| 8/22/01 |
| Well, we went to see the surgeon yesterday. It was rainy and cloudy yesterday and today so no swimming or walks either day. It's just as well. The surgeon took Magnum outside and walked him around a bit. He felt the leg and pressed on the area over the plate. He didn't get a reaction when he pressed on the plate so he feels that all is well with the repair and the hardware. He didn't think that we needed to do more x-rays. He did say that he felt a lot of crepitice or grinding in the joint from the arthrits and some swelling. So the lameness we are seeing at this point is all from the arthritis. I was a bit bummed to find out after all our efforts and best intentions, Magnum will have to live with some degree of pain the rest of his life. He did have some suggestions for us and he didn't charge us for his time again. He has been great to give his time for Magnum to feel better. I let him pick a picture of Magnum in the water to use as a success story or just to remember him by. Magnum had a pretty nasty eye infection, which I knew about. I was treating it but not consistently enough because I was almost out of the medicine. I was trying to stretch it until we saw him as I didn't have somone locally that I really felt comfortable staying with. So, he gave us the eye goop and his eyes are already looking much better today. He suggested Adequan shots for Magnum to help his arthritis. I will put up a page of arthritis information in the next couple of days. I have been doing some reading about it and treatments for it. From what I've been reading so far and from talking to the surgeon and a local vet, it seems the Adequan is our best option for Magnum. I stopped at the clinic that I had taken him into the last time he came up completely lame and talked to a vet there. She was very helpful and seemed to be willing to work with me to help Magnum feel the best he can with what he has. She is even willing to go over the IM shots with my daughter if she doesn't feel real comfortable or confident giving them. Monica is a vet tech but hasn't worked for long in a clinic yet and is looking for clinic work now. I thought that was pretty nice. Monica is willing to come out and give the shots. It means a lot more running for her as he would need 2 shots a week for the first 4 weeks, then I think it's 1 a week for the next 4 weeks and then every other week and then once a month or once every 6 weeks. I think at that point it is whatever interval they are comfortable at. For some dogs it is every 3 or 4 months. Today Magnum seems to feel pretty good. He is walking on the leg, he doesn't bear much weight, if any on it when standing. We'll probably go swimming tomorrow with him. The surgeon also suggested maybe backing off a bit on the swimming and going every *other* day instead of every day and resting inbetween. I'm sure Magnum will be a bit bummed about that but he'll live. :-) He said we need to find Magnum's comfort level. That level of activity where we are still building muscle but he is comfortable. He also said, for Magnum, he should do more swimming than wading or walking. He was pleased with Magnum's weight. He weighed in at 82 lbs. yesterday! He's lost 13 lbs since his last visit. He thought he looked great and would be better off a bit on the lean side rather than a couple of pounds heavier. He's lost 20 lbs since we've had him and weighs less than when he was hunting with his previous owners!! His coat is nice and shiny now too. Than there's the chin acne. The surgeon suggested an antibiotic for 6 weeks to help get rid of it. The local vet said she has treated some bad chin acne with a topical cream successfully. What I really need to do before starting him on antibiotics is to take him in and let her have a look at him. I think I have finally found a clinic I like and want to stay with. Magnum will need a good vet that I can feel comfortable working with because this will be a lifelong battle for him and he will need to have someone who can get to know him. My husband was grumbling about the cost of all this stuff when we can't afford a good car, ect, ect. He really isn't the critter person in the house, it's me and Erica. He tolerates the critters because he loves us. :-) However, I reminded him that God pretty much dropped Magnum in our laps, directed us to the right surgeon (who donated ALL his time) and LABMED and LLL, who paid for the rest of the surgery. I feel that He will also direct us now and provide for the rest of Magnum's medical needs. The surgeon also thought that MSM might be a good thing to try along with the Adequan shots. MSM isn't too expensive so I think we may try that too. The Adequan is a bit expensive but I found it on the net for a pretty decent price and if Monica gives the shots it will save me a lot of money. I haven't gotten a price from the vet yet. She hasn't worked with Adequan for a couple of years so she wanted to do some research on it and get some prices before she quoted me anything. She said she'd give me a call. So the news wasn't the best but it wasn't that bad either. I guess I just need to get used to the idea that this is a chronic problem that we will be dealing with for the rest of his life. If there is a moral to this story, as far as I'm concerned, it would be don't wait to get your dog fixed if you find you're dealing with a torn cruciate. It may be that you fix it quickly and still have to deal with some arthritis but Magnum lived with a torn cruciate for 2 years before having it fixed and the arthritis he is now forced to live with is significant and painful. Usually if they are fixed soon after initial injury, they can get it done before the arthritis gets too bad. That's when the TPLO has the best chance of returning the dog to his preinjury state. I can't even imagine how Magnum would be now if we had gone with another conventional repair. The arthritis would be even worse than it is now. |
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