What's even better than a really cool lifesaving surgery? A really cool lifesaving surgery on a really nice pet owned and loved by a veteran.
This is Hercules.
He was rescued by a veteran who was in a dark place several years ago until rescuing and bonding with Hercules, whom he credits with turning his life around.
A few weeks back, Hercules became distressed. Dr. Teri Schroeck, Hercules' regular vet at Cocoa Veterinary Hospital and one of my best referring vets, diagnosed him with a pneumothorax (free air in the chest, surrounding and compressing his lungs) and sent him to me at Aloha Pet & Bird Hospital.
After confirming he didn't have cancer or bad disease via CT (Computed Tomography/CATscan), we felt a ruptured pulmonary bulla or bleb (a large, accumulated "air bubble") was most likely and recommended a thoracotomy.
Surgery confirmed the diagnosis, and the affected lung lobe was removed. The picture's a little blurry (those lungs keep moving!), but you can see the bubble on the affected lobe). Despite having his sternum split for the surgery, Hercules was trotting and trying to chase lizards on his walk the next morning. Tough guy!
All the techs were giving Hercules extra love, and Cocoa was kind enough to board Hercules for the week while his owners enjoyed some long-planned vacation time.