Drake's Healing Progress - After Mass Removal From Both Left Legs

[Guest Energy11]

Wow! Hope this all clears up soon! I always wanted thick, beautiful hair like yours!

 

Mine is fine and stringy! Oh well, you get what you are born with.

 

Love to you and Drake!

[EllenEveBaz]

Renewed rounds of best wishes to go with the renewed rounds of meds.

[Guest FLT]

Update on Dwakums (one of his many pet names): He is using the front leg now (preferring to limp to favor the back knee instead) but it is still swollen just about as much as it was pre-vet. The incision looks a bit better though. He was totally out of it from the pain meds injection last night and turned his nose up at everything I offered (food, treats, pills, heavy cream, etc..) so he didn't get any Baytril, Metacam or Tramadol until this morning. He got a dose of Metacam this morning, along with Tramadol - but I waited until this evening to give him the Baytril because they are SUCH big pills and he was still being a bit fussy about what he was eating. He was very suspicious of the treats with the tiny pills this morning.

 

This evening his appetite was back to normal and I got all his meds down him without a problem, including the peanut butter coated Baytril (those things are HUGE, and although they are chewable he isn't interested in them by themselves).

 

Just got their pre-bedtime snack and he ate everything up, and went out for a pee. I figure he'll start pooping again sometime tomorrow after having missed two meals (and of course he always poops himself empty at the vet's office - so many things to mark! He pees and pees and poops and poops until he totally empty there).

 

He did not care to come and sleep with me last night, but I have hopes he is feeling better enough to come and cuddle tonight.

 

EDITED TO ADD: Xan - sorry I didn't mean to ignore your therapy question. I wondered about swimming, but Drake HATES water... I think he might do more harm than good flipping like a fish on a line to avoid going in. I've considered if doing some gentle stretching with him might help it from a therapy perspective, or perhaps starting very slow and short walks (since he hasn't had any in 6 months!!)

 

FL

 

PS - Thanks for all the compliments on my hair.. I can't take any credit for it, it was just luck of the draw that it is THICK and grows fast.

Edited November 18, 2009 by FLT

[Guest FLT]

Grr - Kaylee wanted in on the action I guess. I finished my update and realized that she must have abraded her rear right leg when she went out as she was merrily bleeding onto the sofa (covered with a clean sheet at least).

 

I cleaned it up, and bandaged her - so I guess she feels the love too.

 

At least it doesn't require a vet visit as far as I can tell.. so that's something.

 

Cheers,

 

FL

[Xan]

Kaylee! Silly girl! A strategically placed wet nose followed by the patented soulful eyes approach would probably have worked, too!

 

Good to hear that Drake is feeling back up to eating and snuggling.

About the water therapy, someone with actual experience could tell you more, like suzieq, but I think they walk the dog into a dry tank, and slowly add the water, with a therapist in with them. Or, I guess there are also pools, but it sounds like that would be more traumatic than therapeutic!

[Guest FLT]

Well the PITA pups are resting on the sofa tonight. Kaylee's leg is bandaged - I changed it this morning to see that she did a lot of oozing in the night. It is still looking okay though, and I'll leave it alone and bandaged for the night before I check it again tomorrow. Drake's front ankle remains very swollen, but doesn't appear uncomfortable. Annoyingly I have noticed some swelling around his left rear hock - back to the first stage there again? Not sure - will have vet look at it when we go in next, but I am VERY discouraged by this.

 

Here they are, cuddling. Drake is using Kaylee's head for a pillow :-) You can see Drake's swollen front left ankle too.

 

 

This photo just makes me laugh.. it is from Monday evening while Drake was drugged out of his mind from the injection of Buprenex. He was totally asleep with his face smashed into his front leg, nose bent to the side, and snoring like crazy.

 

Cheers,

 

FL

 

[Batmom]

Pupperz ...

 

Come on, Drake. Please heal and be OK again for your momma.

[Guest eaglflyt]

Wow, that ankle is definitely swollen. I'm so sorry to hear his hock is swelling, too. Drake needs to have more good news and healing. Bless his heart ... and yours! Prayers are continuing.

[Xan]

*snort!* How MEAN of you to take a picture of him at such a disadvantage, then post it for all the world to see!

 

 

Well, that's disheartening, the swellings. Time to bump up the chants again (yet again!) for that boy. *cranking up volume on chanter* >ahem!<

*Drake! Enough! Suck up those extra juices and rid yourself of all the nasties! Wouldn't you rather be playing and running around? Drake! Enough! Suck up those extra juices and rid yourself of all the nasties! Wouldn't you rather be playing and running around? Drake! Enough! Suck up those extra juices and rid yourself of all the nasties! Wouldn't you rather be playing and running around? *

 

Kaylee, you too, young lady! Cut it out with the scraping and the oozing already!

[Guest FLT]

Well Xan - I'm not sure if it was the Chant, the Baytril, or just luck - but Drake's left ankle is no longer swollen (much). The tests that Dr. P ran were inconclusive, appearing to just be blood that was extracted. No culture was grown, and no abnormal cells were found.

 

That said - he says that of course blood is what you'd expect to take out if it was a swelling due to a Hemangiosarcoma (ugh.. so tired of that possibility).

 

We have opted to leave Drake on Baytril another week so in case it was infection, we don't withdraw the treatment that works during a holiday weekend (well worth the extra $130 for another week of Baytril for that I think).

 

Will take him off again after another week and then see what happens.

 

He is still limping on the knee, but is in good spirits. We continue with twice a day Tramadol and once a day Metacam to keep the knee pain under control.

 

Kaylee's boo boo is so far healing cleanly. Fingers crossed that she stays relatively inexpensive (although she is shaking her head a lot, making me wonder if I need to take her in to let the vet have a look - sigh).

 

Cheers,

 

FL

[Guest Energy11]

Sounds like Drake is on the road to recovery. Baytil is very expensive, as you know, but is an excellent antibiotic.

 

Keep up the good work, Drake!

 

 

[Guest TexasGreytMom]

Wow! What a journey you and Drake have had! Glad that you're on what appears to be the upside of things! You two are amazing!

[Xan]

Ah, FL! That sounds like good news for Drake. Excellent! (Finally!! )

 

Now, how's Kaylee doing? What's with the head shaking? Are her ears alright?

[Guest eaglflyt]

I'm so glad Drake's swelling has improved. I sure hope he is totally and finally well soon!

[Guest FLT]

Xan - thanks for asking about Kaylee. I took her into the vet today and she basically had a packed ball of ear wax pressing against her ear drum. They had to take her in back and flush it out when the normal ear cleaner stuff didn't work. Kaylee is NOT shy about using the GSOD for any abuses, and she screamed and screamed. I felt like a bad mommy, letting them do it - but I think she feels much better now. I've got steroid drops to put in her ears thru tomorrow morning, but they think she'll be right as rain by Friday.

 

I also asked about the other list of concerns I have on her while I was there, because it is a new vet to the practice and I like getting a second set of eyes on my pups whenever possible.

 

Ears - Better now (yes, ear drum was intact under the wax)

Weird bumpy thing on elbow - second vet also thinks it is just callus and not to be worried about. Keep an eye on it for any changes.

Trembling in back leg(s) - vet thinks arthritis is probable, so do the joint supplements (which I should do anyway - since they are 8 now).

Skinned rear leg - healing well, just keep an eye on it like I've been doing.

Continued anxiety in the car - try giving 4 Benedryl before the next trip, LOL.

 

I quite liked the new vet, too.. older than I had expected, and pretty steady (even with Kaylee screaming during the exam even before she stuck anything in her ear).

 

Drake had started finding and spitting out the half-tramadol tablets, and throwing up in his attempt to get rid of it (I think that's why anyway). We tried just giving him one, but that didn't do diddly to his discomfort - so he is on 2 2x per day now (I know we can go up to 2, 3x per day without a problem - so that's fine). That and the Metacam are doing Drake right at the moment. Baytril going down with a bit of cream cheese wrapping them to make them more interesting.

 

Happy Turkey-Day to everyone. I'm thankful for my GT friends, who help keep me sane.

 

 

[Guest FLT]

Update:

 

Drake had his follow-up visit to the vet this morning, and I was pleased to tell them that the swelling in his left front ankle had gone right down after we were on the Baytril for a few days. We don't know if that is related to the Baytril, or if it was going to go down anyway. We have one last dose of Baytril to give this evening, and then we'll discontinue it and see what happens.

 

His front paw has a toe that sticks up all the time, and Dr. Prostredny said that he must have ruptured the little tendon that flexes that toe.. he said that after the original surgery all the tendons were intact, but that they were pretty beat up. The damage is permanent, but only cosmetic. We had noticed it right out of the bandages, and I'm not surprised by what he told me.

 

The back knee still pains Drake, but he obviously feels better on the 2 Tramadol dose than he had on the 1.5. (100mg now, vs. 75 mg previously). Drake is due for follow-up x-rays next week so we will just see what those bring. Dr. P is looking for signs of arthritis forming, which would (in his mind anyway) strongly support his ruptured ligament in the knee theory.

 

Kaylee's ears are getting better.. she still shakes her head a bit, but I think the drops themselves are annoying her. I've reduced her dose to once per day rather than twice, and am wiping her ears out gently with a dry cotton ball the next morning (she gets her dose in the evening) to let her ears dry out a bit). I had spoken with the vet on Friday when she was continuing to shake and she said to continue the drops until Wednesday. I call her again tomorrow for a phone follow-up.

 

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, if you celebrate that one.

 

Cheers,

 

FL

[Guest Energy11]

You have surely been through A LOT!

 

Hope everyone continues to improve!

[Guest eaglflyt]

I'm so glad both dogs are improving and praying for clear and good results on Drake's upcoming x-rays. It's great to know that his swelling of his front foot/ankle has gone down!

[Guest jerrybird]

Glad to read this update on both pups! It's been a long difficult time. for all of you.

[Xan]

Progress is good! I hope Drake doesn't have to be on Tramadol for too much longer, but it's so good that he's feeling better!

 

I hope Kaylee's ears stop bugging her soon. Wednesday is not too far off, and then you can see how she does without the bothersome drops and wiping. Sometimes, don't you begin to wonder how much of what you're seeing as symptoms are reactions to the treatments?

Hugs to you all!

[Guest FLT]

Kaylee's ears are seemingly better.. either her ears were about better anyway, or stopping the drops was the best thing to do at that point. Either way, she seems much more comfortable now that I've stopped mucking around with them.

 

We took measurements on Drake's front ankle and paw so we can measure it daily to see if there is any swelling before it is obviously puffy - but so far (knock on wood please!) he continues to look okay.

 

We are going on vacation starting next week - so I really want him to be FINE for the whole time we are gone, at the very least. I know that "greyhound camp" takes very loving care of the hounds (it is a coordinator of our local adoption group, who will keep them with her pack in the house) and has a ton of experience with them - but you always get nervous leaving the problem children, don't you?

 

Glad to have good news to report for once in this thread. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

 

Drake is next in to the vet on Tuesday for more x-rays of that back knee to have a comparison to the ones from mid-November.

 

Cheers,

 

FL

[Guest eaglflyt]

Great news! Enjoy your vacation and I'll be hoping for the grey kids to be healthy and well behaved while you're gone. ; )

[Xan]

Taking measurements sounds like a good idea. Gives you some hard data, too, as opposed to, "I dunno. Does it look puffy to you? In this light? At this angle?"

 

*Knocking furiously on wood* Oh, I bet the dogs will both be utterly fine while you're gone on your much-deserved vacay! In fact *knocking knocking knocking* maybe you'll even come back to some improvement!

 

Glad Kaylee's ears are all better!

[Guest FLT]

Update:

 

Drake's left front ankle had started to feel just a little "warm" to me over several days running, and on Tuesday morning I took a look and sure enough it was swelling again. We already had a Tuesday afternoon appointment, and by the time we took him it his ankle was swollen up significantly again.

 

Dr. Prostredny said that needle aspiration was unlikely to yield anything new or interesting, but that he is very worried that the swelling coming and going is from a tiny hemangiosarcoma tumor that has grown a little further up the leg this time. He said trying to get a sample to test would be like finding a needle in a haystack unless he did the full on open the leg up and strip everything out and send it for biopsy route.

 

Back leg continues to be sore, and the repeated x-ray shows more effusion inside the joint, but no arthritis at this time. He thinks it is a partial cruciate tear that will eventually progress to a full tear. That said - he doesn't even want to do surgery at this point because of the front leg issue. He did say that although he does not think this is the case, sometimes effusion in the joint like his knee can be from cancer rather than from a ligament tear.

 

For the front leg, I'm not ready to try again to open him up (heck, we only got him CLOSED up after a nearly 6 month fight last time). I suggested that because we are about to leave the country on vacation (ugh - I hate the timing, but we are going) that we put him back on Baytril for 2 weeks in case it is infection rather than blood from a tumor. He agreed to that quickly. With that agreement I went on with suggesting that why don't we run a longer course of Baytril just in case this is still inflammation from infection. He was okay with that (given that it is my money to waste, I suppose). He suggested 4 weeks, I countered with 8 weeks. He looked dismayed about that and said he would be okay with 6 weeks. I replied and said hey - what is 2 more weeks on top of that? Is it going to hurt him? I'd feel awfully silly if he has a bug that is just stubborn and I could have killed it at 7 weeks but we stopped at 6... and that I'm more comfortable with the 8 week course.

 

Given that I was willing to plunk down $1000 for antibiotics, and that I was firm abount wanting them. He agreed.

 

Maybe this won't do a damn thing - but I feel like it is the least invasive option that is still doing "something" right now.

 

His ankle is still all swollen and he goes to greyhound camp tonight. Please keep him in your thoughts for his trip to camp - I really hate to leave him, but I cannot take him with me and he isn't in any sort of critical situation that would cause me to wave off the trip.

 

I'll be back sometime on the 19th of December - picking him and Kaylee up from camp on the 20th.

 

Cheers to all,

 

FL

Edited December 9, 2009 by FLT

[Xan]

Oh dear oh me oh my! I don't like all this!

 

It's so wonderful that you're keeping such a close eye on his progress that you can tell if his leg is a little warmer than normal. You must be so nervous to leave him now! *biting fingernails*

 

Well, I think the thing to do is to set up a Very Loud Chant 'til you get back to take your normal level of care of him. That way, we can chant, and you can go have a good break, and come back ready to do battle, if necessary.

 

*It's just a bug, which will fall to the drug! Yeah! It's just a bug, which will fall to the drug! Yeah! It's just a bug, which will fall to the drug! Yeah! It's just a bug, which will fall to the drug! Yeah! *

 

Go have fun! We'll keep up the chanting.