11/28/2001
It feels like deja vu!
Anyway, she is home. She was a wild woman in the hospital. She is unstable on her feet because her legs only have a few inches of tape between them so she absolutely HAS to have the sling on. She actually fell on her butt at the vets because the sling slipped out of DH's hand. Ugh! Lucy didn't yelp or seem to be in pain. The vet didn't think it was significant - i.e. enough to dislocate, but it was scary nonetheless.
We have decided she is having another x-ray when we return a week from today anyway, so we are alerted to an issue right away if there is one.
We saw the new x-ray, he put in a bone anchor and some nylon to hold the bone in place so it cannot slip out, plus some tissue and muscle to hold it securely.
The bad thing is, the x-ray show her other hip is looking pretty bad : ( Hopefully having one good hip will be enough. I sincerely doubt I will do her other hip after this experience.
ANyway, she came home, went right to the bathroom (pee and poop) and we gave her a snack which she wolfed down and some water. Now she is napping.
The vet thought she was so wild in the vet's office he gave her some acepromazine (tranquilizer). I tried to explain that she really is a mellow dog. Oh well. We don't have to use them if she is being relaxed.
Last night she pulled out 2 of her staples, they put them back in but we have to be very careful about that. She wore the e-collar today and is now very used to it. I will use it if I have to but hope not to - with the hobbles and the crate, it will be so tough her her to get comfortable with the e-collar on top of that! I don't want her to hurt herself trying to adjust.
She is actually weight bearing quite a bit - probably more than before the surgery. Plus she is laying on her surgical side on and off which she rarely did before. AND, her tail is wagging on the surgical side which it had stopped doing.
The vet was concerned about the cage and thought she may be better in a small room - i dont think he understands the size of this cage, he is worried that it is so small that she will have a hard time turning around and hurt herself. I really think it is the safest place for her, I really do. The only small room we have (without a bed in it to jump on) is the bathroom, and i actually think that has less room than the cage - it is a powder room type bathroom and with the sink and toilet there is not a lot of room to lay down. I feel pretty good about the cage, wish he did. I tried to explain the size but I don;t think he was picturing it as it is.
We are doing pretty well now, much better than the first time we brought her home, we know now what to expect, sort of. The hobbles make it interesting, though.Ok, that's about it for now.
11/29
I am really concerned about Lucy. Yesterday she was weight bearing on her leg. Today, she is holding it up. I called the vet - acutally my vet left town for several days for a funeral, so i spoke to his partner who helped with the surgery. He said to bring her in if it doesn't improve in the next 24 hours. I cannot imagine that it dislocated again - her legs are tied so it just would be next to impossible to luxate ventrally (below) but I guess its possible that it luxated dorsally (above).
He said maybe she was just in some pain from the stronger pain meds wearing off. If we had just come home from our first surgry, this would be no big deal. But being where we are I can't help but freak out a little and think the worst.If she is not better tomorrow, I am going to bring her in for an xray.Oh, why can't things just go well for a change...
11/30
Her hip is not dislocated, it is in place where it should be, thank goodness. He took an xray.
He did say it is very swollen, and to try ice packs or even heat packs. So far she hates ice packs, hates them, so we'll see.
The swelling is probably causing discomfort, so hopefully when it goes down she will be doing better.
He took the hobbles off, he said he thinks they may have been doing more harm than good. Now of course i am worried that they are off - that she will hurt herself, even in the crate.
He gave us some etogesic, He wanted to give rimadyl - he said that the study re: labs and rimadyl is misleading - 2 of his friends did the big study and it was on dogs in Colorado. I guess there are so many labs in colorado that they comprised the bulk of the study so that is why there is the big deal about labs and rimadyl. He said some dogs have a reaction but it is rare, and if you see them throwing up or having diaharea and bring them in right away, they will be fine, its just when you keep giving it that it causes an issue, I was still worried. He really thinks rimadyl is better - a better pain killer than etogesic but he gave me the etogesic anyway since i was obviously very concerned. i still have to watch for vomiting or diaharea - as etogesic can also have issues.
Anyway, he also said that revision surgeries have a higher rate of infection so i have to be very careful about that - making sure she doesn't lick it, etc. I think we are going to have to resort to the e-collar as much as i don't want to, it may be the best bet. Of course then i worry about the e-collar and her finding a comforable place to sit and then hurting herself in doing so. There is always something to worry about, isn't there.
She is napping now, all that traveling wore her out!
On another lab board I read, a women lost her beloved young (3 or so) dog today to a mysterious illness that has robbed him of his muscle strength over the last few months to the point where he can barely move. After tons of tests, the poor boy was in so much pain and fear and getting wore and worse, they finally put him to sleep. Thinking about that makes me so happy to have my Lucy, in any way, and makes me think I should quit whining and be thankful for what I have.
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