Well, the inevitable has happened. The lump on Heidi's knee returned and we just brought her home from the vet school after having her THIRD surgery. Mind you, my poor girl is not even 3 years old yet! As the vet suspected, the irritation being caused by the wire from her MMP surgery was not a one time fluke. We went to the lake for Memorial Day and Heidi went for a swim (her first time actually swimming willingly!) and the knot reappeared. I called the vet school on Tuesday and they got her in today, Friday. It was a fairly simple procedure- basically they removed the wire and the pin from the MMP surgery, but left the porous titanium wedge in place as there was no sign it was infected. The pin and wire aren't actually needed now that her leg has healed, however it is usually not necessary to go back in and remove them because they typically don't cause problems. Of course, that's not the case for our girl. They took a tissue sample for culture and also cultured the wire and the pin. We should know by Tuesday or Wednesday whether or not there's an infection brewing in there and she may need antibiotics. We are hoping and praying that if it is an infection it's just in the tissue and not in the bone/wedge. The vet said usually if an implant is infected, the bone sort of separates from the implant which can be seen in an X-ray or during surgery. Hers did not have any type of space as far as they can tell, so that's a point on the positive side. We do NOT want to have to remove the wedge so hopefully all of you Heidi fans can send any spare luck our way.
Heidi is doing great since surgery. They actually let me pick her up today, which was surprising because I was initially told she'd have to stay overnight. I was thrilled to say the least (until I had to swipe the plastic, ouch!). Right now, she is sleeping on her bed beside me. They said she may limp because her leg would probably be a little painful, but in typical Heidi fashion, she is exceeding the expectations and she isn't limping at all! I have Tramadol and Rimadyl to give her for a few days to help with pain and inflammation, but so far she's doing really really well. Just groggy and a little nervous/paranoid acting.
As always, I'll keep you updated if anything changes and will let you know the results of the cultures. In the mean time please, please, please cross your fingers for good news next week!
