Ticket relaxing at her recheck appointment (on the purple rug of course)
Tomorrow will be 2 weeks after Ticket’s second surgery on her left stifle. We went for a recheck on Friday. Only a small amount of effusion, but she was still very lame. Using the leg at a walk, but carrying it when trying to go faster. However, can’t find anything “wrong,” and it’s likely she just needs more time. Her bone is still healing, for one. So, my instructions were to “turn her loose.”
Now, don’t be silly, that isn’t as exciting as it sounds. Ticket can be loose in the house again (though I still have to put her in the xpen when she gets too crazy and wants to play). She can be loose in the backyard as long as she’s alone (so she doesn’t go too nuts). No chasing balls or frisbees or anything crazy. But she needs to use the leg in order to heal, so activity is going to be good for her.
We also rechecked with her PT–her range of motion is great (better then before the 2nd surgery, actually). So, we’re back on the treadmill, back to walks, and weight-bearing exercises. Trying not to overtax her, but this time she’s on the “fast track” since this was a much less invasive surgery. Ironically, since that visit Friday, Ticket is using her leg more often when she’s trying to go fast. She’s been running and trotting with it, vs. carrying it. So that is encouraging and makes me happy. Progress. Feels like a long time since I’ve felt I’ve seen progress.
Right now, we’re just taking it one week at a time. We’ll repeat xrays in a month, and her darn bone better be healed then, by God. Trying to think good, healing thoughts for her, and hoping she just needs time now.
Ticket’s TPLO hardware
So, a week ago, I decided that it was time. Ticket wasn’t improving–if anything, I felt like she was doing worse. I took her back for a recheck, and her surgeon agreed that she wasn’t recovering the way we would expect. So, I elected another surgery.
It wasn’t a decision I made lightly, but in my heart I felt like there was something else going on, and time wasn’t necessarily going to be the answer. The good news was it would let us reassess her joint, and address a lot of potential problems. So, in we went.
We found several potential issues. She had bands of scar tissue in her joint, that were rubbing on the outside surface on the bone. Luckily, it was a non weight-bearing surface, but it was definitely a source of pain. The scar tissue was removed with the scope. The medial meniscus was checked, and still looked fine. The joint didn’t look different from the initial surgery, so that’s good. We also did an injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) in her joint, which will hopefully be protective of the joint for some period of time.
We also removed the TPLO hardware (plate and screws) from her initial surgery. The bone was stable, and healing, but was not yet *healed.* Unsure why that is, but it’s possible the plate was taking the stress from the bone, and not allowing that force on the bone that it needs to heal. It’s gone now, so hopefully her bone will finish healing quickly. We cultured her bone, and the culture was negative, so that’s good–no infection.
And now… we wait. Recovery from this surgery is about 10-14 days. Not sure how long a recovery we’re looking it, it all really depends on how she’s doing. We go back for a recheck at the end of this week, and we shall see. She’s back in the crate, and is her normal happy self, just still getting over surgery. I hope to have my blue girlie back to herself soon…
So, the last two weeks haven’t been great. I didn’t feel like Ticket was progressing. If anything, it felt like she was more lame. And I just wasn’t happy with how she looked. I took her back for a recheck today, and we decided to go back in on her knee.
It’s a hard decision to make, but it’s not something I do lightly. I just *feel* like there is something else going on, and time isn’t going to fix it. The surgeon agreed that it seems like something is not right. It’s hurting me everyday to watch her, and I just can’t do it anymore. So, Monday, we’re going to take the plate and screws out, scope her knee again, and give her an injection in her knee of hyaluronic acid, that will hopefully provide a little more comfort for her inside the joint. My hope is that the problem is the hardware. If there’s a screw backing out, or a screw broken, or the plate is taking all the stress and not allowing the bone to heal, then removing the hardware might be the cure. We’re going to culture in case of infection. And we’re going to scope the joint, and look for any problems there.
Ticket will have 10 days of crate rest, and then we’ll see. I hope once she recovers from the surgery itself, that she is finally able to heal.
Love and miss my blue girlie…
