surgery | love lives on.

Doug has surgery tomorrow to repair/replace/fix (all of those I guess) his kneecap issue. All I know is that the kneecap is unable to get back over and they have to carve out some notches in his bones to allow it to get back into place and they will also move around some tissue to accommodate that and hold the kneecap in place. I’m the 101 of medical speak. The surgery worries me less than the recovery. Well the anesthesia worries me the most, followed by recovery, then surgery.

Doug has to be chill/still for four-weeks. I’m not even sure it’s four, it might be six, the surgeon said a number and my mind went to the absolute longest time I thought I could possibly survive with a pent-up Doug. That is four weeks. Give or take 3 weeks.

He will spend at least the first night in the hospital. Despite having almost every medical issue known to (wo)man and dog, Melvin never spent a night in a hospital and Jake only spent one, when his eye tried to explode. I know that once he is home, the first few days and nights will be the worst, but in terms of caring for him, I have been training for this since I had Max.

We will figure it all out.

I have a dog pen, I have various sized crates. I have tie down plans so he can be outside but not moving around. I have cones, bed covers and plans to feed him mini meals throughout the day via Kong to keep him busy. I have bones, and bully sticks and new toys. I have a plan to try to keep his weight in check.

I also have tranquilizers. For him, but if they fail, I may take them.

This is what Doug looks like when he’s on tranquilizers. He is awake. Wide awake. But somewhat still, for like ten minutes.

I’m excited to get this issue fixed although I am a bit worried about one other thing. What if this leg issue has been holding the real Doug back. What if he is even more energetic, more zoomerific, more cray? Since he has been on pain medication, I have noticed that crazy Doug has reemerged. He is still only using 3 legs but the pain medication is definitely making him feel more, him. I’m scared people. I mean really, what if…

Yippppeeeeee, I can’t wait to fly through the air again like I was born to do!

I will keep you posted via Facebook and Instagram. If you have any advice for post surgical care or keeping exuberant dogs calm, PLEASE share that with me! Please!

Have a great week!

Let me give a quick recap of the health issues I have faced with the dogs. An asterisk indicates multiple dogs and/or flare ups:

Giardia ******
Mange
Severe allergies **************
Moderate allergies *****
Maybe allergies ***
Infected anal glands ***
Skin infections **********************
MRSP
Diaper rash **********
Severe diaper rash **********
Split nail
Cracked tooth
Missing teeth
Colitis ****
Happy tail
Infected happy tail ****
Tail amputation
Hypothyroidism
Eye growth that needed removal
Eye ulcers ***
Hole in eye from eye ulcer
Emergency surgery to fix hole in eye
Blood clot that formed after eye fix (in eyeball)
Severe spinal malformations ********
Spinal fluid blockage ***
Unidentified tick disease ***
Ehrlichiosis
Wonky gait *****
Hind limb paralysis *********
Sores from dragging paralyzed legs *********
Bleeding of any kind ********************
Ear infections *******************
Liver disease
Nares surgery
ER visits to remove feathers from throat **
ER visits (non feather related) *********************
X-rays *********
CT scans **********
MRI and Spinal taps (3 and counting)
Bladder and bowels that needed manual emptying (my life is so damn glamorous)
Severe constipation
Extreme diarrhea
Prolonged diarrhea
De-worming
Dog attack injuries (Jake from attacking every dog I brought home and other dogs attacking Doug)
Aspiration to lung and almost lung lobectomy
Liver cysts
Liver tumors
Lung tumors
Hemangiosarcoma
Grief honk crying requiring behaviorist and prozac
Nerve sheath tumor
Spinal Cancer
Radiation

I’m sure I’m leaving out issues that have long ago left my memory. But you get the point.

The surgeon took one look at Doug’s X-rays and said, I know the issue. He then did an extensive inspection of Doug’s leg (Doug did not love this part and I could tell by the movements the doctor was doing that he had for sure narrowed in on the area of pain for Doug). We did a CT to confirm.

I would like to add my recap to the (male) doctor was as follows: every day, it seems more and more that Doug’s leg was put on wrong. I’m going to guess you didn’t play with Barbie as a child (I wish you could have seen his face at this point), but if you had, you would know that there is a right and wrong way to put Barbie’s leg back on when it falls off. Doug’s Barbie leg is on wrong.

He nodded (and somehow managed not to laugh since I was coming across as very serious) and told me that in his entire career as a veterinary surgeon, no one had ever used a Barbie analogy.

But then he said, (in a way) I was right.

Doug has a grade 4 luxated patella. While 90% of turned kneecaps go to the inside, Doug’s is of the rarer variety and goes to the outside. Grade 4 is the worst, it means that the kneecap can no longer move back into place without surgical intervention. It seems as Doug’s leg grew, his bones pushed his kneecap out of the way and continued to grow without it. So the doctors have to go in and shave his bones to make room for the stray kneecap. (I almost passed out when he said that). They are building a 3D of Doug’s leg to figure out the best way to repair it.

Doug’s onset of symptoms were right on track. For a few months he would hop at the end of long walks or bursts of intense zoomies. He was limping more over the past few months. Then last week, he went lame on that hind leg.

Doug was supposed to be the dog that showed me what this illusive ‘annual vet visit’ is all about. Doug had other plans and clearly wants to be more like his brothers. So we will rebuild that wonky leg (hence the extra asterisks above) and we will figure out how to keep him still now and after the surgery (I bought more vodka to help strategize on that one). The one thing that Doug has going for him (in addition to me), is extreme body strength. Doug currently runs on three legs, just as fast as he does on all four.

I saved Jake’s giant stroller and everyone kept asking why are you saving that? Their thinking was that I would likely never have the need for it again.

HAVE THEY NEVER MET MY DOGS????

Here is Doug. High and drunk from the anesthesia and sedatives and pain meds. We will keep you posted as the surgery gets scheduled.

So high he does not notice treats.