Took our pooch, Stella, to the Orthopedic Surgeon today for an evaluation and she definitely has a torn CrCL (the term for a dog's ACL). And they're going to perform surgery on the knee/bone which will stabilize the joint and relieve the pain/inflammation that's occurring now.
However they won't do anything to reattach the ligament, because once it's torn - it's essentially "gone" and too difficult to repair it, that's why they stabilize the knee with the bones and muscles.
And it's a fairly lengthy recovery time - so if everything goes according to plan and there's no complications:
She'll essentially be on lock down for 6 weeks; no stairs, no jumping, no off leash activity, she'll be in her crate whenever we're not home, etc -
Then a re-evaluation at 6 weeks and depending on how she's healing the doctor will develop a "recovery plan" for the next 6 weeks with "restricted activity" but it will progressively get back to normal, and after the full 12 weeks/3 months she should be back to almost "normal" activity levels.
And they said after 6 months we won't even be able to tell a difference and she should be 100% back to pre-surgery activity and movement levels.
And with the wedding/reception still scheduled for late October we wanted to get her in ASAP so if we need to leave her with friends/family/the kennel while we're gone they won't have to worry about major restrictions with her.
So she's having the surgery tomorrow, will spend the night at the "hospital/vet" then be home Thursday if all looks good.
And as far as her hips - dysplasia/arthritis goes, they want to start her on injections to help with the "fluid" in her joints but said this is a very manageable issue with the medicine....
Good news! It soumds like it is going to cost you some $$$ but you get your dog back good as new. Awesome news.
Thanks Doug. Yes we're happy to know that the knee is "fixable" and it's a fairly routine/straight forward procedure. We hate to see her limping & in pain and are sad/upset that she has to have this done but we are definitely looking forward to her getting back to normal.
The recovery time and limited activity will be hard to deal with, but once we get her in a routine after a week or two we're hoping she'll do ok.
We're excited just thinking about having her back to normal so she can go on long walks/hikes with us, go swimming, play at the dog park, etc. and not be in pain afterwards.
And yes it's certainly going to cost some $$$ (to the tune of at least a couple nice humi cabinets) ... but it will be worth every penny to have her back to normal and not limping/in pain. And this procedure has much lower "failure rate" compared to the procedure that our normal vet would have performed. The procedure our regular vet performs is basically implanting a few rubber/nylon bands around the bones to form almost like a knee brace, under the skin. But she said this procedure doesn't always work well with larger and younger dogs since the bands will sometime snap due to the dogs weight and activity level..... Hence the specialist surgeon...
But the surgeon we met with today definitely knows his stuff and the clinic (MedVet) is one of the top Vet/Specialty clinics in the Midwest, maybe even the entire US. Our vet's dog had a torn CrCL and had this same procedure done at MedVet 4 years ago and she's never had a problem since. So Stella is definitely in good care with them.
Good luck to the pooch John I hope everything goes smoothly. When are you getting married? Stay sane the next few months!!
Thanks Jim, on both accounts.
Wedding is on 10/20 - it's going to be small and pretty non-traditional. And thankfully my fiance's been on top of it and almost everything is finished and ready to go. So we shouldn't be going too insane these next couple months.
The only really big decision left to make - is if we want to have a small ceremony before hand or not.
We don't want a religious ceremony ... and the reception is going to be more like a "cocktail hour" - live band, no served dinner, but instead we'll have h'orderves, drinks, and dessert ....
So right now we're between having one of our friends perform the ceremony for us, keep it short and simple, no wedding party, etc....
Or we're going to just head to the courthouse before hand and only have a reception - but call it more of a celebration party/cocktail hour.
The Dr. called, Stella's out of surgery, awake, and starting to "get with it" again
He said the surgery went smoothly, just as they expected and didn't have any problems.
They're keeping her overnight and we'll get a call tomorrow morning saying when we can pick her up.
The Dr. called, Stella's out of surgery, awake, and starting to "get with it" again
He said the surgery went smoothly, just as they expected and didn't have any problems.
They're keeping her overnight and we'll get a call tomorrow morning saying when we can pick her up.
Got a 4+ hour trip each way on the first to UGA in Athens GA via ATL while pulling a shady trailer full of stuff, in my jeep that ive not traveled any longer than an hour away in, with my mom....to help my sister move into an apartment so she can begin her physics doctorate. Before then i have to do an oil change and go over the trailer to make sure its in tip top shape.... and i have NO idea where the gas money is coming from....fml
I had a dream last night that I found the ultimate DE/LP sampler box/humidor at a local B&M....
And when I say ultimate, I mean ultimate.....it had the unfinished wood look to it like all of the LP boxes, only it doubled as a humidor and was probably 3 ft square by 6 in deep.
And it contained a couple hundred cigars in the box - with multiples of all the ltd editions, HTFs, & exclusive releases that DE has had over the years. The biggest selection was of Liga Privadas which ranged from the original T52 pigs up to the new Undercrown pigs - and all of the Unico series and special B&M releases they've had.
The box also contained some of the La Vieja Habanas from their original release in the 1990s.
And it contained un-released blends and vitolas that never made it out of the factory...which gave it a similar feeling to all of the ltd ed/rarities that Fuente has.
Oh man this box was a beauty and in the dream I asked the B&M owner about the rarity of it, price, etc. He told me it was 1 of only 50 ever released and all the D.E. stores got entered in a lottery and he had "won" it to sell.
And when I asked what the price was.... he said a cool $15,000. That's when I knew I was dreaming ....
Comments
NYC ??
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
And get some fresh seafood while you're there!!!
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
I gotta do another trip out east again soon....the food and the scenery are the top two things I miss most about it.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
I cry when it burnes my mouth.
However they won't do anything to reattach the ligament, because once it's torn - it's essentially "gone" and too difficult to repair it, that's why they stabilize the knee with the bones and muscles.
And it's a fairly lengthy recovery time - so if everything goes according to plan and there's no complications:
She'll essentially be on lock down for 6 weeks; no stairs, no jumping, no off leash activity, she'll be in her crate whenever we're not home, etc -
Then a re-evaluation at 6 weeks and depending on how she's healing the doctor will develop a "recovery plan" for the next 6 weeks with "restricted activity" but it will progressively get back to normal, and after the full 12 weeks/3 months she should be back to almost "normal" activity levels.
And they said after 6 months we won't even be able to tell a difference and she should be 100% back to pre-surgery activity and movement levels.
And with the wedding/reception still scheduled for late October we wanted to get her in ASAP so if we need to leave her with friends/family/the kennel while we're gone they won't have to worry about major restrictions with her.
So she's having the surgery tomorrow, will spend the night at the "hospital/vet" then be home Thursday if all looks good.
And as far as her hips - dysplasia/arthritis goes, they want to start her on injections to help with the "fluid" in her joints but said this is a very manageable issue with the medicine....
sigh, i'm tired.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
The recovery time and limited activity will be hard to deal with, but once we get her in a routine after a week or two we're hoping she'll do ok.
We're excited just thinking about having her back to normal so she can go on long walks/hikes with us, go swimming, play at the dog park, etc. and not be in pain afterwards.
And yes it's certainly going to cost some $$$ (to the tune of at least a couple nice humi cabinets) ... but it will be worth every penny to have her back to normal and not limping/in pain. And this procedure has much lower "failure rate" compared to the procedure that our normal vet would have performed. The procedure our regular vet performs is basically implanting a few rubber/nylon bands around the bones to form almost like a knee brace, under the skin. But she said this procedure doesn't always work well with larger and younger dogs since the bands will sometime snap due to the dogs weight and activity level..... Hence the specialist surgeon...
But the surgeon we met with today definitely knows his stuff and the clinic (MedVet) is one of the top Vet/Specialty clinics in the Midwest, maybe even the entire US. Our vet's dog had a torn CrCL and had this same procedure done at MedVet 4 years ago and she's never had a problem since. So Stella is definitely in good care with them.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
Wedding is on 10/20 - it's going to be small and pretty non-traditional. And thankfully my fiance's been on top of it and almost everything is finished and ready to go. So we shouldn't be going too insane these next couple months.
The only really big decision left to make - is if we want to have a small ceremony before hand or not.
We don't want a religious ceremony ... and the reception is going to be more like a "cocktail hour" - live band, no served dinner, but instead we'll have h'orderves, drinks, and dessert ....
So right now we're between having one of our friends perform the ceremony for us, keep it short and simple, no wedding party, etc....
Or we're going to just head to the courthouse before hand and only have a reception - but call it more of a celebration party/cocktail hour.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
He said the surgery went smoothly, just as they expected and didn't have any problems.
They're keeping her overnight and we'll get a call tomorrow morning saying when we can pick her up.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
Am
Exhausted.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
And when I say ultimate, I mean ultimate.....it had the unfinished wood look to it like all of the LP boxes, only it doubled as a humidor and was probably 3 ft square by 6 in deep.
And it contained a couple hundred cigars in the box - with multiples of all the ltd editions, HTFs, & exclusive releases that DE has had over the years. The biggest selection was of Liga Privadas which ranged from the original T52 pigs up to the new Undercrown pigs - and all of the Unico series and special B&M releases they've had.
The box also contained some of the La Vieja Habanas from their original release in the 1990s.
And it contained un-released blends and vitolas that never made it out of the factory...which gave it a similar feeling to all of the ltd ed/rarities that Fuente has.
Oh man this box was a beauty and in the dream I asked the B&M owner about the rarity of it, price, etc. He told me it was 1 of only 50 ever released and all the D.E. stores got entered in a lottery and he had "won" it to sell.
And when I asked what the price was.... he said a cool $15,000. That's when I knew I was dreaming ....
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
I long for the days I could work!