cover and the dark ominous blue and gray sky that never really changed much. I was fascinated by these conditions and figured I'd continue to photograph that view until it was too dark to effectively shoot in that direction. As usual, the views facing more South towards the pier and East towards the town of Venice and the boardwalk were better lit and there was actually some break in the clouds as well. I went with the 4 overlapping panels because I really wanted to capture the shifts in color and light that start over by the homes along the boardwalk and end out at sea. The sky to the right of the image is the same dark cloud mass present in nearly all my previous posts from this day. This color didn't last too long but fortunately I had enough time to get enough images for the panorama to mostly match up. When his health was fading, my desire to go out and shoot decreased dramatically and I started to skip beautiful sunsets to hang out with Scotch. Now that he's on the mend, I hope to get back into my routine soon.
WHEN & WHERE
Venice Beach Pier
Venice, California
October 30th, 2016
SETTINGS
Canon T4i
EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
4 panel panorama
@18mm
ISO 200
f/7.1
1/8th second
**I also wanted to thank everyone who took the time to listen to me rant about Scotch's health on here and offered support while I was trying to deal with and understand it all. As I've mentioned, I always grew up with dogs in the family but I was either too young or too far away to have any sort of knowledge on dealing with the last chapters in their lives so it's been a lot of learning as I go with Scotch. You all were very helpful and reassuring and I truly appreciate it!**