It's like he was never hurt

Well it's been a long while since we posted on this, and Jack's TPLO saga is for all intents and purposes over. At the six week mark back in mid October Jack started spending time outside in his yard (he's also managed to undo a sizable lawn investment in about 1 week) and loves it (it's not easy to get him to come inside - go figure). We just returned from Thanksgiving at the lake and as you can see in the picture, Jacks doing just fine. In addition to wading in the lake, Jack spent a lot of time running and jumping (mostly over trees or logs). His legs are doing perfectly fine. I find myself wincing whenever he lands odd, but he's had no troubles at all. At home he's highly active chasing all manner of critters (squirrels, birds, people - whatever happens near the yard), and does his best to jump up, getting his head over the fence, to say "hi". I can't imagine having not performed the two surgeries for Jack. Seeing him now, seeing him have so much fun again, makes every dollar worthwhile. If you've found yourself here, and are wondering if the inconvenience and cost are all worth it, I have to say yes. If your dog brings you the love and companionship that Jack brings us, it's worth every dollar and every day of inconvenience to bring your lively and active dog back to you. We're not going to keep posting here, but Jack may get another blog soon, maybe one to tell the sage of his yard, now that he's fully back on duty.
Au revoir

Leg's all healed, X-rays and exam give him a green light

Sorry for not posting for so long, things have been a bit hectic (not Jack related). We got back from the vet Thursday and Jack's tibia is all healed up. Yay!!!! Vet said to do short walks, 1.5 miles or so, for the next 3 weeks, then longer walks, longer lead for the 3 weeks after that, and then it's off-leash city! So with this news we moved back upstairs into the bedroom and will be turning the office back into an office. No really interesting news from the past 2 weeks or so, and sorry, no cool pictures. It's been fairly uneventful for Jack, just taking it day by day. Now he has full run of the house again, upstairs and down, only restriction is still being on leash to go out back to pee or poop. We're looking forward to him being able to come and go again as he wants, and to getting him back with his playgroups at WagginWagon. Of course the only downside is our beautiful back yard of newly recovered and healthy lawn will again become his playground, which pretty much means it's gonna be a great big beautiful mud pit... totally worth the trade off. :)

1 More Week Down

Well here we are, past the 4 week mark. Nothing too exciting to report at this stage. Jack's pretty much operating normally although still in jail. This morning during my routine exam of his leg I discovered a staple that was missed two weeks back, so we're off to the vet (the normal vet, not the surgeon) to have it removed. Overall Jack's at about 95% on his leg this week, ongoing incremental improvement. There's no disguising that he feels totally fine, and ready to be out doing what he wants, but he begrudgingly stays inside. Happily there's only 4 more weeks to go before his Xray follow up, and outside walks start. I can't tell you how ready we are for life to get fully back to normal (one of the biggest things will be moving back upstairs and sleeping in our new bed, and making the office an office again). Here's Jack's new side as of yesterday afternoon. X-26 days. :)

Slooooooow progress, getting tougher

Well Jack is most definitely feeling better. Unlike the first surgery, he's now reached the point where staying in the room when someone is home and in the house, is NOT what he wants to do. His most recent antic is to put his front paws on the top of the gate - freaked me out when he did this b/c he absolutely can clear it if he wants to. It's evident to me he's feeling much better now, more so than the same time after the first surgery; his left leg must have been hurting him still which would explain how relaxed he was pretty much the entire time. Well that seems to have gone away now. It's not bad when you're out of earshot and eyesight, but if he can see you or hear you in the house, he really wants out of that room. 34 days to go til xrays (85 days from the first surgery, and a whopping 11 months from when this all started back last October). Sorry, no interesting pics today, I did see Hector out in the park yesterday morning before work, I think he was trying to catch a crow. Oh well... more soon

Crazy - more about Hector

Well, we've learned a few really neat things recently. It turns out, that once you get a great little sanctuary in place, a few good bird feeders, a nice bird bath, some protective shelter, basically a great little wildlife shelter, well that in turn becomes a big giant bird feeder. We've now apparently built the neighborhood's biggest and best bird feeder... for falcons. We now have almost daily sightings in the yard of various birds of prey. This little guy lit on the front porch one day earlier this week, then flew over to the dogwood tree and scoped me out before flying away. Turns out, he's not Hector, Hector's MUCH bigger and definitely a Peregrine; this little guy's either a kid, or a slightly different species. Oh well, now we know, bird feeders come in stages; little bird feeder + birds = bird feeder for bigger birds. I'm sure there's a moral there somewhere, like "just when you relax because everything seems just perfect... that's when the big meat-eater bird comes down, plucks you up, rips off your skin and eats you." Maybe there's a nicer way to phrase that. :)

Just bahdin mah tahm

Jack here, killin time with a little chew. Turns out this "jail" thing ain't so great, but I get by. Mostly just sittin around on their bed, doing my best to lay on just about every part that even remotely smells like the 'rents. Course I get my fun. My parents only THINK I shed like this all the time. Little do they know, I can turn it on and turn it off. Suffice to say, right now it's ON. I just love hearing Mom complain about "how can there be THIS MUCH hair after only one day?"... heh heh heh, if only she knew. Well, guess I'll get back to it, sittin here, killin time with a little chew. Hmmm, could use a little squirrel-seasoning.

Hooray hooray, the staples are gone

And with them the collar (or disc - might be more accurate). Vet visit was Thursday, and it's definitely easier the 2nd time around... to a point. About a mile or two away from the vet, still on the highway, Jack started getting antsy. He definitely knew "where" he was. Once we got inside, the same vet tech came out to assess him, and Jack had absolutely NO intention of letting this guy take him anywhere. I even saw his hackles go up at first... leaving me thinking, "no, please do not eat this nice man, he's trying to help you", but it was all fine; we did the same "fake out" maneuver, all three of us walking to the back, and then they go through and I turn around and go sit down. Every time the door opened I could hear Jack's 'chirps' (he does this, it's a short, high pitched sound, when he can't see us and he knows we're there, I interpret it as "hey, I'm right here, where are YOU"), he wasn't real pleased with being back with these folks that always seem to cause him pain.

But even faster than the first time, out he came, trying with all his might to come back to me, and getting no traction whatsoever on that linoleum floor. Surgical site's healed up and his use of the leg is very good at this stage (I rated him at about 85%, almost no evidence of limping or favoring - not bad 2 weeks after invasive surgery).

So we're in the downhill slope now, with every day getting better and better, legs getting stronger, and slowly getting back to normal. Jack's still in jail for the next few weeks, but before we know it he'll be back for X-rays, and then it's free reign of the house, out for walks, life back in the real bedroom, and eventually freedom to go back outside and run, chase, guard... basically be Jack.

As I type this, Jack has eviscerated a toy that to date had proved much more resistant (must have just not had his full attention - it's dead now, you can see the final carnage in this picture). We're now going to see how this Tuffies dog toy stands up. Suposedly from the website a 300# tiger was given one of these things and couldn't destroy it. Jack for the first time today started giving this thing some serious attention... we'll see. More to come next weekend.

Incremental progress

Well Monday evening early, today we had a "lunging incident" early in the morning (someone was walking their dog past the fence next to where Jack does his business, and of course he had to explain to them that this is his yard), nothing serious and he didn't get much into it before I caught him. Note - this is the downside of living next to a park with a dog, there is NEVER a quiet moment, even at 6am.

Limping appears to be down again today, although midday his leg did seem a bit swollen, so 1 Rimadyl to help that go down. Also he for some reason developed a desire to lick his "good" foot today, and started licking a raw spot on it; no flipping clue. It's all these little things that kill me.

Is it Thursday yet? Is it October yet? I am so ready for this to be done. Can you tell it was a long day?

Last E-Collar Weekend (X-46 days)

Well Jack got through this weekend well, the new collar is about 95% (only two occurrences of leg-licking acrobatics), and no loose staples or raw spots; biggest benefit is that he's able to sleep "normally", doesn't "bump" into things, and can drink water, all with the soft collar on.

Note - this soft collar is NOT for aggressive lickers, Jack doesn't lick because he's really not that interested, and the collar provides enough of an impediment, combined with him being so laid back, that he just leaves well enough alone. Any dog serious about licking his leg will get past the soft collar and you'll be back at the vet to get them sewed up again.

His scar is looking good, sealed up nicely. He's limping slightly less today, all signs of progress. This Thursday he gets the staples out, which means the collar's gone too. HOORAY (that's from Jack)! As you can tell from this picture, externally things are starting to look normal (for a shaved shepherd that is), no swelling, no bruising, and the fur is coming back in nicely. Next stop Thursday evening, after that, hunting for that no-limping milestone.

Plodding along

Well not a ton new to report this morning, we've entered the "unremarkable" phase where things kinda stay the same for a while. Still a moderate limp, no worse, no better, swelling is pretty much gone (and luckily so is the Rimadyl), as is the bruising. Sutures look good, staples come out in 6 days. Settling in to the routine again. Nothing picture worthy this morning, more news maybe this weekend.

Day 6 (X-49)

Nights are getting better, Jack slept through most of the entire night (at least without me knowing otherwise). The swelling has gone down even more along with the bruising. He's weight bearing a bit more this morning which is a small, but good sign of progress. 1w from today to get his staples out, can't wait for that. Then the next big milestone will be normal weight bearing, hopefully no later than week 4. 49 days to X-rays to verify bone healing, then the true rehab can start. I may have already said this, but this leg seems to be a little worse for wear, and taking a bit longer to heal (looking mostly at the weight bearing aspect), but I could just have easily have forgotten the first leg experience details already (wait, I have a blog). Right now laying on the floor, tummy full, in foma (food coma).

Well I just went back and checked the May and June posts, so I may be wrong, this may be the same state his other leg was in. By Friday of that surgery (would be tomorrow) that leg looked about like this one does now, and he was still limping, so maybe things are running along at the same pace.

Meds are done - Yay!

Well here we are at day 5. Last night was great (thank you pharmaceutical industry), Jack slept pretty much the whole night with only a few times of moving around; the last time he half got off the mattress, but stopped instead to lay down on my legs, and proceeded to sleep there for the next 3 hours, effectively pinning me down. As of this morning, most of the swelling and bruising have gone away, and I think he's walking better, with slightly more load bearing on his left leg. Best of all, this morning was the last antibiotic, the really big pills that Jack HATES to take, so one big milestone down, next one is next Thursday, removal of the staples and the collar.

Not Jack related - wildlife sighting in metro Portland

This short note has nothing to do with Jack or his surgery, but is an experience I feel compelled to share. Yesterday afternoon late, I happened by the front window of the house, and saw this guy sitting on the trellis. These raptors are fairly common in the area, although it's not often you see one 4' away. Enjoy.

Post Op 2, Day 4

The swelling has gone down considerably, and the minor bruising has faded away, leaving only the major bruising and moderate swelling (noticeable in the ankle/hock area). Jack's still not weight bearing much on the leg, it appears more sore/sensitive than his right leg did after it's surgery, but then he did have more damage to the left knee than the right (the medial meniscus was folded over and had to be removed - so it makes sense that there's more inflammation still in the joint, making it still sensitive). Last night, for whatever reason, Jack was very restless, moving about every half hour to find a different position, so today's going to be a long day.

Wonderful start to day 2

I'll spare you the photos, but Jack started off today great. Up and out to pee, a little wobbly on the new leg, but that's okay. Then back inside for breakfast and meds. Took the meds fine, then scarfed down his breakfast, and settled in on my makeshift bed to start his daily nap... then the whining about an hour later, and baaaaaaaaaaaaarf. All the breakfast and pretty much all the meds on the carpet. Joyful.

Swelling and Bruising

It's now right about 21 hours after the second surgery ended, and Jack's leg has swollen up a lot, about as much as the right leg did the first go round. As you can see here, there's also a lot of bruising. This also happened the first time, and took a few days to subside. This is going to be a long week, but luckily we're starting the home stretch. Barring anything out of sorts, everything gets better daily from this point on.

Evolution of the E-Collar

I have to share this, we found a replacement/alternative to the e-collar, and we'll see how well it works over the next few days. It may not be as cumbersome as the original e-collar, but I hate to say it's a lot funnier. Sorry Jack, we have to share this with the world.

And it took only 4 hours to figure out that this new collar, albeit more comfortable for Jack, is not foolproof, he can reach his leg, extended, past the ring. Well there you go. Nice idea, and for preventing access to the torso, probably works, but for preventing access to the hind legs - not successful. So back to the tried and true "party hat" tonight. Sorry pal.

Back Home

Well Jack was MUCH more animated this time, and very ready to leave the vets. Got him home, gave him a little bit of lunch w/ sedatives and he peed a gallon; didn't repeat the water gulping-puking mistake from the first time home. Right now he's laying on the bed just about asleep... make that now passed out cold. As you can tell from the picture, the leg looks about the same as the right one did. What you can't see is that the suture site is bleeding a bit more than expected, but we're not alarmed. The key will be to keep Jack off his leg as much as possible, and let it heal. I wish I had the X-Rays to post here to show you what before and after images look like, it's really an amazing change. More to come later this weekend, or early next week.

Surgery went fine, coming home this morning

Jack went into surgery yesterday about 4pm and we got the call from the vet about 7:15pm. Everything went fine in the surgery, it was pretty much the exact same procedure as the right leg was 10 weeks ago. The vet said the CCL was completely torn like the right stifle, although the tear was "odd" and "different". She didn't go into details which was fine, we were just happy to know that everything went fine. We're waiting now to get the call to come pick him up. I'll post more later today after he's home and we've had a chance to get him settled.

2nd Surgery This Friday

Well it's been 10 weeks since Jack's first TPLO. From all indications it's been a great success. We started taking him on short walks two weeks back to exercise his new leg, and more to exercise his senses (nothing new to smell in his room or yard, but TONS to smell outside). It will hard to drop him off this Thursday, but we're happy that this will be the beginning of the downhill part of his treatment. From here things only get better. The first two weeks after his next surgery will be tough, but at least we know what to expect. And then, if his left leg goes like his right, in another month he'll be nearly healed (we'll be scheduling his x-ray follow up this time for 6 weeks if they let us) and we can start the physical therapy plan. That's really the next step now, to spend the next several weeks researching and developing a plan to build up Jack's leg strength and flexibility. Next summer will be the summer of the lake (since we weren't able to spend any time there this summer, we'll make up for it next), with plenty of chances for Jack to run and jump as much as he likes. I'll probably post again on Friday after his surgery is over.

8 weeks down - 2 weeks til next surgery

Jack has definitely grown accustomed to his bed-throne in front of his air conditioner. Jack's gone for several weeks now with no limping on his right leg. We recently have been able to see him limping slightly on his left leg (the one that's getting surgical repair in two weeks), so we think that's a good sign (he's bearing load more on his right leg now). His spirits are great (although he does want to go out more now). We've started once daily 5-10 min walks to get him out of the house, and to exercise his new leg a little. We can tell he's not been outside much, he smells EVERYTHING like it was all new. We're in a mixed situation now, really wanting to get the next surgery over now that we see how much better he is, but at the same time, not looking forward to two more weeks of Jack in the e-collar and loathing every minute of the day. Silver lining is that TPLOs, done by professionals, really do deliver results. We are so glad we chose to go down this path. Oh, finally got around to filing his VPI claim, a few weeks before the deadline; we'll see how much of the bill they cover. I've read other posts where they've covered the entire cost, sometimes up to $4k (which is what Jack's right leg ran w/ x-rays). Here's Jack from this past week after happily destroying another new toy. You can see that about half his leg fur has grown in, he now just looks "cleaner" on his right leg.

Air Conditioning - the key to a comfortable recovery

Well I've learned over these past 6 weeks that there has been one thing more than anything else that has contributed to Jack's day to day comfort and calmness during his recovery jail-term - air conditioning. Here in Portland almost no one has central air, window units abound. For Jack's recovery we've been keeping him in the study downstairs which happens to face the west, and barring some decent shade from the Oak trees in the back, does get plenty warm, even now with it being about 85F outside. We knew we didn't want Jack to overheat in the summer (it will get above 100F here for a while in August), so we grabbed one of these portable room AC units from Target. I can definitely recommend this for anyone with a furry dog going through this (or any other) confinement oriented recovery. Jack lies in front of this AC unit from when we leave in the morning until we get home, getting up only occasionally to adjust his position (I know this b/c I have a webcam on him that I can check from work). I think the fact that cool air is blowing on him all the time keeps him sedate and calm, plus the added benefit of white noise (not sure if it works the same for Jack, but it definitely drowns out the outside noises we can hear) keeps Jack in his own little world. The beauty of this is that we've not yet had to use sedatives to keep Jack calm as he goes through the "risky" phase of his recovery where he feels great, but his leg's still at risk.

Here in the middle of week 5, Jack is continuing to improve. He's even shown attempts at "jumping up" (which freaks us out and makes us hunch over to keep him down on the ground), so it's evident he's feeling better (he hasn't done that in almost a year). 3 1/2 more weeks til the second surgery, got the okay from the vet to start taking him on short leash walks in a week given his progress so far. I cannot wait, and neither can Jack.

Getting fur back, but definitely not done yet

Here's how Jack's leg looks today, 4 weeks of fur growth into it. It's hard to tell, but Jack has some serious curls going on. His leg fur is like Farrah Fawcett's early 70's wave 'doo.

In the 5th week, catching up on the blog

Wow, we had a few things pile up here and I got tardy on the blog. Jack's in his 5th week post op, and he's still fairly cool about being in jail - I think he's acclimating to spending time alone in the office, even when we're here. We're trying to not completely stop our day to day lives during this process, and so far so good. Jack's leg has grown back a LOT of fur, I'm guessing it won't be completely grown in by his next surgery because his fur is kinda long, but there's no hint of the surgical scar at all anymore. He does have this habit of occasionally chewing on his hock on his surgery leg (maybe this is the attach point for the jig healing - they drill an anchor point in his lower tibia to keep the saw head aligned, and this is left to heal on it's own), but it's not swollen or red or in any way appears problematic.

Jack's definitely got his lively step back in his surgery leg at this point, no limping, no apparent pain at all... in that leg. What we have noticed is more pronounced limping on his other "strong" leg. It's interesting how he's starting putting more load on the surgery leg as it's gotten stronger, and started to show more on his other leg now. This isn't a surprise, we already know his other leg is probably in worse shape than his surgery leg, it's just a matter of getting through the next 4 weeks and then starting this all over (confirmed with the vet that we have a surgical slot scheduled the last Friday of July).

Here's Jack entertaining himself by destroying a toy snake his grandparents sent him as a get well gift. Overall the past two weeks have been easier. Jack does fine all day by himself while we're at work, he's really a great dog, I can't wait to get him back out at the lake running through fields, jumping over logs, and in general being a 4y old puppy again. Soon buddy, very very soon.

Staples out, all seems to be going okay

Well yesterday's visit to the vet to get Jack's staples out was somewhat uneventful, unless you count that point where the technician, after sitting with us for a few minutes to capture some notes, tried to take Jack into the back... without me. The look on his face, as this tiny 100 lb dog was NOT going anywhere with him and was about to pull his arms off to get to me, was really priceless. After walking Jack to the back, the whole thing took only 5 minutes, out he came, straight to the car with the technician, and home we went. Two nights now without the bucket, Jack is MUCH happier. I'll post a picture of his leg later today when he decides to lay with it up. Two weeks down, 6 more to go for radiographs.

Random thoughts - ongoing forward progress

Well it's now 12 days post op, and Jack's continuing to do better. I've noticed a detectable improvement in his weight bearing on his TPLO leg, and a detectable improvement in his energy level (that may actually be more of a challenge to deal with). Given all the pet food contamination problems going around (luckily Science Diet wasn't one of the affected foods) we've taken the opportunity to switch him to a healthier raw diet (he actually started out on a raw diet as a puppy). It's a fascinating change; Jack has never been a food motivated dog, but now he's licking his chops for breakfast and dinner and he doesn't hesitate for a second. I'm hoping the healthier food leads to better healing. Staples come out Friday - can't come quick enough. More to come Friday after the staples come out.

This is pretty much how I spend my day...

all day, every day, this is it. and it's even nice outside. C'mon Dad, lemme go bark at something. This sucks - Jack

Was e-collar hell weekend

Well Jack got to know the e-collar REAL well this weekend. He's definitely still not a fan. We're going in Friday afternoon to have his staples checked and removed. As you can tell from this picture the surgical site is healing nicely (at least from what I can tell). Of course every few minutes he swings around to try and lick it. Can't wait til Friday to get the staples out and not have to keep his collar on all the time. He still limps around, but it's about the same. In fact I think his walking has been about constant since he came home, never getting worse, but not really getting better yet either. All the other stories seem to indicate that at the end of week three some "normal" walking starts to happen on the pee/poop breaks, so i'll contain my hopes til then.

1st week down

The last two days have been somewhat uneventful. As you can see here, the swelling and redness have almost all gone away, and his fur is already growing back. The leg is definitely healing (and itching more to boot); the next several days will be ongoing e-collar hell. Now I'm waiting for the complicated part - the unforseen or unexpected gotcha.

Finally - movement

Yes, sad to say I'm documenting this, but FINALLY we have the digestive system running again, and running with a vengence. Jack caught up on the past 4 days this morning on his constitutional. I have no idea if it was just the amount of time that finally pushed things along, or if it was reducing his codeine intake (started tapering off night before last, went to twice daily vs. 4 times daily), regardless, he's evidently more comfortable (as are we). On top of that, his leg is looking better as well (a lot of the redness and swelling have gone down). He's pretty much walking on his leg (still a bit of favoring, but not holding it up at all) now when he's doing his business. Today is the end of the dreaded antibiotic horse pills, and also (barring issue) the end of the codeine as well (puts us back at Rimadyl only now for another week), and last night Jack finally started eating normal food again (he's been overly picky since the surgery). Here's what Jack's leg looks like this morning. As for the e-collar, Jack got through the night with minimal evident movement (we moved a mattress into the room he's jailed in til recovered - yes, we're THOSE kinda dog parents), he's adapted to it, although DEFINITELY DOES NOT like it. It seems to make it tough for him to get comfortable, but he manages, and we are NOT going to leave it off him until his staples are out (it's for his own good). What's odd is during the evening I'll wake up to find Jack with his head lying right next to mine, collar propped up on my pillow (our sleeping surfaces are at the same level) and breathing right on me - sometimes awake staring at me, sometimes asleep. It's odd... cute, but odd.

Evening update - digenstive system still in full swing, and livliness has up'd the ante also, Jack's starting to get back to normal wrt his inside behavior (he's ready to leave the confines of the office already... he has no idea what's yet to come).

Day 4 - just like day 3

Not a ton of progress to report on either way. Codeine definitely has a constipative effect, no poop for 3 days, and there's no way Jack's eating pumpkin (suposed to be a laxitive). Luckily the codeine runs out today, so I'm hopeful for a bit of movement either late today or early tomorrow. Jack slept better last night w/ the bucket, a lot less moving around. The surgical scar looks the same to me, maybe a bit more coherent (tissues knitting together); I don't expect the bruising to subside before Friday. No pics today, looks the same as yesterday.

The gates to giving meds

Just so everyone has a common perspective.

At this stage, just want to get through week 2

Jack doesn't whine, but every time he moves at night I wake up to check on him (probably more me than him). The bucket seems to keep him from getting any significant sleep (which is so far keeping the same from me as well). The color of his leg is gradually improving, the skin irritation from shaving is gone, and the bruising is evening out. This picture was taken last night before we went to bed. No photos yet today. At the morning constitutional he was a little more confident going outside (getting the hang of being on a leash and sling in his own yard), although seemed a bit more unstable on his legs when peeing. It's likely just me, but he seems to be getting more clearheaded this morning (at day 3 in jail, w/ 53 more to go, he is definitely going to get bored). And for the life of me I don't understand why animal meds are not MEAT FLAVORED; getting the mouth of a 100# dog who does NOT want his mouth open is loads of fun (yes, he now trusts no food to not have hidden poor tasting surprises - he's even completely chewing up his chicken to make sure). Oh did I ever mention, Jack has some seriously large and well honed teeth; thank God he trusts us (although at this rate, I'm not sure for how much longer).

1st night down - 2 days post-op

First night home wasn't that bad. Jack slept (or at least laid mostly still) all night with his e-collar on (he is NOT a fan of that thing). Jack is definitely a "no-energy" dog this morning. He's completely out of it (which is probably a good thing). Now a word about the veterinary pharmacy industry. You would think that by now, companies making drugs for animal consumption would find some way to make them taste good to animals. Getting Jack to eat his antibiotics is probably the most challenging part of all of this. Thankfully he's trusting enough to let us put them in the back of his mouth - albeit not without a good bit of resistance. This is Jack today, lying on the "new" leg. Note the face of "go away and leave me alone."

Update - Jack's urine has returned to normal at lunchtime today (it had a good bit of blood in it initially - expected since he was cathetered), and his appetite is starting to come back, but still very mopey.

Home - 1 day post-op

Just got Jack home from NWVS. The x-rays were insightful, and exactly as expected. He has 8 screws in his tibia (4 in the newly positioned head, and 4 in the tibial shaft). He's actually bearing some load on the leg which was surprising, and the incision doesn't look that bad. First order of business when he got home was to do his business. Walking with the sling is going to take some learning (Jack's fine with it, it's me that has no coordination). A little blood in his urine, and a pretty soft stool, but the good part is he's easily able to take care of business (one of the big unknowns). Oh, and big time loser parents us gave Jack too much water too soon (he drank down an entire bowl, and then proceeded to throw it all right back up. He's lying down in the office now, where he'll spend the next 16 weeks (remember, he's going to have his left leg done as soon as his right is healed). 1 day down, 101 days to go (seems like a longer time when I type it out in days).

Worth mentioning - we were very impressed with the thoroughness of the discharge procedure at NWVS. The vet tech made the follow up appts, then walked us through the medication details, and the details of the rules for the next 8 weeks. I have to say the folks at NWVS are on top of their game.

Surgery's over - no surprises

Got the call from the vet, Jack's right leg had a completely torn CCL w/ some miniscal damage, but overall the procedure was fairly textbook. Really a relief to KNOW that we did the right thing. He'll recover today and tonight, and assuming all goes well will come home tomorrow.

Surgery today...

We dropped Jack off last night, he'll be in surgery some time today.

T - 4 days

This isn't an update of substance per se, just me rambling. We're scheduled to drop Jack of at NWVS Thursday afternoon, and his surgery is scheduled for Friday some time. Sometime Saturday midday we'll go pick him up and bring him home. It all makes sense, need time to prep, shave his leg (as the photo shows, the boy has hair - we take vaccuums to the task in this house), make sure he fasts long enough before surgery, and then make sure post-op goes well, he comes out of anesthesia fine, and there are no evident complications. I have to give Dr. Lozier and his NWVS staff kudos so far, they've been nothing but objective, helpful, communicative, taken time to answer all my questions, volunteered a lot of extra information both about the condition as well as the surgery, and post-surgical activities. I'm not planning to update the blog again until after we bring Jack home. To feed your eyes, I grabbed a picture from Jack's past, he was about 2y old when we took this picture at Christmas time at the lake.

Formally diagnosed with torn ligaments, 1st surgery scheduled

Like you (likely if you're reading this) we have a dog, Jack, who was diagnosed with torn CCL (cranial cruciate ligament). In Jack's case, both stifles (knees) are affected, so we're going to have two TPLO surgeries performed, one for each leg. Because Jack's a big (100#) active dog, our vet recommended against trying to do both (bilateral) at the same time. In doing research about the injury and and recovery options, we read several blogs and stories of others who've gone through this procedure, and we figured we'd share Jack's experience with you in the hopes of helping you figure things out if you're facing a similar situation and not sure what's in store. Tune in here every now and then as we'll be updating this story as it unfolds over the next several months. Jack's scheduled to go in for his first TPLO next Friday.

This is Jack before his injuries and subsequent lameness (limping) set in.