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Scared To Death...


Guest jturchi2

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Sending prayers and healing thoughts... :hope:candle

Jeanne with Remington & Scooter the cat
....and Beloved Bridge Angels Sandee, Shari, Wells, Derby, Phoenix, Jerry Lee and Finnian.....
If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again.

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Guest LynnM

Ask around and find out if there is a vet near you that sees a lot of hunting dogs. Ligament repair absolutely IS done on large dogs, but it's usually a result of trauma (like your dog) rather than poor breeding (as is seen in the small dogs that most vets do ligament repair on). A vet that handles a large volume of working dogs (around here it's hunting dogs on the plantations or racing greyhounds) will know what to do to fix the knee so that it's sturdy enough to hold up to hard work. The repair usually leaves a pretty sizeable scar, but that's a small price to pay for a functional knee.

 

Lynn

 

Just read your update... that's good!

 

Remember that the physical therapy and aftercare is just as important as the actual surgery. Don't be afraid to ask questions. The best thing to do is to write down any question so you don't forget it and bring them with you when you go to talk to the vet and staff.

 

Lynn

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Guest jturchi2

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the slow update. It has been a CRAZY couple of days. Dye's first surgery was on Wednesday at 9:00 am. They found some of her ligaments, so they first tried to reattach what was left with non-soluable sutures. Once they finished, they did some stress radiographs, but the sutures failed. They immediately went back in and drilled a whole a little further down on her Tibia and reattached the ligaments again. They did stress graphs and everything held up. At that point the specialist was really happy with the results, so they splinted Dye's leg and moved her to ICU. At some point Wednesday night Dye's ligaments snapped again. Thursday afternoon, they went back in a place a screw in her femur. They used the same hole as before (the 2nd one) and threaded sutures from the screw to the hole. In essence, they created a scaffolding for her scar tissue to form around in order to create a "new ligament". Since her surgery yesterday she has been doing great. They have taken several more rounds of stress graphs and things seem to be holding up. My only concern is that she hasn't been eating normal today, but Dr.Leshem isn't too worried about it yet, seeing as how she had three surgeries in 24 hours.

 

We are hoping that Dye will be able to come home with us tomorrow. I've been driving back and forth between Iowa City and Ames all week, staying over a couple of nights. Dye also has a metal splint that runs from the bottom of her foot, up the outside of her leg, wraps around the front of her leg, and then runs back down the inside of her leg. She will be in the splint for a few weeks, which means we will be on strictly potty duty (out to use the restroom and then back in). Dr.Leshem seems to think that Dye will be doing rehab for about 3-4 months. Iowa State has a great program with underwater treadmills, big swimming pools, and lots of land exercises too. The woman who runs the program has greys of her own, says that they are her absolute favorite breed, and just loves working with them. I am a little nervous about doing the exercises here at home. My biggest fear is that I will hurt her again. But Dr.Leshem will give us a week by week outline of exactly what to do. So hopefully that will help.

 

Well, sorry for the delay in the update and for such a long message. It was a difficult week, but I feel pretty good about the overall outcome. I'm just ANXIOUS to have Dye back at home. She is my only pet, and the house has been way too quiet around here.

 

I will definitely update more once we get Dye home and settled. Thank you soooooo much for all of your warm thoughts and prayers. I know each one of them really helped Dye! :)

 

More to come! :)

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wow, you've sure had a time of it! sounds like good news and you're fortunate to have access to such great facilities :)

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Xavi the galgo and Peter the cat. Missing Iker the galgo ?-Feb.9/19, Treasure (USS Treasure) April 12/01-May 6/13, Phoenix (Hallo Top Son) Dec.14/99-June 4/11 and Loca (Reko Swahili) Oct.9/95 - June 1/09, Allen the boss cat, died late November, 2021, age 19.

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What an ordeal for you both! Poor Dye.

 

I'm glad things are looking good now, though - it sounds as if she's absolutely in the right place, with them keeping such a close eye on her progress. I'm sending many good wishes for her continuing to do very well, and to be home really soon! :hope :hope :hope

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The plural of anecdote is not data

Brambleberry Greyhounds My Etsy Shop

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I would DEFINITELY get a specialist opinion. Way back in the seventies, the vets I worked for were doing cruciate ligament replacement surgery. Admittedly the dogs I saw operated on were small dogs, but I'm willing to bet ligament surgery is a possibility for a grey, if you see the right vet.

 

I would be very reluctant to accept the advice to amputate without seeing a specialist at a vet school or referral centre.

 

Exactly my thoughts! Best wishes for a good recovery!

--------------------------------------------

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Marion, Ivy & Soldi

 

Perseverance is not a long race...

it is many short races one after another.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest jturchi2

Hi Everyone.

Unfortunately this post comes with some bad news. We have reached the end of the road here. Dye had her 4th procedure last Monday. We were able to bring her home Thursday evening with high hopes that this would be it, and after being home for about an hour she stood up and her procedure failed in her knee again allowing her tibia to move out of place. I took her back first thing Friday morning to see Dr.Leshem again. Thursday night he spent time on the phone with his senior surgeons (who also called colleagues around the US) and they came up with a plan to use external fixateurs on her leg. She will have a pivot joint at the knee that they will be locked for about 4 weeks, as well as 6 pins in her leg and two rods connected by the pins. This will hopefully keep her knee stable enough to allow scar tissue to form and create a "new ligament". If this does not work she will have to have her leg amputated. I was so hopefully, but now I feel like I'm at the end of the road with not much hope left.

 

Dye is in great spirits and greets everyone at the hospital with a happy smile and a wagging tail. We think the problem is that she favors her right side to sleep on, and that is the hurt leg. We think she causes the sutures inside her leg to fail with she tries to lie down on that leg and then also standing back up again. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me keep her off of that side? I cannot be with her 24 hrs a day, so I'm afraid that I am going to come home and she will have hurt herself again.

 

We will be giving her a sedative at night so that I can lay her down on one side and she will hopefully stay there. Also, I don't get much sleep when she is home because I'm constantly listening for her to move so that I can be there to help her. Hopefully, if I know she will be sleeping throughout the night then I can get some sleep too.

 

Sorry for the slow updates. It's been one crazy ride. Please continue to keep Dye in your prayers. She will have surgery for her external fixateurs tomorrow morning at 11 am. I truly appreciate it and I know it will help her feel better!

 

I'll let you know how everything goes.

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Just getting to this story too, and am so sorry. Adding my prayers that your baby's leg will heal and not have to amputate.

Mom to Toley (Astascocita Toley) DOB 1/12/09, and Bridge Angel Opie (Wine Sips Away) 3/14/03-12/29/12

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