Posted By: Jackie_Chans_Mom
Another plea for Jackie Chan - 02/04/08 10:50 PM
I cannot tell you all how mich I hate having to make another plea for prayers for Jackie Chan. But, he really needs it. After placing him and Sassy back together last week, I have been keeping a close eye on him. He was healing really well.-------- Until Saturday. I was gone from the home for 7 hours and did not check in on him in that time. Sometime in that 7 hours, Sassy began to eat at Jackie. 
I believe that she was just trying to eliminate the infection that he still (obviously) had the only way she knows how. Anyway, she ate away about 1 1/2 - 2 inches of flesh and muscle off is butt and left back hip/leg. 
I was horrified when I first found it! I paniced. I immediately pulled Sassy from the pouch and placed her in her own cage. Then, I packed the car, called the vet in Tulsa to tell them that I was coming (remember, there are no vets in this area with experience with emergencies in gliders) and then called Karen in a panic. It was already 5:30 in the evening, which meant that I would not be to Tulsa until around midnight, but I HAD to try. I truely did not believe that Jackie was going to live through the night and I was overwhelmed with fear and grief and guilt.
It looked so horrible. I thought that I was seeing bowel in the body cavity. I flushed it as much as I could. ALso, he was swollen to about the size of a small bird's egg and he was not able to pee or poop. It was horrible.After about 3 hours in the car, and after some encouraging phone calls from some loving glider friends, I began to be able to think clearly about it. Though it looked horrible, Jackie was acting fine. And, he was not really bleeding. We stopped in Oklahoma City and got a hotel room because Jackie was wanting to come out of the bonding pouch to play and I felt that it might be his last opportunity. So, I let him play. I did not take my eyes off him all night and I never once stopped praying. He played all night like nothing had happened. He never had droopy ears or droopy eyes. He ate well and drank a LOT. He ran in his wheel..... all of this with his backside swollen horribly. He never even acted like there was anything wrong. BUT, he still never peed or pooped.
Jackie was still with me the next morning and I was becoming more optimistic. We finished the drive to Tulsa and were at the vet when they opened their doors. Jackie's vet really does love him, and he is SOOO good to Jackie. So, he got him all cleaned up and was able to really look at him. Turns out, what I thought was poop was actually blood clots. Sassy had eaten down to the bone on his hip and leg. She stopped just short of fatal. Jackie no longer has muscle at his left back hip. However, that muscle group was atrophied and he didn't use it anyway. So, there is some blessing in this: This episode did not change how Jackie gets around at all. I also had the vet do a thorough check since every time Jackie gets healed, Sassy chews him back open. I was concerned that there might be a problem (ie. tumor, abcess) that we just hadn't found yet. BUT, Jackie checks out clear.
He is not out of the woods yet, but he is all stitched up and acting like it never happened. He was active and playful and curious and hungry last night. He will be on quite a bit of medication for the next 2 weeks, but should heal fine. However, my greatest concern is for his emotional health - and for Sassy's. Obviously, this was the last straw. They simply cannot live together. And, as you will recall, they are very, very strongly bonded - so much so that Sassy stops eating when she is apart from him for any length of time. Please pray that she will find the company of one of my other lone boys to be an acceptable substitute. I will still allow her and Jackie to play together and maybe eat together. Pray also that Jackie will recover better than ever and that he will be OK with his 24 hour "mom time" and not miss Sassy too much. It is so sad that her great love for him will most likely kill him if they are left together.
I'm exhausted and possibly all cried out. Jackie is a fighter.... SOOO much stronger than me, as I have said before. He just will not give up - For that I am so grateful.
Here is a picture of Jackie's newly remodeled bum... Couldn't get a picture of the whole mess:
Jackie's Bum
Give Jackie afew extra yogies from us. 