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1/16/2002
LUCY IS DOING GREAT!!! She had her 6 week xrays last week and she got the clear to be a normal puppy again! She can run and jump and play like normal. I was surprised it was so soon, but very, very happy!
She has been doing great since then, testing out everything to see if it is true - she has been running up and down the stairs, jumping on the bed and having a great time. She doesn't seem to be having any trouble at all. She is doing great with walks, we are up to about 2 miles without any limping.
Can you tell I am ecstatic!!!
We don't have any more scheduled doctor's appointments, so fingers crossed that she continues to do so well, and she doesn't need her other hip worked on!
2/23/2002
Lucy is still doing well, she can walk 4 miles without limping, On a walk, she does great, running, jumping, playing, etc. SHe is slower than the other dogs, but she is also a momma's girl, so that may be part of it.
At home, I see limping on and off, and sometimes she favors the new leg, not putting as much weight on it. I am hoping it is just a matter of building up the muscles in the leg, they are very atrophied still, and need work.
We are working on walking her at least 1 mile or 2 every day to build the muscles. Hopefuly in time she will bear weight more on the new hip to take pressure off of the other one.
For now, we are just happy she is doing as well as she is, and hope she continues to do better and better.
: )
April 11, 2002
And the Saga continues....
A couple of weeks ago, I brought Lucy to the vet - her limping has gotten progressively worse and not better. An xray showed loosening of the acetabular componant(the cup).
The options were to 1) recement it, 2) do a FHO or 3) a cementless THR. Not real interested in recementing it. Although he says some
dogs have done fine with a recement, I just don't feel like setting ourselves up for a
fourth surgery.I figure there is a reason the cement didn't hold. Also not too thrilled
with the idea of a cementless THR since they are just starting to do them there, and I
don't really want to be the test case. The procedure is just "going public" according to
my vet in the sense that they are going to try to mainstream it after years of improving
the design, but I still think it is too soon to be comfortable, and I am not again
intrerested in setting ourselves up for a fourth surgery.
For the FHO, basically, he said the success rate is about 80% (and that rate includes
large dogs as well). 20% of dogs continue to have problems - soreness, etc. and some
dogs just don't use it at all, although that is unsual. (not that "unusual" is very
comforting to me!). Her recovery will be a while until she is able to use it very
comfortably, 3 weeks is about average to start using it, 6-8 weeks to be comfortable.
She would need to be confined just to be careful she doesn't overdo it, but there is not
much she can do to hurt the surgery.
The vet recommended a bone scan where they inject radioactive dye and it reveals area of bone activity,which will show loosening. She had the first one done a few days later. It showed bone activity. So a second bone scan was scheduled, this one was a Cipro scan, which reveals if there is an infection. That was a week later. Poor Lucy had to stay overnight at the radiologists...their pee and poop is radioactive so they have to be careful about that. The second scan showed a low grade infection in the femoral componant - a surprise because the xrays really showed no problems with that partof things.
The infection only showed up a little, i.e. it only was a blush color, not bright red. This could mean one of two things - 1) low-grade infection or 2) an infection of a bacteria that is not very responsive to Cipro. The radiologist forwarded them by email to the other doctor at CSU Fort Collins who does this but apparently his email is down and he hasn't recieved them, but based on their conversations, this is what she told me.
So, the bottom line is, we decided to do the FHO as we had already sortof decided on, now we know there really isn't any other choice - which in a sense is a relief - not to have to agonize about the decision - but on the other hand, infection isn't exactly a good thing...
We scheduled surgery...again. On April 10,2002, Lucy had her third surgery on her right hip. The acetabular componant came out easily but the femur part was NOT loose. In fact, he said it was very tight in there and very difficukt to get out. They had to take away a lot to get it out.He said that when bone and cement are touching like that, sometimes the bone recedes, because the cement is holding it up, as a result Lucy's bone is no as strong and thick as it could be, but it should fill in, thicken up over the next coupleof weeks. I am going to ask about calcium supplements...
He saw no obvious signs of infection - no film, discharge, imflammation.There may be an infection but it does not appear to be significant. He called to see which way I wanted to go re: the antibiotic beads - he suggested we could put them in, to ensure we are doing all we can to fight any infection, but often they do need to be removed surgically(not always though). Or leave them out, let the body fight the infection now that the implant is gone, and give oral antiobiotic and/or injections of antiobiotic. My gut is to get everything out of there and not put in the beads, since the infection does not appear significant. I just don't like the idea of setting ourselves up for another surgery. Also, in reading on the web, it looks like the antibiotic beads are not always effective.
I brought Lucy home last night, she is whiny and sore, to be expected. She is starting to use the leg a little which is good news, and more than I was even hoping for at this early stage. She is on etogesic, I am not excited about giving her NSAIDS but she clearly needs pain relief,and she seems to do OK with etogesic, at least for the short term.
April 24, 2002
Its been 2 weeks since Lucy's THR Explant (opposite of implant) FHO surgery. Last night she had her staples out,incision had healed very nicely. The physical therapist thinks she is doing well and has average to above average range of motion - for this stage of recovery.
She can start swimming in a hydrotherapy pool in 2 weeks and can do longer walks. She is allowed to walk distances, as much as she wants. We did a 2 mile walk last night and she did awesome, using the leg more and more and she stayed energetic the whole time, but she is tired today...
The main thing to be careful about - during the surgery they remove a piece of bone about 4-5 inches long and maybe 1/2 inch thick, removed the cement and then put the piece of bone back in, and wired it shut. Its important for the bone to graft back together, and if she falls before it is grafted it could be bad. But swimming in the lake will be OK - once the incision is healed. Its swimming in the hydrotherapy pool that they worry about because it is unnatural and slippery.
She is not on any pain killers and yet she is doing very well, so I am grateful for that. All in all, she is doing as well as can be expected, with all she has been through.
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