| 6/18/01 |
| Well, we are about a week and a half into our rehab. The first couple of days I didn't see any limping but lately I've seen limping every day. I was wondering if this was a normal part of rehab, the arthritis or was there a possiblity of the bone or plate having a problem. I thought it was probably the arthritis or just sore muscles after not using them for so long but decided to call and talk to his vet. The vet called back and said that, from what I described, he thinks it is the arthritis causing the limp. He can take buffered aspirin for pain and I asked aobut heat on the leg and when to use it before or after activity and he said, yes, heat would be good to use after he has had some exercise. He really wants to see Magnum swimming. He really believes in swimming for rehab to rebuild the leg because it is a non weight bearing exercise. I also asked about the bone, plate and screws, whether or not they could cause a problem at this point in our recovery. He said, no, the bone is healed and is a nonissue at this point as is the plate. He said it would be EXTREMELY unusual for the plate to cause him any problems. I did, however, ask what the symptoms for a plate problem would be and he said he would expect to see more pronounced and steady pain or lameness. If the plate were causing problems, Magnum would not use the leg and it would not let up. He did say that the plate could get cold in the winter, especially if there is little muscle covering it and it could cause discomfort but we should see him use it more as he warms up. Also if we have been out in the cold we could put a warm towel on the leg to help warm it up again. So, I guess the bottom line is that the bone is healed and not anything I need to worry about. The arthritis will be something we will battle for the rest of his days and we need to continue to swim him and rebuild the leg muscles. It does seem to me that the muscles are beginning to come back in his back end. He has a long way to go but we have time. Another thing he said, and I was a bit surprised at, is that the pulling he does when we go to the lake is not a concern. It won't hurt his leg. So, I guess we'll keep going swimming as much as we can. Mag certainly loves going so this will be a great summer for him. I'm looking forward to the time when he can run and we can take him to the end of the yard, take the leash off and say Magnum, go swimming and watch him run into the lake. I feel so bad when I see him limp. I'm almost sorry we didn't take him in sooner. There was just no way we could in that little duplex with the Leader Dog puppies and our own.........I just hate to see him limping and know that it didn't have to get that bad if he had been fixed sooner..........at the same time, I can understand why they didn't take him in for another surgery. He had already had surgery on both knees. I probably wouldn't have wanted to go with another surgery either, so I try not to blame them. We'll just do the best we can with what he's got. Today Erica took him on a short walk down our street a little bit, around the corner and back down by our garden, just to keep him moving around a bit. It was cloudy all day today anyway. I guess tomorrow, if it's nice enough, we'll go swimming again, and if the lake isn't too high. It was really high yesterday. There's been a lot of rain in the area. I have started Glucosomine/Chondroitin supplements on him and I'm hoping they will start making a difference soon. It takes 6 - 8 weeks before you see a difference and we have only been using them for a week or 2. |