10/17/2001
Today is one week from the date of the surgery. I am so stressed out and worried about Lucy right now. She is in a lot less pain than she was in before, and that is good. She is able to sleep comfortably through the night, which is certainly a big relief.
But the neuropraxia is still there and has shown no signs of improvement. In fact, she may have even regressed, since the first day I brought her home I saw her use her foot, but nothing since them. She has her foot curled and dragging behind her. The doctor taped her foot straight so she canā€™t curl it, thinking I guess that it will give her some more support, and maybe encourage her to use it.
It is so upsetting to me, since when I brought Lucy home, the doctor felt so confident that it would just be a day or so. Now he says a week or so, and I donā€™t trust him because he was wrong the first time. What if her leg never works again?
I am so upset when I think of the fact that most dogs leave the hospital using their new hip, walking on it. Lucy is now 1 week post op, when most people are worried about keeping their happy, excitable dog quiet, and Lucy is struggling to stand on 3 legs.
All she wants to do these days is sleep. It is no problem keeping her quiet, since she just wants to lay around. In fact, this morning, when I was leaving for work, she did not want to get up to go to the bathroom. She had slept all night, and for 2 more hours in the morning, and I had to literally pick her up to get her outside to go to the bathroom. I know sleep is good, since she is healing and repairing herself, but it worries me that she is so sleepy. When she is awake I do see her occasional Lucy smile and sparkle, but more often she is mopey.
I am really hoping that I will see some improvement in the neuropraxia soon. I am so worried about it. And of course, now I keep thinking of all the other possible complications ā€“ infection, rejection, dislocation ā€“ and wondering if she will be exception to the rule for those as well.
I wonder what will be the effect of the neuropraxia on the healing? Will it be better because she is not using it at all, so it is healing without too much movement? Or is it in the wrong position since it is just hanging there? And is she going to lose all of her muscle tone?
I keep questioning the decision to go forward with the surgery. Of course I donā€™t know now what the end result will be, but if I knew she would have a complication like this, my decision would have been more difficult. I just hope this is only a temporary set back and we will be on the road to recovery soon. I am really trying to think positively, but having a tough time of it. I love this dog so much.
She seems to be enjoying her cage, which is a real relief to me. This dog HATED being crated as a pup. We never successfully crate trained her because we gave up after months of sleeplessness. She climbs in there willingly now. I think she feels protected in there, no one can hurt her. Penny did sit on her the other night, and she yelped. Now she sleeps in the cage at night, next to my bed on the floor.
She was doing great with her incision, not bothering it. Well, on the way to the vet yesterday for the follow up check on the neuropraxia, she started licking. I couldnā€™t stop her since I was driving. She didnā€™t do too much damage but she did open it up a little. The staples are all still in. The doctor said she has a seroma - fluid around the incision. Well, when she licked it, it released some of it. So the good part is much of the swelling has gone down.
10/23/2001:
I had the phone consult with the holistic vet today. I think I love this man! He is everything I am looking for in a vet (I think so far!). If all goes well, I think I will likely switch all my pets there. I have never liked our vet but it is 2 minutes from my house. But what a difference - worth the extra drive. This guy really cared to look at the whole picture, not just to get you in and out like our vet.
We talked for a while about his philosophy, training, etc. He wants to go over Lucy's general health, diet, supplements, vaccinations, etc. in addition to focusing on the acute issues. I really liked his philosphy - basically he said he will give me the fact and information and let me make up mind on the course of treatment.
He has labs and says labs are a big part of his practice. He also said that he thinks the surgeon I used was the best and that he would definately have recommended him. But he said, things happen!
He said that the nerve at issue is the sciatic nerve and that it is big - about the size of a shoe lace. He said it is very obvious. One of the things I read talks about nerve dysfunction resulting from the cement - not from the surgeon cutting/nicking it.
Anyway, I have an appointment on Saturday to discuss everything and do an acupuncture and electrostimulation session. He said for the 1st few weeks, we may do 2 sessions to try to get some results right away. I am so looking forward to this. He was so nice, he said something like "I will be the point person for you to call, cry to, complaint to, etc. I will be in constant contact with the surgeon and specialists."
I hope this turns out as good as I think it will Thatā€™s about itā€¦.Hoping next time I will write there will be some improvementsā€¦.
