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!
Im sending you and Heidi lots of best wishes and luck! Poor girl, they are so patient and tolerant with everything they have to go through....
ReplyDeleteSince I last messaged you my boy has had his MMP surgery but at the 2 week check up it was found that the wire had snapped and he had to have more surgery to replace it with braces and screws. I wish I had taken him back earlier to check why he wasn't using that leg but I just thought it took that much time for it to heal. That was a week ago and he is going great now! He thinks he's fully recovered and is very disgusted with us for keeping him restricted and worst of all 'still no walks!"
Interesting though to know of 2 wire problems with this surgery.....
All the best for Heidi. XXX
I'm so glad to hear everything is going smoothly now for your baby. If you don't mind me asking, where did you have the MMP done? From what I can gather not many people do it or even know about the procedure. Just curious if yours is an NC State pup as well. I wish you guys the best! Please message me if you have questions along the way! Best of luck to you and your boy :)
DeleteIm in Australia, near Melbourne. My regular vet did Devo's MMP surgery, he did say it was a relatively new procedure from the UK. I had complete confidence in him - he specialises in orthopaedic surgery's and keeps up to date with everything and anything new! It's a real passion for him. We were really lucky we didn't have to go to a specialist.
ReplyDeleteA question - Around the second/third weeks after the surgery would Heidi use her leg like she was fully recovered walking and the odd speed up (which I know he is not allowed to do but try telling him that!)but when standing still not put weight on it?
Cheers!
Yes, she used her leg when walking pretty much from the get go, but when standing still she would put some weight on it, but you could tell most of her weight was on her other back foot. Even now almost a year after surgery, I think she still sort of favors her MMP leg when standing still. It has seemed to improve very slowly. I just looked back at my post at 3 weeks post op and I was pretty concerned about the same exact thing. I wouldn't be too worried yet... as long as he is making progress. We also definitely had trouble keeping Heidi quiet, so I feel your pain! Good luck through the remainder of Devo's recovery!
ReplyDelete