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

[Xan]

WAAHOOOOOOO!!! NO TUMOR!!!

: : :

 

 

Now to clear up the infections and heal those poor legs up!

[Guest eaglflyt]

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This is the BEST news EVER!!!!!! : )

 

Hooray for you and Drake!!!!

[Guest sorenkkg]

Wow! So this means they were never tumors? or that what's gone was but what's maybe there is for sure not?

 

I'm amazed how you're able to keep all this info together and not lose your head!

Soren

[crazygang]

GREAT NEWS......Sending more well wishes for Drake..

[Guest FLT]

No idea for sure if there were tumors before or not, Dr. Couto had thought there was a benign tumor before in the front, but nothing in the back. Hopefully that which was removed just isn't going to come back - regardless of what it was.

 

The dog walker (well, the dog-letter-outer right now) reported the rear leg wasn't oozing today at lunch - but this evening it's swollen up again and oozing left and right. I knew it would happen again - infection running rampant. Hoping to hear from Dr. Couto in the morning about what antibiotics will work on the poor guy for all the buggies.

 

Next visit is Friday - I'll just keep an eye on it until then and keep it clean as we can.. but it's a shame to have lost the smooth thin leg he finally had back.

 

 

[Guest FLT]

Drug sensitivity report is back - and the winner is.. Clavamox!! Will pick up a 4-week supply of it tomorrow morning at our bandage change appointment and hopefully kill off all the buggie-beasties that Drake's wounds are harboring.

 

Drake got uncomfortable in the night and limped around for a while leaving a fluid trail (some blood, some general seepage of other fluids) from the back leg. Once he got the pressure down, he was right back in bed to sleep.

 

He's otherwise fine though, and is his usually happy self.

 

Next up in the house is bathing Kaylee - she's got a Therapy visit to do tonight. She's looking forward to the bath, because she gets to lick lots of peanut butter off the tiles while I clean her up. :-D

[Patsy]

Be patient just a little while longer, Drake, and this show is about to get on the road.

 

Hooray for Clavamox!

 

 

Edited July 23, 2009 by Patsy

[packmom]

Good ole Clavamox! Should have stock in that company! Hopefully this will be the end of the bugs! On a side note, I'll be keeping Tallgreydogmom's Notie here when he can leave the hospital, till she can get back up here. How did our harem picture come out?

[Guest FLT]

Hi Suzy! The Harem picture is actually really good of all three of you (didn't catch tallgreydogmom in the photo so it's you, boondog and Drake).. now I just need to find the camera cable so I can download the photos of the trip! We cleaned you see.. so now I have no earthly idea where it is. I'll find it though. :-)

 

I'm glad you'll be able to keep Notie with you until Tallgreydogmom can make it back up. How is he doing?

 

 

[Guest boondog]

Yep, love that clavamox. Thank goodness you know what you're dealing with.

 

Can't wait to see the harem pic.

[Guest IrskasMom]

 

 

I been reading all the Updates on poor Drake . Please give that Boy some extra gentle Hugs from me . Hope he is on the

mend.

[packmom]

Hi Suzy! The Harem picture is actually really good of all three of you (didn't catch tallgreydogmom in the photo so it's you, boondog and Drake).. now I just need to find the camera cable so I can download the photos of the trip! We cleaned you see.. so now I have no earthly idea where it is. I'll find it though. :-)

 

I'm glad you'll be able to keep Notie with you until Tallgreydogmom can make it back up. How is he doing?

 

Don't mean to hijack Drake's thread but Notie is doing ok for now. He's being treated with gowns and gloves on and will have another surgery on Fri. Planning to spring him on Monday.

[Guest FLT]

Okay - here are a bunch of photos of our trip to OSU and back.

 

Drake showing off the Kurgo restraint system we use to keep our greyhounds from being projectiles into the front seat / window in the event of an accident. (Kaylee broke a windshield with her skull last summer - I never want to see another one of my dogs fly past me like that again!!)

 

Drake kept moving around the van to follow the sun - of course.

 

Both of the above photos were taken while moving, but I didn't look in the camera while I did it (was driving!) I also took about 50 shots where I missed the dog too, LOL.

 

We did get stuck in traffic at one point (construction) - I took this photo when we were standing still, don't worry!

 

Drake and his Harem - packmom (left) and boondog (right), and tallgreydogmom (not shown) petted Drake into a coma of bliss.

 

Drake found the bed pretty comfortable. This was taken after his visit to OSU, note the "no chew" bandages.

 

Drake sleeping in the van on the way home from OSU - Tramadol dreams!

[jamngrey]

great photos of him snoozing. I hope you are able to get in front of this. Poor Drake. I know my frends grey got bit by the brown recluse and lost a ton of skin. They got it to heal by using the "special Honey" He does have quite a scar that will never grow hair but it did finally heal.

[Guest FLT]

Update:

 

Dr. Prostredny said that the Clamavox is available in the human version of Augmentin for somewhat less than the veterinary meds (but that both are expensive - hopefully Costco will come through for me again). He wrote me a script so I can fill it for Augmentin and we'll give that to Drake 3x a day for the next 4 weeks.

 

He started talking grafts again - explaining he'd like to consider 4 or 5 punch grafts, but subsided when I indicated I wanted to give the antibiotics time to work first. Dr. Couto was anti-grafting (feels it won't be necessary) and I'm willing to wait it out and see how it goes for now.

 

Going to email with Dr. Couto about details on the sugar treatment, and if I should wait until after the antibiotics have had time to kill off some of the buggies before we start.

 

Oh, and we are back to bandages on both left legs. The rear dripped all over their waiting room again, LOL. You'd think they'd have learned by now!

 

All is well, but my boss is PISSED that I"m in so late. I guess I'd better get some work done.

[sweetdogs]

It'll be interesting to see what the sugar treatment entails. Manuka honey works wonders (& is sugar after all) so it'll be neat to compare.

 

Good luck with the boss - an unpleasant additional burden. Doesn't he realize this is DRAKE we're talking about here?

[Xan]

Yeay on the sensitivity test coming through. Keeping fingers crossed on Costco prices on the Clavamox. I'll be really interested to hear how the sugar treatment goes! Haven't needed it here, yet (knock on wood!)

[Guest eaglflyt]

Hooray for Clavamox and I sure hope the sugar treatment does the trick for Drake's healing. My prayers continue for both of you!

 

P.S. Ady Bea is on Clavamox, too. We need to buy stock in that company! ; )

[4greyhounds]

Drake.... :grouphug We have been watching your updates and we are so happy to hear that you are starting to feel better a little better. We hope the Clavamox continues to do the job!!!!!

[Guest orlacarey]

Yay for getting the Clavamox! And yay for a visit to Drake's Ladies.

 

Seriously - I've never seen a dog so treat going to the V-E-T as a treat before this morning.

[Guest kydie]

He is a greyt looking pup, hope his healing continues quickly

[Guest FLT]

Okay - not tooooo terrible at Costco I guess - $112 for 84 of the tablets. At least Dr. Prostredny waved me off using the vet formulation, which he said is prohibitively expensive (well - not for me probably, but I'm just as happy to save $ where I can).

 

I got my BIG BOX of "no chew" wrap and have Drake's front paw (the only one he's chewed on so far) wrapped with it over his purple and tan bandages. It's been nice to not have to muzzle him at night, for example. I am still muzzling him when I leave the house, because I only trust him so far even with the "no chew" on.

 

Thanks for the compliments about how handsome Drake is. He's a real charmer, too :wub:

[Guest eaglflyt]

I'm so glad you have your Clavamox (great price, too) and that you and Drake are home and settling in to the treatment so he can clear the infection and finish healing!

 

I would like to ask ... where did you find your canine restraint system? We plan on getting one, too.

[Guest FLT]

I did some online research first to decide what type of restraint system I was interested in getting, and then was glad to find that the pet store I prefer to support (a small, high quality independent in Maryland that supports the Therapy / Service dog program we volunteer with) carried the system. They let me try the harnesses on my dogs in the store before purchasing, so I was sure I was getting the right size. We wound up buying the XL for all three (at the time) hounds. Chester was a big 85 pounder, and Kaylee is an average sized 65 pound female - but the XL harness is adjustable enough to meet both of their needs. Drake is right in between, so he was easy.

 

This is the one I decided on, and I've been VERY happy with it. Everything is adjustable, but still very sturdy. Kurgo Zip Line Restraint System

 

Of course I hope not to get into another accident at all, but it's also very useful because when I open the door I don't have to worry about the hounds making a break for it before I can get a leash on them. I also used it when the van broke down with Kaylee and me out at the dog park. It took 3 hours or so before the tow truck came, and I was able to have her safely attached inside the van with all the doors and the rear open for maximum breezes, and I could sit next to her and read a book without worrying about her deciding to jump down and go somewhere.

 

Drake is really good about jumping up into the van and then coming back to me at the door for me to put the harness on him and clip him to his line. Of course, we get a lot of practice lately! LOL

 

The only draw back with multiple hounds is that if you have enough line for them to lie down, you also have enough for them to get tangled around each other - but I always travel with multiples muzzled, so even if they get hung up a bit and snappy - no harm will happen except maybe from paw/claw damage. So far they've always been able to untangle themselves pretty well. There is also an attachment that hooks onto the seatbelts, so I could strap them into individual halves of the van if I needed to.

 

I'm so glad you have your Clavamox (great price, too) and that you and Drake are home and settling in to the treatment so he can clear the infection and finish healing!

 

I would like to ask ... where did you find your canine restraint system? We plan on getting one, too.

 

[Guest FLT]

Update: Drake had his visit with the ladies this morning and Dr. Prostredny changed his bandages.

 

The rear leg looks nicely sealed, but this time he (wisely, in my opinion) opted to go ahead and re-bandage the rear leg again. Lets give it a good week of wrapped support before we try to unwrap it again this time. Hopefully we can get it to stay closed this time.

 

The front paw he thought *might* be a tiny bit smaller of a hole, but the progress is so small it is hard to say if it was just wistful thinking on his part.

 

Drake had spent a few days since his last visit trying to avoid using both left legs - but I knew that the rear leg had been sore because I wasn't quick enough to keep him from celebrating a good poop by "kicking" it in some grass. He came out of his kick a bit lame, and I think he had pulled something on that leg. He's better today (of course - since we had a vet appointment).

 

Dr. Prostredny wants to make a decision by next week about grafting, and so I've put him and Dr. Couto in touch with each other so they can work out details. I want to try the sugar thing (looking for details about that from Dr. Couto) before anything surgical, and that is Dr. Couto's wish as well.

 

Drake seems to be tolerating his antibiotics well (as with all of them) and continues to eat and drink and poop and pee normally. He's such an easy keeper!