Willow

Noel is pushed to the limit when an emergency case is rushed in late at night. Willow the rescue deerhound has broken her neck and is brought in by owners Graham and Noreen and their ten-year-old son Lev. The break is so serious that nobody at the practice but Noel can deal with it, and only a handful of surgeons in the world would even attempt this surgery. With the stakes so high, the family must decide if they want Noel to go ahead and try to save Willow.

One does not need medical experience to appreciate the seriousness and life-changing implications a fractured neck can cause to any living creature. It is an injury that strikes fear into all medical professionals, and particularly in surgeons, who have the mighty task of undergoing the life-saving surgery necessary to prevent inevitable death.

Deerhound Willow came to Noel with this very challenge. After accidentally running into a tree, it was apparent that Willow had seriously damaged her neck as a result. When she arrived at Fitzpatrick Referrals she was paralysed and without a doubt in severe pain. The team immediately sprang into action to do what they could to help this very much loved dog.

Willow was immobilised to prevent further damage to her neck and carefully put under anaesthetic. X-rays revealed a very serious implosion fracture of her second cervical vertebrae; the second bone of her neck. Noel had a long chat with Willow’s family to go through the options, whether to go ahead with surgery or allow her to pass away peacefully. The odds were stacked against her and the stakes could not have been higher.

The family were not ready to say goodbye to Willow and wanted to proceed with the surgery that might allow her to survive. With Willow’s life hanging in the balance she was taken to the operating theatre. With the perilous possibility of copious blood loss, permanent paralysis and even death – Noel took a moment to focus before beginning. At this point it was 1am and tired after an already long day of surgery, Noel was acutely aware that Willow’s very existence relied on him.

Noel began the operation, and slowly exposed Willow’s fractured neck bones. It became clear the fracture had damaged a major blood vessel within Willow’s neck and with every manipulation of the fracture, Willow was losing precious blood.

Noel and the team did everything they could to stem the haemorrhage as Noel placed metal pins in the fractured bones. Noel knew he was going to have to realign the fractured bones at some point in the surgery – but he also knew that this was going to lead to further blood loss and in order to be successful, it would have to be done very quickly.

With a deep breath, Noel commenced realigning the bones. With speed and skill, Noel poured orthopaedic cement over the metal pins to hold the realigned fracture in place. This quickly stemmed the bleeding from the fracture site and Noel and the team breathed a sigh of relief. Although the bleeding had been serious – it was not enough to compromise Willow’s life.

Postoperative imaging revealed successful alignment and stability of the fractured neck bones. Willow was recovered from anaesthesia at 5:30am and a tired team handed Willow over to the day shift team. With lots of pain relief to hand, Willow had a very quiet day and slept peacefully with the ward team offering comfort and keeping a close eye on her.

An unbelievable surprise was awaiting for Noel the next day. Incredibly, Willow was able to stand and take her first few steps, and Noel and the team were blown away by her progress and determination. Willow continued to improve day by day and with the tireless work of the Fitzpatrick Referrals ward and rehabilitation teams, she was soon ready to go home to her awaiting family.

Willow went home with the strict instructions that she needed to rest and recuperate over the following weeks. As an enthusiastic dog with a clear zest for life, she would need to be kept very calm to ensure no accidental damage was done with her exuberance!

Six weeks later and she was back to her bouncy and loveable self, with her family struggling to keep her calm and quiet most days!