| 4/18/01 |
| We are now 5 days post TPLO. Things are getting a little easier. The bandage is off. The back of his leg is red. The whole leg is swollen. That is to be expected with such a major procedure. I am supposed to put warm packs on his leg now. The "nurse" said put a warm wet towel on the leg for about 10 mintues 3 times a day. Magnum has been very good about letting us do that. He does go after the staples so we have to be very diligent about watching him. Someone is with him at all times unless he has an e collar on. So far we have only put his e collar on him at night. I think he thinks of it as his jammies now as he settles right down and goes to sleep for the night once he has it on. The kids and I are getting into a good routine with getting him in and out of the house as far as getting doors, keeping little dogs in while I go out and cleaning up after him. I have the leash, his sling and my jacket next to where he is so once I reach for the leash, I can put it on him quickly, before he gets too excited. :-) I did let him chew on his knuckle bone a little bit today but don't tell his Dr. I sat with him and watched his lip and it was fine. It is looking good. I only gave him the bone for a few mintues because his stools are still mushy and I'm trying to keep his diet pretty bland. I didn't want him to get a lot of stuff off the bone. I gave him a smooth, hollow bone with biscuits inside it, his Kong with biscuits inside it and some chicken cubes today. Can't wait until I can give him his bone and not worry about it or give him a rawhide. He loves rawhide but I don't think his lip is quite ready for that. I took some more pictures today. I'm hoping to get the last batch back by Friday so I can post them. That's something else you might want to have handy is a camera to document their recovery. I'm going to put the pictures up on gatherround.com and put a link to them on the links page. Then people can see when to expect a normal looking leg again and watch his progress. We still have mushy stools so I"m going to try adding sweet potato to his rice. He is using the leg off and on. He does use it when he potties and walks slow. He wants to tuck it up when he is excited or wants to run. I have found this journey into TPLO land to be rather cathartic. Even if no one else finds it useful, it helps to be able to write down our feelings and fears as well as our hopes and triumphs. If I am faced with this decision again later on with the other leg, it may help to come back here and read about our first experience again. My goal for Magnum is to be able to go for a one hour walk with us everyday and not hurt afterward. To be able to run in the lake and chase the ducks away and play fetch with the kids. To be happy, loved and as pain free as we can make him. |