Stick with the plan

I don't like plans. That may surprise some of my friends who think I'm the Chief Planner. I will step into the void and plan something if no one else will, but all in all, I prefer spontaneity. Why plan a weekend activity when you can wake up Saturday morning and decide?

Following Gracie's second surgery I devised a plan: Confinement to her garage apartment and outside only to go potty. My resolve was firm. After all, it was the break in this original plan three weeks post surgery #1, that she got away from me in the house, slipped on the wood floor and dislocated her patella - all leading to surgery #2.

I have to keep reminding myself that this confinement is for her own good and that her recovery will go more quickly. But despite all my best efforts to stay connect with her, I still miss her in the house.

My resolve broke Saturday. I snuck her in the house - against the harsh inner voice warning me against this. I made her go immediate to her crate though. There she laid while I putz around the house doing Saturday chores. After a couple of hours, we made the slow walk through the backyard (stopping for a potty break), along the side of the house and back to the garage. This route allows us to avoid the stairs. Nothing bad happened, but again, that inner voice reminded me that it could have.

Gracie and I had a talk this morning. I told her we need to stick to the plan. I told her I knew how hard it was to do this, but we must. She simply seem to shrug her shoulders and curl back on her bed. She is OK with the plan. It's me who's struggling.

Letting sleeping dogs lie

The tag long on this blog reads: Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole. Generally this is true, but since that fateful day at the dog park, April 19, and two surgeries later, I can definitely say that for right now Gracie is my whole life.

Since her second surgery on May 20, Gracie has been convalescing in her kennel. She has not seen the inside of the house even though she looks longing at the door every time I take her out to go potty.

I miss her being in the house, so I spend time with her in the kennel. I take a book with me and sit by her - sometimes for 15 minutes, sometimes an whole hour passes. We enjoy watching the neighborhood with the garage door open.

This past Sunday I found myself in the baby aisle at Target looking at video monitors...again. I've been in this aisle three times in the last month looking at the same product and each time talking myself out the purchase as being silly, obsessive or just a plain waste of money. Sunday I bought it.

The camera sits on a shelf in the garage. The small black and white monitor sits on the kitchen counter. With a glance I can check on Gracie. Most of the time she is sleeping. Sometimes she is hugging Pig or working on a bone. Sometimes she is just laying there, head up, staring ahead, thinking, I guess.

I still spend time with her in the kennel each day. But when I can't be out there with her, it helps me to see her on the monitor.

I'm not sure why, but it does.

Is the sedative ready?

This time around, Gracie is taking a sedative twice a day to help keep her a bit calmer during recovery. It's helped - both of us, actually.

However, each time I prepare her pill for distribution (Greenies' Pill Pockets are awesome, by the way), I giggle to myself.

Of course I'm thinking about one of the funniest scenes in my favorite movie, Young Frankenstein. Here's the set up...the monster is alive. The team of Dr. Frankenstein, Igor and Inga rush to the laboratory. Dr. Frankenstein utters the line "Is the sedative ready?" and then begins about 3.5 minutes of hilarity as Inga and Igor play charades with Dr. Frankenstein while he is being choked by the monster.

I haven't quite figure out the process for adding video to the blog, but if you haven't seen this scene for a while, you can find it on Youtube.

Good comedy reminds me that laughter really is the best medicine.

Slow and easy

Gracie seems to be doing much better after this surgery than her initial TPLO surgery on April 27. I left the e-collar off overnight, but noticed her incision was looking a bit raw and thought it wise to put the collar back on her. I like these soft collars better than the rigid plastic ones. Plus, it makes her look like a flower.

As you can see, she is not lacking for comfort. Her precious Pig is near by. Several times yesterday as I sat by her, she would reach forward and pull Pig close. I often find her asleep with her head on Pig.

Here's a close up of the incision site. Her TPLO was done on the inside her leg. Dr. Gustafson said had he done both procedures together, the incision would be on the inside, but with it being done separately, it was better to do the femoral osteotomy on the outside of the leg. He closed the wound with internal sutures that will dissolve over time. The incision site is closed with surgical glue. Dr. G recommends icing 3 times a day for the first three days. I have worked in about 4 times each day. She has not had near the swelling or bruising she had with the TPLO.

Better living through chemicals. This time around I asked for a mild sedative to help keep her more calm during recovery. Between the pain meds and the twice daily sedative, she is resting comfortably but doesn't seem to be "out of it." With the help of the belly sling we've made a couple of trips to the backyard to go potty. For some reason she is adamant about not going in the front yard. Most likely the result of those puppy training techniques that tell you to train your dog to go potty in one area of the yard. Unlike some of the other lessons she learned, she is consistent and firm on following this one.

I'm feeling better equipped to handle this recovery than I did with the TPLO. I was frantic all the time with her after the first surgery. I'm still concerned about her, but having gone through this once, I know more what to expect. It's OK if she doesn't go potty like her usual clock-work pre-surgery.

We still have a long row to hoe, but we'll get there. We're going to take it slow and easy this time.

Thankful Thursday

Gracie is home from the hospital. She seems to be do much better after this surgery than the first. She's not quite so groggy and her tail is wagging more.

The vet seemed pleased with the surgery and placement of the new implant in her femur. We go back in three weeks to see how the bone is healing. Some dogs, he says, will have good healing progress in three weeks, others take up to eight weeks for the healing to begin. Her level of future activity is based on the healing process.

Right now she is sleeping in her kennel. When I got her home she was ready for her afternoon pills and ice pack. I sat next to her icing her leg and then just to sit with her. We are using a sedative this time around to help curb her enthusiasm a bit. At least until we get further along in the healing process.

Right now I'm thankful she is home.

A set back

I knew something was wrong Friday evening when I got home from work. I took Gracie to the backyard to potty and she was no longer putting weight on her injured leg. I chalked it up to being tired and, possibly, a bit too much walking. Saturday was no better, so I called the vet's office in Beaverton for an appointment on Monday. By Sunday I knew this was serious. Her knee was swollen and I was out of pain meds.

Today I got the news: her patella was dislocated with a probable tear of the ligament that holds it in place.

And the rest of the news: additional surgery, scheduled for Wednesday, to straighten her femur and correct the patellar luxation.

Prior to the TPLO, the vet surgeon explained to me about Gracie's anatomy. Her femurs are bowed, making her look bow-legged from behind. The curvature of the femur was problematic. In some instances, not only is a TPLO done, but also an osteotomy of the femur to reduce the curve. He could do it in Gracie's case, but he felt the angle was not too bad, so we opted to just do the TPLO. That was the wrong decision in hind-sight.

So Gracie is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday. The vet surgeon will perform the osteotomy of her femur to reduce the curve and deepen the patellar groove so that the patella doesn't slip out of place.

I'm struggling with this one. Did I push her too hard, too soon? Did I let her get away with being zany Gracie too soon? Did my desire to have her close to me in the evenings put her at greater risk of injury? It's hard to know. Maybe this could have been prevented, or maybe not. I do know that I'll be more strict this go around. She will be spending time in her "garage apartment" and not in the house. Walks will be to the potty area and back, only. And because she is such a strong and energetic dog, I may have to opt for the mild sedatives to keep her calm.

And we are back to square one.

A stitch...and some time

Gracie had the staples removed today from her surgical site. The vet thought she was doing well. Some minor swelling around the wound, probably from her licking the area, but the vet thought that would resolve in a day or so. He also gave the OK to start leashed walks. Five minutes twice a day to begin. Over the next 6 weeks, we'll work our way up to 20 minutes, three times a day. The written instructions advise against hills. That's a problem. I live on a hill. But I guess I can drive her to the bottom, walk her along the flat ground and then bring her home. She's my Gracie afterall.

Thankful Thursday

I've noticed that some of my fellow bloggers have begun a tradition called Thankful Thursday. I think it is always a good thing to take stock in life's blessings and to practice gratitude.

April 2, Dad was diagnosed with cancer and treatment ensued. On April 19, Gracie tore her meniscus and ACL at the dog park. Surgery followed on April 27. In between, we've all battled colds, potty breaks in the rain and wind, fatigue and mental weariness. In fact, I tried to hold a pity party for myself last week and found I was just to exhausted to even muster a tear. Instead, I think I'd rather spend my time on gratitude. So here it is, a short list, in no particular order:

• Dad only has 4 treatments left. He'll be done on Wednesday May 13.


• Gracie's surgery went well. She seems to be healing well. The swelling is markedly down. She still makes me laugh every day.


• The sun is shining...for now.


• Mom & Dad paid for Gracie's surgery. I think they are finally resigned to the fact that my sister and I will produce no grandchildren for them other than dogs and cats. They will dote on them accordingly.


• My sister's visit and care of Mom and Dad timed perfectly with Gracie's need for surgery and initial recovery. I couldn't have done it without her here.


• Good friends and good co-workers who share my heartache over an injured, albeit recovering, dog and who help me keep everything in perspective.


• A faith firmly rooted in the ultimate display of love, sacrifice and forgiveness.

I like this notion of Thankful Thursday and will try to carry it forward - if not in the blog world, at least in my heart.

Back on track

Gracie's body seems to be returning to pre-injury function. Her bathroom forays have been highly successful the last two days. Cross one worry off my list. I do fret that she is doing too much. When outside for her bathroom breaks, she makes the most of her freedom by leading me to believe she needs to sniff each piece of barkdust in the yard. (FYI - my backyard is mostly barkdust.) She is just beginning to put weight on her left leg. Not much, but some. I'm still using the belly strap to help her get to and from the backyard to make sure she doesn't slip and fall.

I talked with the vet surgeon on Friday. He said he was not concerned about her walking around during her potty breaks. He said her main risk was spraining the fragile tendons and ligaments in leg, but he felt certain that the bone was in a good position and the plate firmly implanted.

The sun made a brief appearance today. Gracie laid on the deck for about 15 minutes soaking in the warm rays. It must have felt good on her injured leg. She was really good about allowing me to place cold compresses on her leg for the first 3 days. The instructions then advised to follow the next 3 days with warm compresses. She has not liked that process at all. Happily, though, the swelling is much reduced and the bruising is fading.

Tomorrow we can cross 1 week off our recovery time. Now that she and I are getting a rhythm, I'm hopeful the next weeks will go well (and pass quickly!).

Go potty...please

Editor's note: please don't tell Gracie that I'm posting her bathroom habits on the web. She's already mortified at the prospects of having to potty in the front yard.

It's been four days since surgery and Gracie hasn't recovered her typical potty habits. Gracie has always been very precise in her bathroom habits and I could always count on a poop and pee every morning and every evening. Not so now. Yesterday I fretted over the fact she wouldn't go at all. This morning I shouted for joy following a lengthy pee.

I have a feeling this recovery is going to be harder on me than Grace. I revisited some of the web postings about post operative care following TPLOs. The Vet Surgery Central, Inc., site has been very helpful in explaining the entire TPLO process from start to finish. It confirmed that potty activities will be impacted following surgery.

In other recovery news, the swelling in her leg seems better. I'm trying warm compresses now although she is less eager to lay still for these. Actually she is less eager to stay still at all. She is still not putting much weight on the injured leg, but is taking a few tentative steps. She is very fast on 3 legs so I have to be diligent and keep her leashed at all times. Even so, her strength is returning and she's been a handful on our brief sojourns to the backyard.

Yesterday, our neighbor dogs, Clare and Pre, stopped by for a visit. Gracie laid down and both Clare and Pre, with a display of gentleness and respect, sniffed Gracie and gave her a lick on the snout.

I still find myself anxious about her level of activity - trying to make sure she doesn't over do it and that I, in my selfish want to have her close by, don't put her at greater risk.

I know that the smarter and more patient we are now, the better chance we have of enjoying some nice walks this summer.