WHAT THE SURGIN SAID

TY'S WIFES WORDS

What the surgeon said!
Current mood: thankful

So yesterday we met with Bomb's surgeon. I almost threw up on the way there I was so nervous. I felt so bad and started to cry as soon as we walked into the vet. He wasn't is happy self this time, he was stressed and just sat down on the floor. We had only been there three days before and he knew that last time it hurt, and was stressful....
The surgeon looked at his x-rays and ultimately said that our initial concern wasn't the concern at all! The "fracture" in both of his knees was just from his growth plates that never healed properly. She said it's very common in puppies and since he's only a little over a year old, she wasn't surprised. That's not what's causing him pain. What's wrong with his knees is that he has luxated patellas. What's that you ask? Well his knee caps aren't on the front of his knees where they are supposed to be...they are on the insides of his legs. So to explain that a little better, if he were human, his knee caps would rub together on the inside of his legs when he walked.
She said he was born this way and that it's a genetic disease. The good news is that many dogs live that way their entire life. The bad news is that Bomb is at Stage 4 which means it's already at the most severe that it could ever get, and that she doesn't even know if she can fix it.
So....she suggested we at least do the surgery on the right knee in the next two months, and see if she can even fix it. She said the cost is $1,500 for each knee but if she gets in there and finds that she can't fix it, she'll close him back up and would only charge us $500. So, if she can fix it, we'll have to do the left side sometime soon. If she can't, we won't.
She said the reason that his knee is hurting so bad right now is probably because he twisted it and it got inflamed and on top of the messed up knee caps, it's hurting to walk on it. We have him on an anti-inflammatory medication and she wants us to keep him on that for 10 days, and then take him off and see how it goes.
She suggested swim therapy to keep him using the full range of motion in the back legs so he doesn't get stiff and she said that we just have to limit him on days that he's sore. We will have to make some changes around the house, like bringing his kennel upstairs so he doesn't need to go up and down the stairs and building a ramp off the deck, so he doesn't jump off the deck anymore..(which is how he got his name..."Bomb's away!") And then years down the road if his legs get too stiff for him to walk comfortably we'll need to get him a doggy wheelchair.
SOOOOO.......over-all he's going to cost us money for the rest of his life. But he won't need to lose his life, and we love him more than the money anyway! We went from a $5400 surgery to a $3000 surgery (assuming we do both knees). So it's good news. We still are going to do some fundraising to pay for his surgery, but will be trying to team up with a nonprofit organization to also help other dogs like Bomb! If you'd like to donate, you can check out my donate button on my home page! Keep your eyes open for information about a pet photography session to help us raise money. Thanks to LUKESHOOTS, we will get this thing up and running shortly!
You can contact me on myspace or at taraparish@gmail.com for more information!
Thanks again to all those who have been so eager and willing to help! It means a lot to our family!