surgery update.

Sorry it has taken so long for an update.
Sally was gone all week for the metal to be removed. In the leg that looked somewhat normal and by that I mean there is no metal sticking out 2 inches… 3 screws were excessively long. wow! that must have hurt and they were coming loose. she also had some other things checked and she has some major infections going on in various parts of her body. ouch!

The other leg will be done soon. It is just costing a bit more than I have and we want to see how the other leg heals. i like this surgeon a lot and i am so grateful for her. she has gone above and beyond the call of duty even helping me with her skin issues which isn’t even her job to, but she looked sally over so thoroughly and found things I didn’t.

so sally is doing well and on her way to recovery – surgery wise and infection as well.

once again.

I am finally booking another surgery for sally. The metal needs to come out. It is the wrong size and isn’t really serving a purpose if it is loosening. The last rads 3 months ago showed that her bone STILL had not healed. The one that he broke and should not have broken. So maybe it has healed now or maybe it is better.

I am going with a dr. of high recommendation and I have heard really good things about her. She said if she wasn’t comfortable doing it, she wouldn’t and that is want I want to hear. This will be her 5th leg surgery and overall 8-9th surgery since I have had her. She is brave and amazing.

love and light.
terrah and sally

happy girl

well, sally is such a happy girl today. Last night as I was scrolling through facebook, I saw fredonia humane raising money for a stroller for her. You guys remember hers was stolen the first week in Portland, it made us so extremely upset. That is sally’s happy place. She gets so depressed when she doesn’t get out for walks. Her aunt carrie bought her a cute stroller that we can use in town, but with its small wheels all the rocks out here it tends to be a bit bumpy and lumpy… oh my!

She actually doesn’t walk too well now. she mostly hops and falls down a bit. She walks a little, but it isn’t comfortable for her. I am hoping the metal gets to come out soon.

my internet is too slow to upload photos, so you can go to her flickr page to see recent pics of her leg and her smiling face.

so thank you Fredonia Humane and everyone that chipped in, it means more than you will ever know.
sally photos

sally’s consult update

We went for our consult tonight. The place was beautiful and so welcoming. He walked in and introduced himself and then said,”how did you get into this mess?” He didn’t have her papers. I thought the vet was faxing them over, but they didn’t fax over all her stuff, so I have to take them in tomorrow. He stared at the rads for an hour just perplexed on the type of procedure he did, the equipment used and how this whole thing was handled. He was trying to be graceful about the surgeon and what he did, but he couldn’t figure out why. The “why” in so many areas of this whole thing. In fact, he knew the surgeon some 30 yrs ago and was surprised at this. However, people change and well…

Anyways, I won’t bore you with details or get nitty gritty about the prior surgeon and this whole aweful situation. I want to stay on a positive note. But long story short we will go in a month for more x-rays and go from there. I am going to get her a cart for her back legs and continue with her pain meds and such. I am so grateful for sally’s high spirits and tolerance of pain. He responded basically saying that yes, she has very high pain tolerance to go through this.

So this is us now…I am so sorry I did this to her, but now we just have to move forward and deal with this mess the best we can. I love her so much it hurts.

sally update-long overdue

sally update: not good news. dec. 19

For her right knee:

1. There is some evidence of screw loosening on the x ray but it is not associated with the swellings on her leg.

2. The osteotomy site (where they cut her bone for the surgery) is not completely mineralized.

3. Her knee is subluxated meaning it is not in alignment and there is concern for ligament damage.

4. Her fibula – the little bone- fracture is not healing.

5. Her TPLO surgery is in the process of healing

For her Left knee:

1. Mild arthritis.

2. Her fibula fracture has not healed together.

3. Her TPLO surgery is healed.

She wants me to have a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon. She say at this point it is very very important to preserve the implant and keep sally comfortable. So it is early saturday morning as I read this and I am trying not to freak out.

Nothing to worry about…quite yet.

Callus skin has developed over the metal causing the lumpy and bumpy part. There is part of the bone that was broken that isn’t healing quite so well (I think) and another part also not doing so well, but she wants to let the radiologist look at it and then another set of x-rays in 6-8 weeks. ( I forget all the info…TOO much info. haha) But other than that Sally is using her leg. Her front leg is bowing a lot to balance her out which really worries me about her spine. I am hoping after the holidays to call the lady who can help with that and some hydro. Will see. A little tight for funds now, so hopefully we will get some photo shoots soon and the ever so late etsy shop open.

WHEW! At least the metal is still in place.

eek! sorry for the delay

I am so sorry for the delay in posting…It has been SUPER crazy around our house with getting ready to move and all. We decided to go ahead with her other leg, since she is having such trouble walking being so cricked. so aunt lori is taking her tomorrow and I will pick her up on Sunday. They will do all three surgery’s in one. EEK! a little worried. I am just hoping her other leg is ok as well. It feels like a screw has popped out, but maybe not. They will x-ray and let me know. wish her luck. I will post more photos soon and will let you know how the surgery goes.

oh and she is OBSESSED with her stroller. she loves to go and talk to the horses down the street. She always breaks out of her kennel and walks to the stroller by the door and waits. She LOVES it! good thing is it rain friendly. Now I just have to get her lots of sweaters and blankets to keep her warm for the portland rain and weather. any tips on keeping an animal comfortable in that kind of weather with metal in their body. Kind of worried.

sally is coming home tomorrow! yipee!!!

I just talked to Dr. Wallace (who is so amazing by the way) and he explained everything to me and I actually understood what happened. They didn’t end up breaking her femur and straightening like they thought they would have to, but this is what happened in the last three surgeries…
1)they did the TPLO
2) her patella rotated back out so they had to twist it back. But strangely when they did this her hawk thing rotated out. that is the part of the back of your ankle. No wonder she hasn’t been walking. eek!
3) they cut her tibia in half and straightened her hawk thing.

He said they are cautiously optimistic right now. It has just been so hard because you can’t know all this until you get in there or until the surgery is done. Her legs were just so messed up… I still don’t know what we are going to do about the other leg, it will still take some time to see how this leg will heal. I have to keep her on the metacam, tramadol and adequin for the rest of her life which sucks. I wish there was an alternative or something less expensive, but whatever will help her…

I am optimistic too, but, this stroller makes me super happy because I know that no matter what she can hang out with the pack where ever we are at.

Sally and Jack

c'mon Jack! Keep pulling!

Sally and Jack are having the best time! She likes having one of her siblings come along, although, she really wanted out today…to go exploring.

next week

well, these last few weeks have been somewhat frustrating. Sally had another UTI and lost her hydro appts. She was only able to go if there was room and they started to fill up, so she got booted. I don’t blame them, this is nothing I can’t do at home, but It lifted her spirits so much to get out and go. She looked so forward to it. This last week she started to wrinkle her forehead and look sad again, but a present arrived. Something for sally to use to lift her spirits and it came just at the right time.

This is perfect b/c she is going in for her third surgery on the same leg next week. This time they will work on her femur. The last two have been on her tibia, but now it seems to be the femur. Basically, they will break it and straighten it. It won’t be easy. People keep telling me why would I do this, let it go. It makes me doubt my decision, but her leg can’t stay like this. Will I do the other leg…I don’t know. This road hasn’t been easy, but we will see how this final process goes and see how she feels and responds to it. I wish this all could have gone different, like I saw it in my head and plans, but plans change.

I would have liked more communication from the surgeon, but what matters now is that, sally is being taken care of. I can only be thankful now that this is getting done. Would I have done this knowing she would have gone through all of this. Probably not. But things like this are hard to know until you get in there and then realize how bad or easy it is and sally was pretty messed up.

All I can say now is that we are doing are best in the situation at hand. She is having such a great time in her new stroller and I like seeing her smile again. If this is what we have to do the rest of her life, I think she would be ok. She just likes being out in the world, feeling like part of the pack and like she belongs. She won’t run marathons or go on hikes, but I think she is happy with this new arrangement. I am looking for holistic alternatives to some lifetime medicine. dunno.
I love this girl more than anything and I would do anything for her. i think that is evident with my dogs.
I guess we will just see how this new journey will be and go from there.
Thank you all for your support and love for her…it means so much.
Thank you Lynette, Lori and Solvit products for the use of this amazing stroller. You have no idea how happy you have made this girl.

So post-op surgery blog posts should continue next week. I am taking her in on the 30th of July for the surgery that weekend and will probably pick up her after a few days…maybe Thursday depending on how she is feeling. The vets there Dr. Wallace and Dr. Knighton have been absolutely amazing with me and sally and all we have been through. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I hope good things come to you a thousand times over. You are good people. I highly recommend if you are in Vegas to go to VCA on Spring Mountain. Even if you want to write a thank you letter on behalf of sally that would mean a lot to them I am sure and to me and sally!

still waiting.

Hey guys! Sorry for the delay in posts. I was actually hoping this would be an everyday thing, but it has been dragged out for so long, that the everyday is kind of just living right now. Sally has another UTI. This sucks b/c she couldn’t go to hyrdo for a week b/c of it and now they have filled up and she has lost her spot. I am looking for a big bin so I can do pivets with her. Her spirit has been pretty low the last couple weeks, or maybe she just doesn’t feel well. dunno. Her stroller arrived and aunt lori is putting it together for her to use for awhile. it is so big!! It will be super fun taking her on morning walks. i can’t wait to take photos. As for her leg, it is still weak and she has no stability in it. It still slants inward. I am getting tired of these vegas trips, they are tiring especially when i am having to work so much to pay for these little ventures. oh well, she is worth it…Aren’t they all. I think most of us would do anything for our kids. I hope to have something for you guys soon, some type of positive out of all this. we love your support and kind words. I know a couple of you are about to do surgery or have gone through things. It is nice that we all have each others support and can maybe relate to the happy, sad, frustrating and tiring times of all these days.

woof.