6 weeks under our belt

Today is officially the 6 week mark since Heidi's meniscus removal. Last time I checked in with you guys, I was a little concerned that she was still limping but was hopeful that it could take up to 6 weeks for the limp to go away. In the past week or 2 I have really noticed improvements. I think I mentioned before that Heidi's limp would worsen after our therapy walks. After a couple weeks of intermittent limping, I decided to rest her for a week. That apparently did the trick! Much to her disapproval, we reverted back to "outside for bathroom breaks only" for a week, and when we started her walks back up, there was a drastic improvement. She barely limps now and is much like she was BEFORE the meniscal tear. If you can remember back, she never fully recovered after the MMP surgery. When standing still she would favor that leg slightly and maybe had a barely noticeable hitch in her step. I'd say we're back there now and I am thrilled. We are about to bump her walks up to 20 minutes and we're still going to take it slow and not allow her to be TOO wild, but I definitely feel like we're back on track and I am pleased with her recovery. My parents, who see her every couple of weeks, said they noticed a huge difference on her last visit and I'd say it's only gotten better since then. So the lesson here is one of PATIENCE! I also think the rest really helped her, so although that wasn't what the vet originally suggested, remember sometimes you may need to alter "the plan" a little to do what you think is best for your dog :)

Week 1 of Rehab Walks Down

Alright, so this whole weekly update thing is not my forte this go around. I blame it on school. It's consuming my life! BUT, back to business, Heidi is still doing well, although we had a super small scare. Two Monday's ago, right after my last post, I came home from work and Heidi's incision was really really red and raw. She still had her stitches in and they seemed to be bothering her. I think the redness/rawness was from her licking them, so Alex and I decided to go ahead and take them out. It was day 11 post-op so it was within that 14 day window and I could tell the incision itself was closed. She would not let me touch that area so it made the suture removal pretty difficult. I forced my husband to hold her down (He HATES having to do that to his "baby") and I was finally able to get them all out after a huge struggle. I rinsed the area really well before and after with a disinfectant solution (Nolvasan) I got from the vet at another visit just as a precaution in case the redness was the beginnings of an infection, and decided to watch it closely for the next few days before panicking. I monitored her constantly for signs and symptoms of infection (increased redness, swelling, heat from the incision, smelly yellow drainage/pus), and luckily over the next few days the redness decreased and my worries slowly disappeared. Also, in the last post I talked about how crazy her knee looked because that one part was very swollen. Well, the swelling has gone down A LOT at this point and looks fairly normal (for a knee that has been through 3 surgeries)! I am a little disappointed because Heidi is still favoring that leg. We started her 5 minute rehab walks this week and they actually seem to make her limp slightly worse. At the same time, she LOVES her walks, so I don't want to stop. Next week we start 10 minute walks, so we'll see how that goes. I am just hoping this surgery will take a little longer to recover from since they took cartilage out of her knee. Like I mentioned before, something I read said to expect the dog to limp for 4-6 weeks and yesterday was the end of week 3. Thinking about that makes me feel a little better. We're only halfway through that time frame and she has made vast improvements. I can only hope it will continue. Send positive thoughts our way for the next few weeks and I'll try to update when I can!

1 Week Post-Op

It's technically been a week and 3 days since surgery, but who's counting? In my last post I was concerned that Heidi was mostly holding up her leg and walking on 3 legs, but that has gotten much better since then. She now always walks on all fours. She still has a limp, but I read on some vet website that the limping was expected for 4-6 weeks, so that made me feel better. Several days ago, she was using her leg a good bit, but when standing still, she would just barely touch it to the ground, oftentimes just resting the top of her foot on the ground with the toes curled under, if you can picture that. Today I was taking a good look at her and realized she is now putting some weight on that foot when standing still, so that's a definite improvement. She is also VERY energetic. For probably the first 3 days she was very quiet, but now she is back to her old self and then some! It's hard to keep her quiet. She can be quite wild at times, especially when we come home from work. I just have to sit on the floor and pet her to make her settle. Otherwise she would be running around in circles and that's not good! We carried her up and down the steps for probably the first week, but have stopped now. It's not like her bone is healing, she just had a piece of cartilage removed. It's HARD for me to carry a 74lb dog up and down the stairs safely. I mean, that's more than half my weight! I was always scared I would fall, so I'm glad we decided that wasn't necessary. Her stitches come out sometime between Monday and Thursday. I like to wait closer to the 14 day mark, but if she starts messing with them before then, I'll take them out earlier in the 10-14 day range. Other than that, I don't have much to say. She's doing well, and I hope she will continue to limp less and less and gain back that muscle mass in her left leg. Poor thing is so scrawny compared to her "Hulk"-like right leg. I'll try to snap a picture at some point because it's funny. Anywho, I'm off to enjoy this gorgeous day- 71 and sunny! I'll take it! Check back soon for an update :)

Postop Day 2

Heidi finally got home around 7 yesterday evening. I think it's safe to say we were both very excited to see each other (I hadn't seen her since Wednesday morning before school). She was still pretty groggy from the meds and slept most of the evening. I was disappointed to see her mostly holding up her operative leg. I think it's totally expected, but after all of her other surgeries she has used her leg from the get go so I wasn't really expecting it for her. I will say she does use the leg a little if we force her to go slow. Especially if she's out on the grass or soft ground. This morning we got a wake-up call from the vet school at 7am... on a Saturday! They wanted to see how Heidi was doing. I was like, "well, she's still sleeping so I don't really know yet!" After that, we got up and went outside and ate breakfast. While outside, Heidi used her leg more than she did last night, so that was reassuring. She is on the same medications as before: tramadol and Rimadyl for pain and inflammation. She still seems pretty exhausted, as she has been sleeping all morning. We have blocked off the same area as before to keep her quiet. Her recovery is much shorter with this surgery, but we still want to do it right. Her mobility is supposed to be really restricted for the first 2 weeks, then after that she can begin short walks, increasing in length for the next 2-4 weeks. After that (fingers crossed) she will be back to normal. I will try to do frequent updates, especially to document the progression of her limp so check back in a few days!

Surgery #4

The hubs had to take Heidi to NC State yesterday for her appointment without me because I had clinical (I'm in nursing school for those of you who don't know) and I could not miss it. It KILLED me not to be there. I sent him on his way yesterday morning with a list- like an actual sheet of paper.. ok THREE sheets of paper- of questions and a list of meds Heidi is on currently. Seriously, I am probably the craziest dog-mom they've ever seen, but whatevs! I love my girl. They did X-rays and decided there was no infection!!! Best. news. ever. So she's in surgery today for a Meniscectomy (meniscus removal). She should actually be out by now, but we haven't heard from them yet. No news is good news, right? I'm so anxious to hear how my babe is doing, but I'm trying to be patient. More to come about how it went in a day or so. We pick her up tomorrow!!!

Quick Update

In the time between now and the last post, I made an appointment for Heidi on September 4th at the NCSU Vet School. I had to take Heidi to our local vet a couple of weeks ago because she began getting a swollen, red lump on her incision line just like last time. It was lower on the incision line than before, but they did a culture and it was infected. She was on antibiotics and it cleared up quickly, but the vet we spoke with at NC State is afraid these abscesses are being caused by an infection on the inside. I hope and pray they're wrong. Before that, though, as I posted before she was having the lameness and clicking associated with a meniscal tear, so strangely enough, that is what I'm hoping for. If it is indeed an infection of the implant, they will have to remove the remaining hardware, which is a porous titanium wedge (that her bone has now grown INTO). I don't really know what they do then to stabilize the knee/leg and apparently the recovery is AWFUL. So yeah, I'm really hoping that's not it. Well, I just wanted to do a follow-up post to let you know the latest, and you can expect another post in the near future in regards to her appointment on the 4th! Until then, send happy thoughts our way!

Torn... literally... again...

My poor Heidi girl can't catch a break.  A couple of weeks ago she began limping AGAIN.  It was minor and would kind of come and go, so honestly, the hubs and I tried to ignore it.  We decided no walks, just outside to potty, and that was it.  We were so hoping it was just a fluke (even though in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't.)  A couple of days ago, for the first time, I heard her knee popping.  I could just rip my hair out; I feel so defeated.  We seriously have tried to do everything right.  No more dog park.  No more rough play.  No more running.  Just controlled walks and lots of love.  I don't even know what brought this along- which is the worst part.  Just one night, she got out of her bed and was barely using her left back leg.  If you're not familiar with the progression of these knee injuries, often the next thing to go after a CCL tear is the meniscus.  The telltale sign is the knee click (popping). 

I need to call the vet school and make an appointment for her to be seen, but I already know what they will say- another knee surgery.  Her FOURTH knee surgery (third on that knee).  So I've put it off.  I will do it tomorrow.  Ugh. 

I know I'm getting ahead of myself, as I don't have all of the options or facts, but I'm really torn about the meniscus repair/removal surgery.  For those of you who don't know, the meniscus is a cartilaginous structure inside the knee.  It cushions the knee and helps provide stability to the joint.  With a torn meniscus it causes pain and instability... and leads to arthritis.  Without it, I imagine it may eventually cause pain and instability due to... dun dun dun... arthritis.  Well, maybe they'll only take out the damaged part of the meniscus.  But then does that leave her susceptible (or maybe even more susceptible) to future tears, leading to future surgeries?  I need to write these questions down to ask her doctor. 

I read somewhere that surgeons only think of the short-term.  If she has this surgery, she will be fixed.  But is it a permanent fix or just temporary?  In another 6 months will we be at this same place again?  My dog is only 3 years old!  I want to know where I can realistically expect Heidi to be when she's 10.  By God this dog will live past 10!  She's a shelter dog for Heaven's sake... a MUTT!  Aren't they supposed to be the best dogs?  I have a minor in genetics... a broader gene pool is supposed to provide enough variance to prevent genetic conditions, so WHY does my dog have a "genetic" degenerative joint condition????

Alright, time to put on my big girl panties.  I apologize for my pity party.  It's not really for me.  It's for Heidi.  She is the best dog.  She does not deserve any of this.  But I guess we'll take the hand we're dealt and do what we have to do.   That is all for now- I'll keep you all posted!

Side note:  If anyone reading this has had a dog with a torn meniscus, I would love to hear your story.  I haven't been able to find much online.