Guest KyGrey Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I don't think 3 weeks is a majorly long time for a body to heal. Most human surgeries take at least 6-8 weeks to feel any comfort. I am hoping and praying that Canyon's problem now is just muscle-related. Many more prayers are being sent out from Ky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest trevdog Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Hang in there........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Is he still on both pain relief and anti-inflammatory meds? Quote Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in IllinoisWe miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gr8hound47 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Annie, Catching up on Canyon and his recovery. So sorry you are going through the ups and downs with him. I feel your pain. We are in the beginnings of Moxie's disk problems and it feels like forever for us the last 3 weeks. I know every time our boy would cry out when he was hurting, it just broke our heart. Worry, Worry is all we do when it is our fur kids. I will PM you with my number, if you would still like to talk. Sending healing white light and lots of prayers for Canyon and you. Hang in there and keep us updated on how he is doing. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mike Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 three weeks isn't long. I'm a vet and it takes a long time to heal. didn't you originally say your surgeon was perplexed to the amount of pain he was in due to the disk problem? Possibly, he has more than one thing going on. I sure wouldn't lose hope in this amount of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Winterwish Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 (edited) Oh no I'm so sorry to read Canyon is uncomfortable and was hoping so much he'd be feeling much better by now too. Does he have pain medication? That might help him relax as well as relieve pain. If he's *not* on pain medication at this time,maybe Valium can be given,as a muscle relaxant primarily,and the anti-anxiety effect coming with that.. Even before any relief of anxiety,I wonder if the muscle relaxant property of valium may be helpful to him? I'm not a vet,vet tech or involved in healthcare of animals tho'. Reason I ask is we have a few children at work who suffer from extreme forms of spasticity,and at times,they are on a run of valium,which is very helpful,not because of anxiety,but because of intense spasticity of their back and the pain,evidenced by crying,because of that. (which in their case is a hyperextension of the back. Very different,but I wanted to mention it. A repeat MRI would be a good idea,it could be hard on him tho'. Or maybe even have an x-ray taken? - altho' this would be completely out of the ordinary,what if it's something that was left in during the surgery? I don't mean to suggest such a rare possibility type of thing,and if that were the case,he would probably have a a temperature by now,but I just want to mention that as a possibility. Sending prayers for your sweet boy Canyon. Edited April 14, 2009 by Winterwish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annie Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 three weeks isn't long. I'm a vet and it takes a long time to heal. didn't you originally say your surgeon was perplexed to the amount of pain he was in due to the disk problem? Possibly, he has more than one thing going on. I sure wouldn't lose hope in this amount of time. All I have to go on is the neurosurgeon's vast experience. Dr. Sharp did say from the onset that the amount of pain Canyon was in did not coincide with the small tear in his disc. We did Xrays, an MRI, spinal tap (and the fluid was thoroughly examined) and CT scan. Nothing else showed. Do you have any ideas Mike... valley fever? cancer? autoimune disease? What else could it possibly be??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Oh Annie, don't forget it may not be as bad as it appears. Canyon clearly does not feel well and is in discomfort but I am not sure the screams are proportional to the pain intensity. We all bear pain and react to it differently. My hounds have run the gamut from terrible sccreaming over what is obviously merely minor discomfort to stoic attempts to hide-sometimes successfully- terrible pain(as confirmed by the vet). Canyon has been through a terrible ordeal- a terrible assault on his body. Even with no complications it can take months to overcome the negative results of the drugs etc. I would think that realistically it may take almost a year for him to completely put this behind him. It may be muscle spasms or something that is part of the healing process and it may be influenced by a fear of pain that is remembered etc. I am certain the accupuncture will help. And please email me or let me know if it would be alright if I attempted to speak with Canyon. At this point it certainly wouldn't hurt anything to have an animal communicator see if Canyon himself can shed some insight into whats going on with him. What would it hurt? I use Latiffa at www.animalscantalk.com Or you can even ask him yourself. Sometimes we get so caught up trying to help them ourselves -doing everything we know and more for them-that we forget to actually ask them what they think. I had a Dr. explain to me years ago that the body's healing process was cyclical. That sometimes it would go through stages of apparant progress AND apparent regression-but not to worry that that was part of the healing proces. I have observed that this is true over the years. I have also observed how so many times just before the biggest healings it looks the worse. The devil really does kick up a mess sometimes on his way out. Since you are going through this with Canyon I would imagine it is quite difficult to just keep from going nuts so it is much harder to see things sometimes-even if you know they are true. Standing on the Word for Canyons healing to manifest (I don't care what it looks like).... Canyons KY fan club! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carronstar Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I can only echo what everyone is saying, please don't give up hope. Equally important, please don't give up faith in yourself that you are doing everything you possibly can for Canyon. Eaglflyt made a very good point when she said "The muscle spasms can come in *attacks* and they are terribly painful. Also, his guarding his neck with being tense can trigger the spasms from that activity, too." For the first several years after I broke my back (and a few years after I broke my skull...and really, I am rather graceful, both were accidents that happend to me as opposed to clutziness) my back would spasm so badly that you'd think an alien was trying to get out. After my head injury there were prolonged periods where if I turned my head in either direction, it would stay that way for days. Even as a child, I was able to realize that these things were as a result of my accidents. Canyon doesn't reason that way, he only knows he hurts, not why he hurts. His cries could be as much frustration as they are pain. At least I could ask for heat packs (I hated the medication because the best solution was rest so they just kept me asleep) when I was in pain, Canyon can't. You are doing an amazing job thinking for him and trying to anticipate what he needs and getting him every possible test and care. It may just, as you've heard already, take a lot of time for Canyon to come out of this. That said, when our pups hurt, it does seem as though time lengthens dramatically. I truly believe that the day is coming when Canyon will stand up, give himself a mightly full body shake out and be back to his true self. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Che_mar_Cody Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 (edited) :hope :hope Edited April 14, 2009 by Che_mar_Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vinnie Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Hi Annie - I wish we could wave a magic wand and make everything better or at least get answers to make everything better. When Higgins had his lower back surgery, he was in a lot of pain - and we were all fearful that the surgery did nothing for him. He was supposed to be able to do stairs after 3 - 4 weeks and it took him 6 weeks and then he still had to be lifted in a sling significantly as he went up or down the stairs - he should have been off his pain meds fairly quickly and they refilled 3 other times - even after he was finally doing the stairs (oh so slowly) by himself, he was still whimpering in pain. Slowly, like snails pace slowly, the signs disappeared and he became more like himself. His surgery was in Nov '07 and now you can barely tell that he had the surgery. The only difference is he does not stand up to give you hugs any more (physically, he just can't so we lean down so he can give us hugs with his neck) and if you know where the surgery was, you can find the scar otherwise you would never see it. I believe it took about 3 months before he was completely off meds. And we did some therapy with manipulation and moist paks. I hope that the vet/specialist will have answers for you today. I have a knee procedure this morning but will check back as soon as I can get to a computer. Keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers - feel free to pm me or call. Hugs and scritches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NHgreys Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetdogs Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I hope your conversations with the vets today are fruitful. I don't have any personal experience, but I would agree that 3 weeks doesn't seem like a very long time to be completely healed from something like this. Every creature is an individual & just because every other dog has healed more quickly than Canyon doesn't mean that he will or should. His body will work at its own pace. His neurosurgeon's job is to cut & since that procedure went well, that may be all the surgeon is concerned about to a large extent. I think working with a pt & rehab facility will be more helpful & encouraging at this point. They may have a completely different point of view about healing timelines. I hope Canyon's pain eases up very soon - that is so hard for us pet owners to deal with. Quote Deirdre with Conor (Daring Pocobueno), Keeva (Kiowa Mimi Mona), & kittehs Gemma & robthomas. Our beloved angels Faolin & Liath, & kittehs Mona & Caesar. Remembering Bobby, Doc McCoy, & Chip McGrath. "He feeds you, pets you, adores you, collects your poop in a bag. There's only one explanation: you are a hairy little god." Nick Galifinakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annie Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I have put a call in to the neurosurgeon and am awaiting his return call. Something is going to be done today... If Canyon's distress cannot be explained adequately, I want another CT scan or MRI. I can only reiterate, Dr. Sharp does not think Canyon's level of distress is "normal" for 3 weeks post ventral slot/disc fenestration surgery. Surely he would know... Another day will not pass without a plan of action for my precious boy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Everything is crossed here for Canyon. Hopefully the vet has some resolution to all this. Easy answers, easy fix, that's what we're praying for Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan41 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I am having difficulty typing today - all hair, eyes, fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed for Canyon - the most handsome guy in the universe. Praying harder than ever. Quote Linda, Mom to Fuzz, Barkley, and the felines Miss Kitty, Simon and Joseph.Waiting at The Bridge: Alex, Josh, Harley, Nikki, Beemer, Anna, Frank, Rachel, my heart & soul, Suze and the best boy ever, Dalton.<p> ....for all those hounds that are sick, hurt, lost or waiting for their forever homes. SENIORS ROCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Flysmom Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 All availabel fingers and paws are crossed here too!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey14me Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Continued prayers :hope Quote Michelle...forever missing her girls, Holly 5/22/99-9/13/10 and Bailey 8/1/93-7/11/05 Religion is the smile on a dog...Edie Brickell Wag more, bark less :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan41 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I have put a call in to the neurosurgeon and am awaiting his return call. Something is going to be done today... If Canyon's distress cannot be explained adequately, I want another CT scan or MRI. I can only reiterate, Dr. Sharp does not think Canyon's level of distress is "normal" for 3 weeks post ventral slot/disc fenestration surgery. Surely he would know... Another day will not pass without a plan of action for my precious boy! I wouldn't categorize Canyon as "normal". Adorable, yes, but normal? Umm, no. I am not dimishing Dr. Sharp. Could it be that the word "average" would have been a better choice to describe Canyon's rcovery? "Canyon's level of distress isn't "average" for 3 weeks post ventral slot/disc fenestration surgery." Is Canyon exhibiting other symptoms that would cause you to describe his condition as "deteriorating"? Like you, I would be demanding another CT scan or MRI. At least then you would know what's going on from a purely diagnostic point of view. We are keeping all of you in our prayers and will be waiting patiently for the next update. Quote Linda, Mom to Fuzz, Barkley, and the felines Miss Kitty, Simon and Joseph.Waiting at The Bridge: Alex, Josh, Harley, Nikki, Beemer, Anna, Frank, Rachel, my heart & soul, Suze and the best boy ever, Dalton.<p> ....for all those hounds that are sick, hurt, lost or waiting for their forever homes. SENIORS ROCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mike Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 is Canyon on a nerve specific pain control medicine? If not talk to your surgeon or vet about adding this. It could be severe muscle spasms that need a different type of medicine to control the pain. again, specifically ask about this. Forgive me, I haven't read everything, but was he tested for all TBD's? Does he have a high or low pain tolerance? One of mine has an exceptionally high tolerance where the other cries if he brushes against a briar bush. Without examing or seeing his file I would suspect deferred pain whether it's nerve or muscle. Frequently a dog presents a new problem due to the way they carry themselves. I admire you for saying, " another day will not pass without a plan of action for my precious boy!" But be patient; some times an additional medicine is necessary or time, plain and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gr8hound47 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 for Canyon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 How you doin' today you beautiful handsome special adored boy dog you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan41 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Checking in on the adorable Canyon. How is handsome this morning? Quote Linda, Mom to Fuzz, Barkley, and the felines Miss Kitty, Simon and Joseph.Waiting at The Bridge: Alex, Josh, Harley, Nikki, Beemer, Anna, Frank, Rachel, my heart & soul, Suze and the best boy ever, Dalton.<p> ....for all those hounds that are sick, hurt, lost or waiting for their forever homes. SENIORS ROCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LolasMom Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Checking in from here and praying that your precious boy is feeling better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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