A Quick "Surgery Night" Update

Well, here we are on the night after Heisman's surgery - a VERY quiet night.  I had no idea how odd it would be not to have Heisman here with us!  Hamilton (pictured at right) is content to be an only child again after almost 2 years, but there is definitely a void!

I took Heisman in for surgery at 9:30 am today.  My husband had to work, so I was on my own.  Despite all of my internal pep talks, I was a total basketcase when the time came for them to take her back.  Heisman, of course, had no clue and saw it all as a very interesting experience.  We talked to Dr. Greenwood for a while, and he did another exam to confirm that Heisman does actually have a full cruciate tear of her right hind leg and, as we knew, was the perfect candidate for a TPLO procedure.  I shared with him my fears of her limping on her left hind leg, and he said that he would check it out as well through some x-rays.  After a tearful goodbye, the waiting game began.

I heard from Dr. Greenwood around 6:30pm.  He said that the surgery was pretty much "textbook" and that Heisman had done very well.  Normal dogs have a 25 degree slope to their knee, and Heisman was at 32 degrees - which is quite a large difference that no doubt led us to this injury - confirming genetics as the reason behind the tear.  The other bad news is that he can already detect "changes" in her other knee joint and can tell that we are dealing with the same "sloping" problem there.  Bottom line: prepare for the inevitable second surgery.  I could hardly hear all of this additional information through focusing on the fact that my baby had a successful textbook surgery, and there was nothing showing Dr. Greenwood that she would have anything less than a full recovery of the right leg.

I had planned on picking her up tomorrow after work, but Dr. Greenwood said that she is ready for discharge tomorrow morning.  You can't imagine how quickly I took the day off - I will spend it working, but next to my puny puppy!!  I am getting really nervous about having Heisman home and the recovery period ahead of us, but I also cannot WAIT to see her.

I have had so much support throughout this procedure from my friends over at OrthoDogs - they have been so reassuring and supportive.  Heisman and I both look forward to recovering in good company with a lot of other sweet dogs in the same boat!

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers for Heisman - look for another post tomorrow after she is home in the comfort of her bright blue romper room!