A week out.

Otis is doing phenomenally well. As I type, he is chewing (what's new?) on a pressed rawhide bone. That boy's jaw is so strong we can barely find anything that will last longer than a day or so for him to chew on--in front of me right now I see a pet bed, a skinneeez penguin, a huge rawhide (that isn't huge any longer) and a pressed rawhide. I just hope one of those will keep him from being bored out of his mind tonight--it's really one day at a time on the boredom front!

His incisions are healing nicely. The large incision with sutures is no longer swollen or red, and you can see his hip muscles again (the hip area was so swollen for awhile there that you couldn't see his musculature. His inner groin incision (closed with surgical glue, I believe) looks the best it's ever looked--finally not red any more. We're now supposed to be applying heat to the affected area, so we'll be trying that tonight. He takes his medicine well--especially his flavored one-a-day pill and his flavored glucosamine. The three-times-a-day pill he doesn't like at all--it's very bitter--so either we put it in a cheese cube or mix it with yogurt. Good tricks, let me tell you. To be honest, we probably could stop giving him the medicine--but I'd rather not until we've spoken with the surgeon on Monday. Best to leave that decision to the doctors, I say.

As in the last message, it's really the strict rest order that's the hardest to follow. He's not in pain any more and he just wants to play. He begs you with his big brown eyes--"please, mom, PLEASE can I chase the cat?" We're in the midst of a snowstorm, and the winds are so strong that we have 12+ inch drifts out back...boy is it difficult to handle a rambunctious puppy--in the snow--with exercise restrictions and a sling--when you're maneuvering through foot-high snow! Inside, sometimes he acts like he's stretching and then tries to pounce on a toy. When that happens he gets crated immediately with the "cone of shame". He *really* hates that cone. We'll all be happy when Monday rolls around and those stitches are removed.

As well as he's doing, I'd love for them to do surgery 2 as soon as possible. I also wonder, as well as he's walking, if the left hip isn't all that bad? Wishful thinking, probably--since he's not being active, it's no wonder that hip looks perfectly healthy. But a girl can hope, right?

I cannot stress enough just how ecstatic we are about his progress--I think we're both pretty surprised at how well he's doing. He's a little champion. You know, you go through these moments where you wonder, "why our puppy?", especially when you hand over the plastic to pay the hospital bills...but then you get your morning kisses from your little man and you remember that it doesn't matter at all. All that matters are his health and happiness.

First night and full day at home.

Otis was an angel last night. In his crate for a full night and not a peep from him. His pain medication had worn off by the time we woke him up, but you wouldn't have known it by the way he greeted us. We fed him, gave him water, and gave him his pain/anti-inflammatory medicine, which must be taken with food. He went out and used the bathroom, and then we iced his wounds to reduce the swelling. He doesn't mind it at all (in this photo, he's watching the cat run around...which makes for a good distraction, but a tempting one):

And then we gave him his massage, which tickles him, I think. It's adorable. Notice his low, submissive ears? He just loves when daddy gives him his massage three times/day.

We then went to work all day, and when I returned home in the afternoon he was just as sweet and just as wonderful...

Well, OK, so let me be a little honest...he's a bit of a handful outside, I must admit. He was trying to drag me around the yard and when I tried to get him to go inside he put on the brakes and I had to do a major correction to get him to keep going. I think that's the only time he's really starting to rebel against us, and I imagine it will only get more difficult as he continues to heal.

One day down on our road to recovery...many more to come!

Photos

Here, as promised, are early photos from the road to recovery. Remember, this is only 3 days after the surgery:

In his crate with his cone of shame.

See the two incisions? There's a third on his inner groin. We are to ice the swelling around each incision daily.

Here's dad helping him around the yard with his sling. We don't lift his rear end, rather we just give him extra support should he slip or fall.

Here he is seated, relatively normally.

You'd never know he had surgery...here he is chewing his busy bone on his orthopedic bed.

He's home!

About an hour ago, we returned home with our little man-man. After paying an exorbitant bill (yikes), we got to see him; and let me tell you, our expectations were well exceeded. He came in the exam room on a leash with a blue sling under his rear (pictures to come) and was so super excited to see us that he was wagging his tail, lowering his head, and trying to jump all over us. He was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and not out of it at all. We were thrilled to see his normal, happy-go-lucky self coming at us--we'd missed him so! Except for the shaved rear end and stitches, you'd never know he'd had surgery...in fact, we brought him home and he tried to run and jump throughout the back yard! We're really gonna have to keep an eye on him to keep him from doing too much too soon.

Our marching orders are:
1. Give him two types of pain medications/anti-inflammatories every day.
2. Only let him out to go to the bathroom, and always on the leash.
3. Keep the cone of shame on him whenever he's unsupervised.
4. Do daily massages of the hip and leg area.
5. For the next two days, apply ice packs to the wounds twice daily--then apply heat for a week after that.
6. Come back on Monday, March 1st, to get the sutures removed.

We are up for the challenge. Right now, Otis is sleeping in his crate...and when he wakes up, we'll feed him, ice his wounds and give him a massage (and I'll take some photos). I'll be posting them soon.

Day 2 Post-Op

Otis is not yet home with us, but I've been speaking with the hospital every day. Here's a rundown of what we heard yesterday and today:

Friday morning--Otis was doing very well, and he was still on the IV pain medication. The techs were using the sling to help him get around and he was putting a tiny bit of weight on his right foot, which was expected. He wasn't eating well, but that's normal. They adjusted his pain medication in case he was nauseous.

Friday evening--Otis was *still* doing very well, and by the evening, he was eating and drinking normally. The tech told me that he was the sweetest puppy, and very mellow. That's our Otis. :-)

Saturday morning--Otis is again doing great. He's using his leg, eating and drinking normally and was on oral pain meds finally. Apparently, you need to walk him very slowly so he's forced to use the leg, and when you do that, he puts a bit of weight down as he should. Our little man has gotten curious about his boo-boos, though, and he's licking them--so he's got one of those "cones of shame".

That's good news though, since we'll be crating him while we're at work. Better to be safe than sorry, I say. Lindsay told us that he loves to squeak his little skineeez rabbit, and she's surprised that he hasn't ripped the squeakers out of it yet. (That's because our baby loves his rabbit and doesn't want to "kill" it...he's a lover, not a fighter!)

On another note, he's being started on a new medication to "increase the contractility of his bladder". Apparently, a short-term side effect of this surgery is minor nerve damage. This nerve damage can cause difficulty with urination, such that he has a weak stream when he goes (sounds like a commercial for prostate medication to me, lol). This can cause damage to the bladder if it gets worse--but at this point, the medicine is just precautionary, and we'll have to keep an eye on him at home as well. We're on schedule for him to come home tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon. I can't wait to see my man-man!

Note: Found out last night that some colleagues of mine have an 8-year old Bernese Mountain dog who had this same surgery 7 years ago from the same surgeon. I played with her all evening, and she was jumping and bounding about. That makes me very hopeful and very happy. :-)

Very Big Exhale

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Otis' dad, J.V. Obviously you know that our dog Otis just had TPO surgery today which lasted 2 hours. Thankfully my saint of a wife, Beth, has done a great job keeping tabs on Otis through inside info with one of the tech vets (Erin) and the doc.

Otis is now on the road to recovery (At least that's what I'm calling it). It's been pretty tough since we got the news that Otis has this terrible genetic disease, especially today, but we are ready to help him get back on the road to recovery. Making it even more difficult, I'm currently on the road heading to Boston (work related of course). Even worse, I won't be back till early Sunday morning (BOOO). Good news is, when I get home, it will be time to pick the little fella up and start, that's right, his road to recovery! Well that's it for me. Wish us luck.

The surgery is complete

Well, I just spoke with Dr. Ross. Otis is out of surgery and awake. He's on an IV with fentanyl (a narcotic painkiller) and will be until the morning. The surgery took about 2 hours, which was less than expected, but it went well. Also contrary to expectations, the surgeon ended up rotating the hip socket 35 degrees rather than 25 degrees, which means (a) the hip joint is tighter and (b) there is a greater risk (from what I've read) of complications later on (e.g., degenerative joint disease, limited movement, etc.). But those risks are still really low, regardless. The steel plate was installed with all eight possible screws implanted, which the doctor seemed pleased about. Apparently, the soft bones of young dogs do better with more screws, which also lines up with the research I've read. About 25% of TPO cases have screw loosening--often in young dogs or due to improper post-op care--but the more screws you have, the less chance that this loosening will impact the recovery process.

Anyhow, the doctor says that things look "good" (his words), and that's what I'm hanging onto now. I'm to stay away from the hospital so as to not over-excite the little man, but I'll be calling every morning. The goal is to get him off of narcotics and onto oral pain medication, and when the morning comes, they'll start taking him out to go to the restroom and get moving; we'll get detailed instructions when they send him home. He'll be in my thoughts all night, I'm sure.

But for now, I'll just prepare the house for his arrival and watch the new Michael Jackson documentary. At least I'll have some good tunes to serenade my cleaning...

(btw, my last post was actually me [momma], not "daddy"...gotta remember that we share a computer sometimes!)

Night before the big day...

So I'm sitting here with man-man while he chews on a Busy Bone. I love those things. They are work-at-home lifesavers... without them, he'd be like a child pulling on his mom's legs, "play with me, play with me" all the time. So, thank you whatever-company-that-makes-busy-bones. Much appreciated.

Anyhow, Otis goes into surgery in the morning. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive. But I'm also more confident than ever that this is the right decision to make for his future. I suppose we're lucky that we can give him the treatment he needs--not everyone would be able to do so. Struggling with the decision is probably the component of this surgery that is most overlooked when you research the process. I, of course, went along with the doctor's recommendations on this option, but that decision followed the expectation that it would come down to this (and hours of online research). Even as prepared as I was, I wasn't 100% sure that we were doing the right thing. And regardless of the facts you know, you sometimes can't keep your emotions from telling you that (a) it's your fault or (b) there has to be another way to "fix" him. My husband and I talked a lot over the past week, and I think we're invested in our decision and ready for what comes next. We're going to try our best not to be distracted by the pain that he's feeling or the frustration that comes from being restricted--and we're going to try to remember that you do what's best for the creatures under your care, even if they don't like it.

Tomorrow night will be the first night since we got Otis that I'll be away from him, and we won't be able to visit until we pick him up on Sunday night (the doctor doesn't want him to get too excited). In the meantime, I'll be preparing the house for his recovery--cleaning, buying a rug to cover the slippery floor, etc.--while trying to ignore my worries. I'll be anxiously awaiting news from my favorite vet techs in the meantime and trying to mentally prepare for the hard work ahead of us.

When he comes home, we'll be trying our best to follow the immortal words of Cesar Millan: "live in the moment." We'll take every day one day at a time...and by the summer he'll be swimming in the lake with mom and dad. I'll sign off now, until then, enjoy some more pictures from last weekend.

About TPO...

After my first post, I realized that it might not be clear what a "triple pelvic osteotomy" entails. I didn't know either, and after hours on the net (thanks, google), I found a lot of information. I'll include some links if you want some more info, and when we get our x-rays, I'll try to upload those as well.

In the most basic terms, hip dysplasia means Otis has "loose hips". So, when he moves, his gluteal muscles (and others) have to work to keep his femoral head (the ball) in his hip joint (the socket). As it is, the ball doesn't really fit in the socket right. So Otis has been limping because his poor leg muscles have been working over time...especially after a trip to the dog park or a romp around the yard. Over time, the rubbing of ball-on-socket results in arthritis. And with a dog like Otis, it wouldn't be but a couple of years until he'd be completely crippled. That's not a life we want for our man-man. Some dogs who are dysplastic never need surgery. Unfortunately ours does.

The TPO surgery involves three "osteotomies" (bone cuts) around his pelvis and the insertion of a steel plate and screws to reshape the hip socket. Ideally, this preserves his natural hip socket and allows for the hip to move as it should. Voila--no more dysplasia. Our doctor says that the max rotation they can do with success is 40 degrees. Luckily for us, Otis only needs between 20-25 degrees rotation. This (plus his young age) makes him a good candidate for full recovery. Not to mention our surgeon is one of the most sought after in the nation. :-)

Anyhow, here are some links (not from our vet, but just some that I found online) that show x-rays, etc. I found them helpful as I was learning about the procedure. I'll be posting "Otis's last rambunctious weekend before surgery" in a few days.

http://www.dcvets.org/surgical/tpo.pdf

http://www.veterinaryspecialty.com/TriplePelvicOsteotomy.aspx

X-rays after both hips have been done: http://www.lbah.com/images/canine/Hip_Dysplasia/TPO.jpg

As a researcher myself, I have a soft spot for research...so here's some research on the successfulness of the surgery:

http://old.vri.cz/docs/vetmed/48-2-41.pdf

The beginning.

We got Otis, a golden retriever puppy, from a very reputable breeder in October of 2009 when he was 9 weeks old. He was the largest of the litter--my choice--and the husband let me choose which golden ball of fluff we would call our own. He named our little man Otis--after a dog he used to own years ago. When we first got him, he looked like a fat little manatee...and on the first night he collapsed in his water bowl. Adorable.

I've not been what you would call a "dog person". In fact, I've never had a puppy/dog. We currently have two cats--Butch and Jasmine--and I was perfectly happy with my feline companions. But 'tis true what they say...there is nothing like a puppy, and I was smitten from day 1. And my husband truly found a best friend. We were in heaven. Well, at least the kind of heaven that includes cleaning up accidents and saying "no!". From that time, Otis has been our constant companion...rambunctious, happy, kind and gentle. A perfect golden. He especially loved playing in the autumn leaves.

But not long after Christmas 2009, we noticed Otis having trouble standing up from a lying position and limping after vigorous play. Concerned, we got x-rays in early February which confirmed our suspicion...Otis was dysplastic in both hips. Our reaction, of course, was serious devastation.

This is our documentation of Otis's journey dealing with hip dysplasia. Next Thursday, February 18th, Otis will receive the first of two Triple Pelvic Osteotomies (TPO) on his right hip and we will embark upon a 10+ week adventure. We're in it for the long haul, and we think the sharing will be therapeutic for us, and hopefully informative for anyone dealing with TPO. To be honest, we have no idea what to expect, and we're a bit apprehensive, but I suppose we'll deal with that in time.

For now, here are some more photos of our Otes-man (affectionately known as "man-man"):

"Stay, Otis, staaaaay..."

Soon he'll be running through the grass just like he used to...