Square 1.5

Good news: Reyna doesn’t need another surgery.

Bad news: We’re back to square 1.5 (not 1, because we don’t have to worry about infection from licking the incision).

Today was an exhausting day that I really don’t want to repeat. Our appointment was at 10:00, and at 10:45, we finally got out of the waiting room and into an exam room. The student vet did the initial exam, and Reyna quickly informed her that she didn’t like the vet messing with her legs. In fact, she tried very hard to bite the student when she tried to extend Reyna’s front legs. Apparently, Reyna’s shoulders are sore. The surgeon came in after that and had me take Reyna outside so he could watch her walk. He commented on the fact that Reyna was hunching her back and putting a lot of her weight on her front legs (hmmm, maybe that’s why she tried to bite the student vet). While we were outside, we had Reyna lie down so the surgeon could check her hips. He asked me to handle the “sharp end” while he worked her legs. He found some soreness in her left knee, which is most likely due to compensating for the right hip. He also said that her new hip was moving very smoothly, which I thought was good, right up until he said that some dislocations move very smoothly, too, and he couldn’t say for sure what was going on until he saw the x-rays.

I got back to the vet school at 3:45 for a 4:00 appointment. At 5:10, the surgeon finally came out to see me. He said they did a neurological exam (since GSDs are prone to certain neurological problems) and the results were fine. He said they also rechecked Reyna’s knee while she was sedated, and its sore but there’s no significant injury to it. Reyna’s hip x-rays came back clear, with no new cracks in the femur or problems with the wires. The surgeon said the new joint is sitting where it should and showed no signs of dislocation. The end result of all of this is a soft tissue injury. He said it could have happened at any time – she could have jumped or slipped and damaged the tissue by pulling some of the internal sutures loose – which means I have no idea of how guilty I should feel about this. Since x-rays don’t show soft tissue, there’s no way of knowing how severe the damage is without cutting her open (and no, that is not going to happen). The only way to fix the damage is to rest. So, we basically have to act like Reyna just had the THR surgery yesterday. For four weeks, she gets potty breaks only. Otherwise, she has to be crated or confined in some manner. After four weeks, we can start walking again – 5 minutes twice a day, slowly building back up. He wants me to bring her back in for a check up in eight weeks. After waiting for a new batch of Trazadone, we finally got out of there at 5:50. Reyna is currently sprawled on the floor in a sedation coma, and Duncan is curled up next to her, just happy she’s home.