Wednesday 22nd August 2007
We were at the Vet's last night and it was not good news. The Vet advised that he was of the opinion that the leg was beyond recovery. Gutted.....empty sinking feeling inside, whole lot of emotions going on, back to beating myself up for ever letting it happen, if only I had put that god damn lead on. Myself and Lesley spoke a lot last night about what we should do. By this morning we had almost convinced ourselves that we should bite the bullet and remove the leg.
Is it doing any good being there, not working?
What if she gets it caught out on a walk and does even more damage?
We almost called the insurance company this morning to request authorisation for the operation, but I thought no, I have an appointment tonight with Tom at ARC for Hydro, I need to discuss it all with him.
At the Hydro tonight I spoke to Tom, I explained to him what the vet had said about the ligaments etc. and he just nodded and carried on with the treatment. Then he asked me a few questions to get the whole situation into perspective.
Back in February when the Vet advised waiting 4 weeks and if there was no improvement remove the leg, did you take that advise?
No I replied.
Is Bracken in any pain or discomfort when she is out on here walks?
No I replied.
Has Bracken been rummaging through the undergrowth and woods jumping over fences and running like the clappers for the last 3 Months?
Yes I replied.
Then why the hell are you considering removing her leg?
Ooh I thought, not sure, a bit confused now, because your making sense here.
Tom then went on to say, Craig, a while back you said to me you were a bit concerned about the leg getting stiff and that you were worried the muscle lose was causing the leg to wither slightly, I told you then not to worry about it, Did I not? Tom then said, I'll show you and began to work on her leg again. Her appointment was to be for 30 mins but it over ran to 40.
I can't believe what's happened tonight, Bracken was raised on the hoist to get her out of the pool and Tom said "Look", Bracken's leg was hanging a good inch to 2 inches lower. Excuse my language folks, but I thought, Shit! Tom has shown me some new exercises for Bracken to try and get the leg to straighten out. I took Bracken to the field for a walk after we got home, I can visibly see the leg's position a lot lower than when we went to the hydro.
God, this bloody roller coaster seems like its going to go on for ever, I'm so confused. I think maybe I'm loosing a bit faith and need a bit of a kick up the arse.
Anyway, The decision has been made, she's not in any pain and the leg has never got caught in the past 3 months so were going to leave it where it is and carry on with the treatments and physio.
here we go..........the roller coaster seems to be on the way back up again.
;-)
3 comments:
Craig,
She is such a beautiful dog. What a story, and what a tough time you must be going through. Damn those autos!
I think that Tom's advice was on the money. I mean if she's not in any pain, and you are seeing improvement, then keep up the therapy.
But, do keep in mind that if amputation is necessary, as you can see by Jerry's life after surgery, it's not the end of the world, and she will continue to run, play and dazzle you even more so than before.
If you have any questions at all, please contact us OK? Thanks for visiting Jerry's site.
Warm regards,
Jerry, Rene & Jim
www.Tripawds.com
Aloha, I have just read Bracken's story and what happened to Bracken is what happened to my dog Daisy on July 28, 2007. We're trying acupuncture and have ordered a swimming life vest from handicappedpets.com so we can take her in the ocean. Thank you so much for posting Bracken's story, it's very heart warming and encouraging. Someone just told me about their cousin's dog who had a similar injury and it took a year to heal. So there is hope. Bracken has the best parents ever! Take care,
Daisy's mom
Hi my Rott Buddy was hit by a car Friday the vet said he has nerve damage in his shoulder and he currently hopping on 3 legs Have you heard of carpal arthrodesis. I'm pasting the article below.
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Hi. My dog Teddy was hit by a car last year and suffered a radial nerve injury. She could not use her front right leg. We took her to every vet we could find, about 15 in total, including 2 neurologists, and everyone told us to wait 4 to 6 months to see if the nerve would heal. If not, we would have to amputate.
No one gave us any hope. Nor did they give us good information about physical therapy. But having had some orhopedic problems myself, I knew it was crucial to keep moving Teddy's shoulder, wrist and toes to maintain her range of motion in case the nerve came back. Despite our best efforts, including bringing her to hydrotherapy 3 times a week, we were losing the battle. Her paw and leg had atrophied terribly, and we could not get her paw to bend sufficiently so that she would be able to put it flat on the floor if she even tried to walk on it.
Five months after the accident, and totally by chance, we found another vet, Dr. Jason Fusco at the Animal Medical Center in NY, who recommended a carpal arthrodesis, or fusion of the wrist Teddy could not move. Teddy's wrist was fused into a flexed position. She was casted for 8 weeks or so, and now, 5 months post-op, she's running and playing on 4 legs again, even though the nerve injury did not heal.
The irony is that this is not a new procedure. Its been around since the 1960s, and not one single vet, besides Dr. Fusco, even mentioned it as an option. The only reason that Teddy was a candidate for the surgery 5 months after the accident, was that her shoulder, leg and wrist were not yet completely "frozen," thanks to the physical therapy.
I urge anyone in this position to not accept that amputation is inevitable. Physical therapy is crucial and a solution may be possible, even if the nerve does not heal.
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