Friday, January 29
This morning we took Peyton to his surgeon, Dr. Greenwood at Northlake Veterinary Surgery. Peyton is a sweetheart and was wagging his tail despite everything he has been through. He is going to have to have 3 surgeries, his first this afternoon. Barring complications the doctor sees an outcome being 97-100%! We have raised about $2500 so far. His surgery is going to be $5500, but we also have an outstanding balance at our regular vet's office and I am waiting to here back from them. He may also have to return to the vet clinic for some recovery time so it just goes on and on.

Check for updates daily (hopefully I will find the time)! Photos and videos to come.

Friday, January 29 - 5 p.m.
Dr. Greenwood has finished repairing Peyton’s left tibia, and will begin on his left hip joint in a few minutes. All is well, and he’s been fine under anesthesia. We are taking him to Animal Emergency Center of Decatur and The Decatur Village Village Vets to rest for the weekend, so he can have 24 monitoring, as he’s been un der sedation for what will be about 4 hours. This is only a precaution and to give him some familiar surroundings when he wakes up.

The next round will be early next week, either Monday or Tuesday, in which the right leg and pelvis will be repaired.

Friday, January 29 - 10 p.m. Peyton is resting comfortably at the Animal Emergency Center of Decatur. Dr. Greenwood has plated his leg with a stainless steel ‘string of pearls” screwed to his left leg, and a solid piece screwed to his pelvis. Peyton is still very groggy, having been on some morphine to kill the pain. He did lift his head and wag his tail a little when Richard picked him up.

He has a couple days to rest and on Monday morning he’ll go back to Northlake Veterinary Surgery for his 2nd operation, on his right leg.

Saturday, January 30 - 12 p.m. (update from Richard) This morning Peyton started eating…a lot. Dr Miller at The Decatur Village Village Vets says he’s eating with a normal appetite, especially for a dog that hasn’t had much the last few days. Eating and drinking normally. Peyton’s already looking much happier…when they brought him in to see me, he was holding his head up, wagging his tail and tongue out. He was much more lively that previous days.

His energy level is up, although due to the events of the week, he tires fairly quickly. You can see the left leg scar where they’ve inserted the stainless steel plate and screws. There’s another on the inside where they put the plates for the inside of the leg, but didn’t want to move him to see it. Don’t worry, not only will the fur grow back and cover it, the scars will heal very well, and most likely won’t be seen at all once the fur grows back. He does have some “road rash” on his rear legs, feet and butt…nothing serious, though.

We brought him a little companion to keep him company…he’s already cuddling with it!

Monday, February - 10 a.m. (update from Richard) This morning, is a really good day. One week to the day he was hit by a car, Peyton is walking. Although it’s a little uncomfortable still, he is able to walk on his own.

Dr Greenwood is going to go into the right leg this afternoon and work on the right leg at the socket. This is the easier part of the surgery and Peyton should be back walking within a day.

Monday, February - 5 p.m. Peyton had the procedure to reattach the ball of his right leg back together and fit into his socket. Dr Greenwood is waiting to see how that looks under a radiograph after Peyton rests for a while. If it works, it will be fine and he’ll come home tomorrow. If Dr Greenwood sees any sign it didn’t take, they’ll do the secondary method of taking the broken piece out.

Peyton will stay at the hospital tonight, and we’re hoping to have him back here tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 2 - 5 p.m. Peyton is HOME!

From Richard: Peyton was released this afternoon after having his right leg screwed and pinned. Dr. Greenwood is shown here holding Peyton. He says this is one of the toughest little dogs he’s seen in awhile. Peyton is already walking, although he has to be limited in what he does for 6-8 weeks. Northlake Veterinary Surgery has done a great job, and special thanks to everyone there, both doctors and staff (thanks Debbie!). Please click here to visit their website and send an email thanking them for their hard work. The x rays show how bad the break was and how well the repair is.

Dr. Corse did the right leg surgery and will do xrays in 6 weeks to make sure the bone has healed. Peyton is going to be confined to a small area and short leash walks for the next few weeks, gets his stitches/staples out in 2 weeks, and the prognosis is an excellent recovery. He’s already walking slowly and he has a brightness in his eyes right now that was knocked out of him last week.

Peyton managed to drop in and see the folks at Village Vets of Decatur today on his way home. He is shown here with Chamblee Abernathy, who was immensely helpful in getting the word out about Peyton. Dr. Matt Miller was out today on jury duty, so we haven’t got a picture of him with Peyton yet, but we will. Dr. Miller is the 1st doctor to treat Peyton, and his knowledge and caring is what saved Peyton to begin with. He was able to stabilize him and over the next few days slowly brought him out of shock, and then managed to control the pain while charting a course of treatment that ultimately led to Dr.'s Greenwood and Corse. Matt is the doctor for a lot of AAR dogs, and along with the staff at Village Vets, has done a wonderful job of treating him. Special thanks to Robert, and the entire staff there! Visit The Village Vets to learn more about the vets that have done so much not just for Peyton, but for all of AAR’s rescues. Dr. Will Draper has assembled a great team of people and they do miracles every day.

To view Peyton's photo gallery, click here.

If it weren’t for Deb Finnegan, this wouldn’t have happened. It was her idea for us to go online and try to raise the money for Peyton’s surgery. Even with the (very) substantial discount provided by NVS and Village Vet, this kind of surgery is very expensive. Deb injected a ray of hope into myself and Peyton, and her efforts have resulted in saving this beautiful doggie’s life. As always Animal Action Rescue is the place to keep up with some wonderful pets for adoption. Don’t forget the fundraiser on Thursday the 18th!

It’s going to be 6-8 weeks before Peyton will be available for adoption to his forever home.

As of Tuesday the 2nd, we’ve raised about $3500.00. We still have about another couple thousand to go in order to pay out all of Peyton’s expenses, but we’re closer now than Friday afternoon.

And from the bottom, top and everywhere in between of my heart-thank you. Without your donations we’d never have achieved so much so quickly. I am so overwhelmed how much outpouring of sympathy and love for this little guy, who only one week and a day ago was almost at his end. I know that money is tight for everyone right now, and the fact so many people have come together so fast for the chance to give life…a better life…to such a wonderful dog. To see the look on Peyton’s face compared to a week ago….priceless.

Again thank you so much from myself, AAR, Deb, and most of all….Peyton.

February 10

Peyton is doing very well, much better than his namesake did on Sunday. He's eating well, and has been walking around the house and yard fairly normal. His legs stiil llook like they are stiff and he can't quite sit normally. Otherwise he acts like a normal dog. We're actually having to throttle him back a little. He wants to try and run, move more than he should and get back to normal.

He's scheduled to get his stitches out in a week and they'll x-ray him again in another month to make sure all the bones have healed. He's also started socializing a little with my other dogs and getting along incredibly well. Peyton loves to lay on his back and get his belly rubbed. He's also getting along fairly well with the cats in the house.

 

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