Upgrade!!

: 20 August 2009

Centre Parcs was a great weekend away with Cords, Noah, Craig, Jodie and Henry. It’s a resort that offers the chance for babies/toddlers to be completely unleashed amidst hundreds of other babies and toddlers, which means Mums (Cords and Jodie) can relax and Dads (me and Craig) have license to release the inner child. I had a brilliant time in the soft play centre for the under fives. Loved it – except crawling through the tunnel was a bit of a tight fit. But it was totally accepted I had to supervise Noah – loads of Dads were in there – men were virtually grabbing random children so they could have a go in it. Craig and Henry were in the thick of it too and Noah loved rampaging through the obstacles, although he was much quicker than me in getting round the course so I didn’t see him much. Outside, everyone races around on bikes (car free zone) with babies/kids strapped on the back, there are huge swimming pools, water slides, swings, slides and climbing frames at every turn and it was in short, a winner trip.

Unfortunately there have only been a couple of weekends between the last shoot and this one. News from home is that my wife, Cordelia, is pregnant again which is fantastic, Lily the dog whose pelvis was shattered and who I operated on before I left for the last trip is walking – a big high, and I had my 33rd birthday present which was a brilliant ride in a helicopter – 30min lesson – allowing me the chance to scare the wits out of the instructor as I took control and swung us wildly across the sky. I’ve discovered helicopters are very sensitive.

Back to business; there is currently a bit of turbulence as I charge towards Thailand but I’m oblivious because I am flying in style. Booked to fly economy plus (those extra inches make all the difference) – I have been magically upgraded. The story is that Abe (my brother in law) told his best mate (Oli) that I was flying today and Oli happens to be a BA pilot. Within about two minutes of sitting down I was moved up to club world!! It’s incredible!! Cases of ale all round!! I have a big dilemma now because part of me can’t wait to let them team know that I spent a lot of the time lying horizontally on a fully reclining seat being served delicious wine in a real glass (rather than plastic) but part of me feels a bit of solidarity with the boys who are flying out economy. Maybe I’ll just saunter off the plane with my little cloth wash bag to meet them and see if they pick up on it…

Care for Dogs

: 21 August 2009

Located on the outskirts of Chiang Mai, the hotel is surrounded by lush rice fields and deep green mountains. It’s a great place, the scenery is outstanding although there is a lot of rain and it’s incredibly humid. Today was our first day at the shelter and Karin, Emma and Ally are doing a fantastic job. The biggest thing that struck me straightaway was the happy vibe of the 130 dogs at the shelter and that Karin has gone to the huge effort of trying to ensure each pen has enough ‘activities’ to occupy the dogs. I think dogs like height and one aspect of the big pens is that they all have raised platforms which the dogs can climb up or go under according to preference. Too many shelters or pens are all on one level and a split level is definitely the way forward.

There are some very severe TVT cases to look at, a few sick ones – one I think has concurrent heartworm and it has been a day to find our feet and get to know everyone. My gut feeling is that it is going to be a great trip.

Net curtains

: 22 August 2009

The Thai people we have met so far have been brilliant people. Big smiles, very calm and although there is a lot of work for organizations such as Care for Dogs to do with regards animal welfare, I’m really enjoying this trip so far.

One very sad case today was a poor dog which had a broken back and an abdominal mass which had to be put down – it was rushed to the shleter as an emergency late last night, I gave it some meds to keep it out of pain and we drove into the city today so we could get some X-rays at a main hospital. It isn’t easy to put things down here as it is a Buddhist dominated society (i.e. if you kill you destroy karma so it is absolutely the very last option). If it wasn’t for the shelter though, that poor dog would have had a very slow death so it is a wonderful resource that they are here.

There are plenty of ops lined up for me tomorrow so it is going to be a big day ahead. We visited a hill community and a temple to get a feel for the work ahead there and I spent some time trying to help a dog with heartworm and a TVT – quite a tricky case.

One big thing I have just realized though is that the net curtains in my room turn out to be completely transparent when it is dark and the light is on in the room. This in itself would be mildly amusing given the fact I have been parading around naked and oblivious for the last two nights – except for the fact that my double windows directly overlook the main hotel dining area – which may explain why it always clears when I go down there. The hotel staff must be in stitches about room 302. Bruce, Scottie and Marc pretty much wet themselves when we realized that I haven’t been drawing the curtains and I have definitely introduced myself to all the hotel guests as you can see completely into my room – including the bath. Wonderful. There should be a sign or something warning you. I plan to check out tomorrow.

Nudity wins

: 23 August 2009

Instead of me checking out – the hotel have taken steps to remove the nudist from room 302. I found out this morning that we have all been upgraded free of charge. Our rooms are now well out of view from the main dining area and we’re all convinced this has something to do with my nocturnal antics in the window.

No complaints though and it shows a little flashing can get you a long way. This room is amazing – it has a plunge pool outside which is simply incredible. Just as well because today was hardcore. Very enjoyable but also fairly epic. I had the chance to operate on the paw of a dog that has been in a buster collar and hopping on three legs for the last nine months. I really hope I have got him sorted out because it’s his only chance to get sorted and stand a chance of being rehomed.



The shelter is wonderful and the efforts of the staff are tremendous but there is no escaping the fact that the place is a bit overcrowded and there are sometimes issues that accompany that sort of problem. I very much want to help this shelter and they are facing a lot of challenges. They simply need to be able to rehome more dogs and get more support for more staff and better facilities.

Karin is being amazing and is working incredibly hard, especially considering that she also has an eleven month old baby to take care of, Emma is working all the hours possible and seems very selfless in her graft and Ally is simply brilliant. Without Ally we would be really stuck for our planning and her support and commitment to the cause is simply inspiring. She spent all day today getting the heartworm dog sorted out and I really admire her for her strength of character and passion for helping the shelter.

The other big op today was an entropion and fingers crossed they all do well and I’ve taken enough skin off for that to be a success. Bruce is very happy because I said something about banana fingers today which has kept him chuckling for the last few hours. In response it is only fitting I let you know his Thai name for this trip is Chai. He believes it means man – but it actually means boy which is close.

Big Op Day

: 24 August 2009

A big op day today which was great. Had to remove an eye from a very sweet little dog that was having some problems, tumour removal, a few medical cases, some warts, and a pts on a dog with a horrendous anal fistula. True to form the Care for Dogs team have been trying to treat and help this dog but it simply couldn’t be surgically excised and repaired and I had to make the decision. I worked with Soraya a lot today – she is the Thai member of the committee and was very brave helping me remove Billy’s eye. It is a gruesome operation and Billy didn’t have the best ketamine recovery. For the uninitiated it doesn’t get much more hardcore than eye surgery and she was a real help.

Emma stuck with me later this afternoon as we cracked on with a few other cases at the shelter. Poor Emma has had the short straw twice now as the shelter staff are supposed to go home at 5pm and Emma has stayed on and been a great help. It is hard graft at the shelter and they are over loaded with animals but I haven’t heard a single one of them complain about anything. I really enjoy working with such commited people – makes it seem very worthwhile and nice to contribute to their tremendous efforts.

Buddhist Monk - Saviour of Chickens!

: 25 August 2009

Slow start at the hill tribe but incredible scenery. Nestled at the top of amountain overlooking Chaing Mai, we passed through some low lying clouds on the drive up. The people living there speak a slightly different dialogue than those in the rest of the region and were fairly non plussed as to why I was pitching up to treat their animals. I struggled to get a vein on a collapsed pig that we found half dead in a ditch and treated a few dogs but the most interesting case of the day was meeting a Buddhist monk who has lived at the top of the mountain for the last three years and looks after injured chickens that he rescues after chicken fights in the villages.



I removed an imbedded claw from the chest of one of the chickens – it was completely walled off inside it and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I was absolutely amazed at what I removed and at first I didn’t want to cut into the swelling because I was convinced it must be a bit of bone from an old break. The monk knew otherwise and encouraged me to do so – he had seen it before. Realising he had probably treated many chickens in this condition, I trusted him and incised down to the mass. The reason he couldn’t remove that particular claw was when they were deep in the muscle he had no way of closing wounds afterwards and lacked the forceps to probe around. I donated a pair of crocodile forceps to his cause and a few meds suitable for chickens. As a devout Buddhist he is forbidden from showing emotion but I think he was pleased.



It has to be one of the most remarkable cases I have come across and it’s fantastic to meet people like the monk who really do care and have a personal quest to do what they can in hard situations.
 

Three legged elephant

: 25 August 2009

Visiting the Friends of Asian Elephants (FAE) Hospital, I met an elephant who was in the slow rehabilitation process of having a prosthetic foot fitted. The poor creature had had its lower limb blown off by a landmine whilst working just over the Thai border in Burma. FAE offer treatment to injured elephants all over Thailand free of charge and of the 6000 or so elephants in Thailand over 3500 are in captivity, many of which are used for illegal logging. Logging was made illegal in Thailand twenty years ago but it still continues, particularly in the North of the country, around Chaing Mai.




Many of the elephants rescued by the FAE will remain at the hospital for life, crippled with broken legs or other wounds that prohibited them from continued work in the illegal logging camps, but they also help any that are injured and return them back to their owners on a mission to build good relations with the owners and improve the welfare of the elephants for the long term.. In truth, it is the lucky elephants that end up at FAE, many crippled elephants get sold to beggars in the big Thai cities where they roam the streets at night begging, Being sacred animal in Buddist culture they are a big earner for the street vendors.
 
The kind hospitality of the FAE staff, particularly Dr Preema who is a co founder and director of veterinary services of the centre was very generous. The passion he and his team show for the elephants and their commitemnet to helping these beautiful creatures was inspiring. It is very inspiring to visit such a place which is tucked away about an hours drive from the city, ironically near an elephanct circus – something which I am certain the staff at the hospital abhor but are too sensible to pass comment on.

The prosthesis is the first of its kind in the world and is still a work in progress but remarkable, the elephant, having survived such a traumatic injury, is doing well and the future looks positive considering that elephants put about 60% of their body weight on their fornt legs and for any long term chance of making it, the prosthesis has to work. It just goes to show that anything is possible – even fitting a false leg to a ten tonne elephant.


The day ended with a few grueling cases back at the hospital – a dog had been savaged on the back its neck and Ally spent about forty minutes pulling thirty plus maggots from the wound. She definitely got a raw deal with that job but cleaned it up magnificiently. It was a horrific injury but one that should come right with solid antibiosis and regular bathing.

I also had to put down a dog that had had most of the skin and muscle ripped from one its hingdlegs and was bravely battling on – despite gnawing at its own flesh with the discomfort of it’s horrendous wound. Sadly the shelter is already overstocked and even if the poor dog had survived heoric surgery to remove the ravaged limb, it would have had a very tough time at the shelter with minimal chance of being rehomed. This was compunded by the fact it’s one remaining backleg was also badly injured. It’s chances were 5% at best. I find these sort of decisions very tough, especially when I know the people at the shelter would never give up on an animal if they thought it could pull through. It simply wasn’t fair on the dog nor the staff and the poor animal deserved the dignity to go to sleep peacefully rather than a slow death from septacaemia.

Sadly Magnum’s wound had also broken down due to the humidity and a soaked bandage. I knocked him out and reoperated so fingers crossed it holds. I’m going to head back tomorrow evening and take another look at it.



The crew are in good spirits, Marc stayed with me to help out at the shelter whilst Scottie and Chai headed back to base to go over the tapes. The hotel is an amazing place to come back to and recharge from the madness of the day; now I am out of sight of the main dining area, and thankfully my notoriety as the guest stripper amongst the other residents and staff seems to have died down a bit ….

Elephants galore!

: 27 August 2009

Meeting Lek at the elephant foundation was inspirational. Born in a Hill Tribe, she fell in love with elephants as a child and pledged her life to help them. With incredible determination and commitment she established the elephant foundation through decades of hard work and indomitable spirit. She had so many sad stories of elephants she has rescued but many have happy endings and it is very moving to hear how she has rehabilitated these great creatures from horrendous abuse. The visit ended with both her and me getting covered from head to toe in thick mud as two of the babies decided to roll around on the ground beside us and flick dirt everywhere. Thankfully it was only mud I was covered in for a change (the crew wisely retreated to a safe distance whilst all this was going on) so it washed off my face and arms fairly well and with a quick costume change I was good as new.



We then headed back to the FAE to help fit prosthesis on a 3 year old little elephant which had suffered a similar injury to the one we had seen yesterday. It almost seems this is a common occurrence there but these are the only two elephants with prosthesis in the world. The Prosthesis Foundation were there and had built the prosthetic for free. Because the youngster is still growing it will need to be changed every four months for the next 17 years! It was a joy to watch the elephant walk about the yard and it was a fairytale ending for the poor creature that really deserved some luck and TLC. Injured when just seven months old and whilst a calf at foot, her Mother was sent back to the logging camp to continue a life of abject hardship when the baby turned two. She is now three and although she will need to remain at the hospital for the rest of her life, at least she will be pain free and will be able to grow up without a twisted spine and in normal proportion with her false leg supporting her weight and allowing her to interact around her pen.



Finally back to the shelter –a very sad looking emergency case whose eye I think I will probably need to remove tomorrow and to re bandaged Magnum’s paw. I’m holding my breath – at the moment it looks okay so fingers crossed this one doesn’t breakdown.

Magnum's paw

: 28 August 2009


Up to the temple crack of dawn for a few general shots for the programme. It is an amazing temple, perched on the side of a big mountain overlooking Chiang Mai and although a bit overcast, it was a great visit. I like Buddhist temples and although extremely tourist focused, it was magnificent. Then back to the shelter to crack on with the business at hand.



Desperately frustratingly, Magnum’s paw had broken down again overnight. In the space of twelve hours it had completely come apart. I am close to despair about this poor dog’s wound and I knocked him out again and did the job again. I simply can’t take anymore tissue away – I went right to the bone and resected everything that looked remotely necrotic or inflamed. I just pray it was enough. My main worry is a super infection, after nine months of endless antibiotics and failed dressings, it’s proving a huge challenge to get right. If this doesn’t knit together my options are very limited.

The other poor dog which I mentioned yesterday and which had been dropped at the shelter had its eye removed and a horrendous ingrown dew claw cut off. It was crawling in lice as well so in a couple of days it should feel like a new animal. Very satisfying and I needed a case like that after Magnums paw.

Chai spent the day editing at the hotel so didn't join us for the hardcore ops nor the GV’s. This may explain why he has gone out clubbing with the Thai film crew and why I’m in the hotel writing this blog at 1am…

Amputation

: 29 August 2009

Magnum’s paw broke down completely – so upsetting. Poor dog was so trusting and sweet when I agonized over what to do. Ally at the shelter was pragmatic, sympathetic and supportive in making one of the hardest decisions I have been involved with on these trips and I needed a lot of moral support for what had to be done. It was very difficult because I didn’t want to give up on the paw but I needed to face the reality that after three operations and complete failure to get the tissue knitting together, it wasn’t going to happen. Nine months of an open wound had left a chronic infection and deep fissure that I couldn’t get on top of. The pressure of knowing I am leaving in two days put me in a tricky spot – I couldn’t leave the team at the shelter with such an awkward and unresolved case and it wouldn’t be fair on them or Magnum. After Karin came over for a chat about the situation, had a look at the paw and agreed with what had to be done, I began the preparations to remove the leg.



It messed everyone’s day up – the shelter team were incredibly supportive and gave up their Sundays to help, the film crew also gave up their planned free afternoon to help as well. I’m not sure if or how much of the operation will make the programme – it is very difficult to show such a difficult dilemma and gruesome operation but as far as it can go, the op went well.

Magnum woke up without a buster collar for the first time in nine months. When the wound heals and he adapts he will be out the cage and at least free of the chronic pain and constant irritation of a sore paw. Very hard call to make but having done the op I do feel a sense of relief for the poor dog and I think we all feel pleased it went well and that he is going to be okay.

Almost finished

: 30 August 2009

Magnum was up bright and moving around already this morning when we arrived at the shelter. Ally has taken the position of shelter manager so it was buzzing this morning as I checked over a few patients and the crew did some general views of the hustle and bustle for the programme.



The day has been full on last minute interviews, driving shots and filling in all the checklist boxes on Marc’s list! One very sad case at the shelter was a little puppy who came in paralyzed on his hindlegs. She can only be about 10weeks and I suspect has suffered some sort of traumatic injury to her spine. I gave her some pain relief, strong anti-inflammatories and covering antibiotics so will reassess tomorrow morning.

Last day at the shelter

: 31 August 2009

Last day of the shoot. The puppy is looking a bit brighter so fingers crossed and it’s not in any pain so time will tell after a few days. We also let Magnum out of the enclosure which was brilliant – he was very happy and looks great. Leaving the shelter this morning was sad – I feel part of the team and a bit like I am abandoning them as I really would like to do more to help out. I know they will be fine though – they are a strong and dedicated bunch and their tireless, selfless compassion for the work has been inspirational. It’s been a great trip and a privilege to have worked at the Care for Dogs shelter. Definitely a very worthy cause and one which WVS will do our best to support.

Just building up the epic flight home now as I pack my bags and get ready. Can’t wait to get home and see the family but I do have to say that the staff at the Veranda Hotel here have done their best to make us all feel as welcome as possible throughout our visit here, so a big thanks to them. I think I have time for one last traditional Thai cheeseburger…