Recovery Day 1

Well, here we are, almost 24 hours out of surgery.  Harding and I picked Heisman up this morning, and she is already doing so well!  She's not putting her surgery leg down at all, but that's certainly fine by us.  She already went outside to relieve herself once with success!  She, of course, decided that this was necessary 2 minutes after her dad left to meet a friend for lunch.  However, we did fine just the two of us!  So, you can see her post-surgery xray to the right - WOW.  She is officially a bionic puppy!  The post-op instructions that the vet gave us were not nearly as intense as some that I have read online - but we are certainly erring on the side of caution for the time being.

We had heard that it may be difficult to get her to eat and drink at first, but she had a Frosty Paws soon after getting home, beelined for the treats after coming in from outside, and, admittedly, shared some of Mommy's barbeque sandwich that Daddy brought home.  After that smorgasboard, she and Hamilton are tapped out in the dog bed.  Hamilton was very happy to see Heisman and has been a very supportive big sister - even giving Heisman a bath - we agreed with her that Heisman is pretty stinky!  I am posting some more pics below.  It is alarming that everything seems so normal right now - I know that we have some tough days ahead, but it does a heart good to have our baby home safe and sound.

A labeled look at Heisman's post-surgery X-rays.  You can see the cut in her bone here as well as the TPLO plate and screws.

A quick look at the incision - it is on the inside of the leg, so I have not done a lot of digging and poking to get a better look.

Another shot of the incision.

Post- surgery Frosty Paws with Daddy.

Hamilton showing her sisterly support.

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!

Welcome to Blueland - and a Pre-Surgery Setback

Well, we are in the home stretch before surgery, and are making preparations to get our house "post-surgery friendly."  What exactly does this entail, you may ask?  Well, the biggest hurdle has been that Heisman will not be allowed to walk on wood floors for at least 8 weeks - which is all that we have in our little house.  Our friends Mike and Gina Whitehead were nice enough to donate a bound piece of carpet and padding to the cause.  My parents brought the carpet up on Saturday, and we decided to use just the non-slip padding in the kitchen, where Heisman will stay while we are at work, and then use the carpet piece along with another rug from my parents' attic in the living room.  The part of this story that is humorous is that the carpet padding is bright blue and shiny.  So, you can only imagine how lovely our kitchen looks - I don't think the pictures even do it justice.  Our dining room 

table is pushed against the wall and everything else is BLUE.  I would take a picture of the hodge-podge carpeted living room, but the family is all currently occupying it now watching the Super Bowl.  Also, Heisman's daddy built her a ramp today so that she can avoid the one step required to go from the deck to the backyard.  The only downside to this is that Heisman is TERRIFIED of the ramp.  She will not go near it.  Needless to say, we have a good bit of work to do before Friday when she will really need to use it.

Also, we have had a bit of a set back this week.  Heisman has started limping a bit on her "good" hind leg.  As we know, CCL injuries in dogs can basically be caused by one of two things: an athletic injury or a genetic issue.  If the cause is genetics, it is pretty much inevitable that the ligament will tear in the other leg.  We were really hoping that this was not the case with Heisman, but I am definitely fearing the worst.  I would really be surprised if the surgeon does not tell us on Thursday that both ligaments are torn.  At this point we will have to make the decision to decide to have bilateral surgery (both legs at once) or have the first leg done, recover for 8 weeks, then have the second.  This process definitely takes a toll on the heart and the wallet, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

On a more fun note, more preparations.  I have been trying to find toys for Heisman to "play" with while confined.  I wanted something where she would have to use her mind a bit to get some of her food or another treat.  My first buy was the "Canine Genius" - a laughable name

if you know how far from a genius Heisman really is.  Within the first 10 minutes, she had the bottom ripped off and had gotten all of the little treats out.  Who's the Canine Genius now???  The "big winner" has been the Everlasting Treat Ball, pictured at right.  I take the "indestructible" claim of dog toys with a grain of salt (see Canine Genius), but so far, so good.  This toy is built so that I can put pieces of Heisman's food in the middle and either give it to her that way or cap off each end with Everlasting Treats.  She LOVES it either way!  Now, all I have to do is find the Everlasting Treats at a more affordable price than the one offered at Petsmart.  Another success has been filling Kongs with Kong Stuff'n and Kong Ziggies and freezing them, so we will keep that up as well!

Our final purchase for Heisman's recovery is the Ruffwear Web Master Harness.  It came in but was too small, so I have sent it back to get a Large.  Hopefully, the exchange will come before Friday!  This will allow me to better support Heisman's back legs after surgery because it puts a handle on the top of Heisman's back that I can lift up on to support her weight.

As you can tell, Heisman's parents have had a very eventful past few days.  I am very anxious going into this week.  Surgery day is Thursday, so we can only hope for the best.  Look for updates as the week progresses and after the big day.  Thanks for thinking of us!

Welcome!

Welcome to Heisman's surgery blog!  Heisman is a 2 year old female yellow labrador retriever who was diagnosed with a torn cruciate ligament in December of 2008.  After her crazy mother got a second opinion and did an insane amount of research, we have decided to move forward with the surgery recommended by both veterinarians - TPLO, or Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy.  I will not even attempt to describe what all the surgery entails, but you can read up on all of the details by clicking here.  Involved in the surgery is making an cut through her lower leg bone and inserting a plate with 6 screws that will be there for the rest of her life. 

The TPLO was not the only surgical solution for Heisman, but I am told (promised) that it is the one offering the most normal, long term use of her leg for the rest of her life.  Also discussed was an extracapsular repair, which is less invasive but not recommended for an 80 pound dog, and a TTA, or Tibial Tuberosity Advancement.  Never did I think I would know so much about the anatomy of a dog's leg, but I have been determined to arm myself with a vast amount of information so that I can be assured when dropping Heisman off for surgery that I have made the best decision possible for her.

Heisman's initial set of x-rays are below - confirming no hip dysplasia (YAY) as well as no other fractures to her leg.  As in humans, you cannot see the ligament tear in the x-ray.  That must be diagnosed be the doctor checking for unnecessary and unnatural mobility in the knee joint, which is certainly present in Heisman.

The next step after choosing the right procedure for Heisman's leg was choosing the correct surgeon.  The doctor who gave us the first opinion suggested that we go to a vet in Riverdale, GA who he described as "Captain Kangaroo on crack."  If you completely factor out the Captain Kangaroo comment, the fact that this vet is located in Riverdale alone was enough to place some major doubts in my mind, despite the fact that I am proud to be Little Miss Riverdale 1985 (thanks, Mom).  The doubts were compounded by the fact that the vet would not refer me to any other surgery center regardless of how much research I did. It sounded like a "kickback" situation to me.  I knew I wanted to get a second opinion anyway, so we got through the Christmas holiday - which lucky for Heisman came with a LOT of wrapping paper to shred - and headed up to Woodstock, GA for a second opinion.  The vet that we saw in Woodstock recommended that we head to Athens to the University of Georgia vet school.  That was a VERY hard sell seeing as Heisman's parents are both Georgia Tech graduates, but we decided that if it was the best thing for Heisman, we would go for it.  When I called to schedule the appointment, I was told by a (very lazy) scheduler that I could not choose my surgeon, know anything about the many orthopedic surgeons in advance, or come in for a consultation without scheduling surgery.  That just didn't feel right.  They also told us that Heisman would stay in Athens for 5 nights following the surgery, which didn't bother me, but was quite different from the 1 night that I had read about in my research.  I stewed over all of this information for a night and, of course, did even more research.  I read many MIXED reviews (some AMAZING, some heart wrenchingly awful) about UGA and also read about the many preparations that my husband and I would need to make for Heisman's recovery.  All of our wood floors need to be covered in carpet for Heisman to walk on them, we need a sling to help support the weight on her back legs for the first week, we need ramps on any steps she comes in contact with, etc.  So, I turn into Mom-zilla and call UGA back the next morning.  I speak to the same delightful ray of sunshine that I had spoken with the day before who said she TOLD me that I would be able to talk to the surgeon WHEN I DROP THE DOG OFF and if I have any questions before that to call my vet, have my vet call them and get answers, then call my vet back.  That was it.  Back to what I've always known: TO HELL WITH GEORGIA.  I quite politely informed this individual that I would not drop my dog off within a 15 mile radius of her and called our local vet for advice.  To my delight, she recommended the surgery center that I was leaning towards after all of my research (you would not believe the hours logged on the internet).  So, we now have a surgeon - Dr. Kenneth Greenwood of Northlake Veterinary Specialists.

That's our (already long) story in a nutshell.  Stay tuned to the blog for developments on Heisman's surgery and recovery!