| stedmansmommy | 04-04-2009 03:39 PM |
Update on my little Baby Bugs
First of all, I want to apologize that it has taken me a while to get here with an update....I have just been so busy with Tatum. Secondly, I want to thank Denise sooo much for taking the time to do all of the previous updates for me. Denise, I love ya girl and you are such a sweetheart for taking the time to let everyone know what has been going on with my little Bugs. Hugs to you and Miss Bella and the kiddos...you are just THE BEST.
As far as Tatum goes, she is doing ok I guess, considering what she's been through. She can't walk much at all though and when she tries sometimes she fall's over :cry: My poor little angel. It just KILLS ME to watch her go through this. Hubby has been a HUGE help though, and I don't know what on earth I am going to do when he has to go back to work on Monday. She is on 4 different meds and it is going to be so hard for me to give them all to her by myself because she hates them. And any and ALL TIMES that she is out of her little house that we bought her, she must be on a leash (per her surgeon's instructions)...and it's hard to put her harness and leash on when someone isn't holding her because she can't stand well on her own - she is just so off balance. We have to take her out to potty several times a day...so this is going to be very hard for me to do by myself. Also, when we do her physical therapy (25 times on each leg, 3 times a day - plus hot and cold compresses on each knee 3 times a day as well) - I have to figure out how I am going to do that when hubby is not here holding her for me. It is just going to be very hard. I am going to attach a file of the notes that her surgeon gave me. I have specific instructions as to what to do with her and I have to follow them to a T, otherwise the pins in her little knees could break and she would need surgery again. Her surgeon said that her bones and tendons are very, very tiny and the pins in her knees can be extremely easily broken. Even the slightest hit of her knees could break them. And something he told me when he was showing me her x-rays just made me cry. He said Brooke, I have been a board certified orthopedic surgeon for over 30 years and I have done many, many knee surgeries as well as many other major bone surgeries, and I have never in over 30 years seen a dog's knee as bad as Tatum's left one was. He said that her left knee surgery was the most intense and complicated surgery that he has ever done, and he has done ALOT. I just cried when he told me that because Tatum is so little and to think that a dog her size had such severe problems just breaks my heart. He said that she was in alot of pain. On the before surgery x-rays, he showed me where the Patella was on her left knee and it was completely out of place. Instead of riding in the groove on top of her knee where it was supposed to be, it was up and off to the side....riding bone-on-bone and it was completely painful. He said that she was a Grade 5 LP - the worst it could have possibly been. He said that even if she was 10 years old, her knees couldn't of been any worse. It just makes me soo sad when I think about it. He also told me that little Tatum has a very high tolerance for pain. When they did the first round of physical therapy yesterday, they were amazed at how Tatum just sat there and let them do it and didn't say a word. He said that she may have let out a tiny little whimper, but it was nothing compared to the way some of the other dogs react to physical therapy after bone surgery. She is a tough little cookie.
Her surgeon said that they couldn't get her to eat or drink anything (they did force feed her a little yesterday when they had to give her-her pain meds) - but they couldn't get her to eat on her own even when they offered her a really good food (can't remember what it was) - but she wouldn't eat it. And he was very concerned because she wasn't drinking any water, so he asked me if I had an emergency vet here because tiny dogs her size of course can get dehydrated very quickly. However, when we got in the car I offered her some water and she drank a TON, so I know that all she wanted was ME. :( Then, after that, I told Jeff to stop at the first chicken place he saw so that I could go get Tate something to eat since she hadn't eaten since about 7 p.m. the previous night (Wednesday night)....well the first place we saw was KFC....so Tatum had KFC for dinner :) The little piglet ate TWO chicken legs for dinner last night!!! Not all at the same time of course, but she was STARVING! I took the skin off and just gave her the actual chicken and she gobbled it down like nobodies business! I normally NEVER give her chicken because of her allergies (even though I haven't had any official allergy tests done and I don't know for sure that she's even allergic to chicken...) however, at that point we just needed to get her to eat SOMETHING...and I knew that she would wolf down chicken, so chicken it was.
And by the way...I just have to mention how absolutely WONDERFUL her surgeon was. I knew within the first 5 minutes of meeting him that he was going to be very special, someone that I REALLY could trust and someone that really, truly CARED about animals and their well being. We simply COULD NOT have asked for a better surgeon. He was TOP NOTCH! He was so sweet too....he always called her "Little Baby Doll" - awwwww. He was just so, so sweet and so incredibly caring. Yet he did make himself VERY clear when it came to the instructions about giving her the proper care - which I absolutely loved. I am so so glad that he was firm about that...it just showed us that he really does care and that he wants only for her to heal properly without having any complications or needing anymore surgeries. He even told me that the crate that we were going to use for her was a big NO-NO and that I had to go get her something else right away, lol. He actually had a print-out from Petco online and showed me exactly what to get. Although hubby and I were a little hard-headed about that and got something else....but we took it up there and showed him and made sure that he ok'd it before we put Tatum in it. He actually said that it was very safe and that "It is a slick little house for the Little Baby Doll!" - and he asked me if they came in human size, LOL. :p
She got overly excited today when Stedman came home (he has been staying with my mom and Kenzi - her Yorkie - since early Wednesday morning - I know that some of you were asking about this and where he was). She saw him and immediately started crying and wanted to try and play with him...but of course she couldn't :cry: They missed each other soo much and while I was holding Tatum, hubby held Stedman and he and Tate gave each other kisses. It was so sweet. Stedman can't figure out what is wrong with her, but he definitely understands that something is going on. He has been very gentle with her even though we don't let them get too close to each other.
Another bad thing though is that Tatum has already developed Osteoarthritis in her left leg, and her surgeon said that she could end up developing it in her right leg as well. So she will most definitely be on Cosequin every SINGLE day for the rest of her life.
The surgery did go well though and I am SO glad that it is over with. Now we are just trying to make sure that her little knees heal the way they are supposed to. Her surgeon seemed VERY concerned about that left leg...so I am just praying to God that nothing goes wrong and that the pins don't break so that she doesn't need another surgery. :cry: And of course I hope and PRAY that she will be able to use that left leg in the future :cry: Right now she is ONLY favoring her right leg - the left leg is basically just hanging there and she isn't doing anything with it what-so-ever. :cry: Please say lots of prayers for her and keep her in your thoughts. These next 6 weeks are going to be extremely difficult for her and hubby and I as well....but if we do everything right, and to a T like the surgeon told us (which we are), then HOPEFULLY there will be no problems :hands: Thank you all so much for checking in on her...and for your continues thoughts, prayers, encouraging words and well wishes. I really do appreciate it so so very much. I know I always say this, but I only say it cause it's true....you guys are just THE BEST :ghug:
Will continue more in next post... | 