Well, its been a long time since my last post...actually the day after Meadow's second TPLO in August. I had intended to provide some updates along the way but dropped the ball. Yesterday marked 13 weeks post TPLO for ACL #2 and we went to the surgeon for xrays and received the good news that the bone is all healed and she has been given the go ahead to resume normal activity (almost all activities - holding off on things like dog parks and full running for a little while). That being said, she still has a limp at times and she will pick up her leg on occasion after laying down for a while (mostly at night after she has been active during the day). We have seen some improvement on this front quite a bit over the last 2 weeks. The doctor and therapist believe that it is from the need to rebuild the lost muscle mass in the leg as this has been torn since earlier this year (February-April time frame) and she has been compensating for that tear for a long time. This one has been MUCH more of a challenge than the first leg. The first leg "seemed" to be fully functional and no limp by week 8 post-op, but, as mentioned above, we still see signs from this second one even 13 weeks later. In addition to the lost muscle mass, the doctor feels the longer healing process is from the fact that when we had the first ACL fixed she was forced to use the newly-operated leg immediately since the other leg was torn as well. With this leg, she could rely more on the "good, fully healed" leg and not use the second operated leg as much as she should be. But we have made it through (for now until she does something else!) So there it is...from my first post on April 16th to today she has had both legs repaired and ready to be a DOG! We will still have some things to work through with her back at some point although that seems to be ok as of now....so fingers crossed. Thank you for all of your support through this and I would be happy to offer any feedback or answer questions for anyone else going through this with their dog.
I missed this thread when you first posted, but am happy to hear she is doing well and on her way to being pain free! It's been a long road for you guys, but it's worth it for Meadow to now have a good quality of life.
Thrilled for you both, what a difficult journey it has been! Thank you for sharing...and ehem photos?
Oh my goodness, what a journey you have been through. So glad things are slowly getting better. Please do keep us updated how things go on.
Well done , I know that the surgeons are to be commended , but good nursing goes a long way too , so pleased for you x
Quite an adventure you have had. You will have become quite an expert on ACLs TPLOs and crate rest I would guess
Like others glad to hear things are better but curious how much this all cost you. Sounds incredibly expensive. Do you have pet insurance?
Great news! It's been a long journey but Meadow can now enjoy being a dog! I hope you can relax too - well, maybe a bit! Can we see some photos?
Wow glad to hear you have made it through both surgeries and Meadow is almost fully healed. Hats off to you! I know it has been a long spring, summer and fall...but she will have fully functioning legs now and that will be just wonderful! Now here's hoping her back won't give her too many problems!
There have been a few request for pictures...here ya go. The "cone" pictures were taken with her second surgery. The one where she is "smiling" is when I told her she would get her cone off soon and the second cone picture is when she learned she still had a week left (LOL!). Similar look I get from my kids. Also, the video is from her therapy session a few weeks ago. IMG_1584 by Tdub4 posted Dec 10, 2017 at 1:38 PM IMG_1583 by Tdub4 posted Dec 10, 2017 at 1:38 PM IMG_1812 (2) by Tdub4 posted Dec 10, 2017 at 1:42 PM Water Treadmill - YouTube by Tdub4 posted Dec 10, 2017 at 1:38 PM
Unfortunately, we did not have pet insurance. We debated it when she was a puppy and obviously regret that decision. We have had two labs before Meadow and the second one had one significant event (ate a sock and was stuck in her intestine requiring surgery) that was costly, but nothing that would add up to the costs of paying for insurance over the lifetime. Well, we now have had the opposite and would have to think REALLY hard the next time. As far as costs....more than I would care to type but we made a commitment to her and had the ability to take care of it so we did. The breeder had offered to take her back and give us a new puppy but that wasn't what we signed up for. She is our family and look forward to many years with her!
Not sure what I am doing wrong....I noticed my gallery was set to "Owner View" only and set that to "Everyone" but still see I am getting an error when I log out and try to view it. I just upgraded my account today so maybe I have to wait until I am approved to post photos??
Oh I can see! Isn't she gorgeous...love her expressive and happy face despite everything, a credit to you x
She looks lovely, particularly in the ‘smiley’ photo! The water treadmills are excellent for post-op therapy, just as my collie-cross had several years ago - and we didn’t have pet insurance then, either!
