Sprig is doing well. His incision is healed!!!! The swelling has gone down on it's own. It isn't completely gone, but it has lessened without having to be drained. Katherine said the only thing keeping him there now is his MRSA and physical therapy. He's doing therapy everyday and they're increasing the intensity to make him work a little harder. Finally, a good update without a twist of bad news thrown in there! Let's hope the trend continues!
December 13, 2010
We went to see Sprig last night, we really do have to stop going during the emergency hours. Once again we had questions and there's no one there to answer them so we asked that someone give us a call today. As you see in the picture above, his incision has healed nicely. It looks a little thin but so far so good. You'll also see his toes are curling, that's something that wasn't happening before. The biggest change is that he's putting his left leg over his back, even while he's sitting. It doesn't seem to hurt him and he has control over it, he puts his leg up there and he puts it back down, but it's really strange to see and certainly not normal movement.
His spirits are high and his attitude is amazing. He was very happy to see us and greedily ate his bag of cookies. He's moving around really well on 2 legs. He sits up and lifts his rear end and scoots it around where he wants to be. When the tech came to take him back I noticed he's not using either of his back legs which is not what I was told in an update I received.
I'll post again this afternoon when I get answers to my questions. It just seems like the longer he's there the worse he gets.
December 15, 2010
Charmin called to let us know Sprig no longer has a frame on his leg! Dr. Williams removed it yesterday and Sprig isn't sure how to act. We talked about him putting his leg over his back. I've been thinking about that since I saw him this weekend. Not long after Sprig had his first couple surgeries he started putting his leg on top of his head. Charmin and I think maybe it relieves some pressure on his hip or that it's just comfortable to him and during the past 4+ months that he's been there he's lost so much muscle it's increased his flexibility and now he can get his leg over his back. Whatever the reason, he does it himself and it doesn't hurt, although it is kinda strange to look at. They're going to increase the intensity of his physical therapy. He hasn't been able to start aquatherapy yet and the treadmill is broken so I don't know when he'll start.
Overall it's a pretty good update!
December 17, 2010
We got a call from the physical therapist this afternoon. She said Sprig is doing pretty well, all things considered. She started him on his aquatherapy. He's using all 4 legs in the water and putting all 4 down out of the water. She's working on his range of motion. He's got pretty good range going forward but he's really stiff going backward. His knee is really stiff and he doesn't want to bend it yet. I asked her if she thought Sprig would regain use of his back legs. She said it's too soon to know that yet, but she has seen worse injuries with a good outcome. She said Sprig is very easy going and lets her do whatever she needs to do without nipping or getting aggressive and he's really trying to get better, all of which she takes as a good sign. She'll call again next week and let me know what his progress has been.
December 23, 2010
Charmin called yesterday very excited. She said she had taken Sprig outside and he's using both his back legs. He is still supported of course but she says he'll take little baby steps and kinda walks like a drunk sailor, but both of his back legs are moving the way they're supposed to. The physical therapist wasn't in yesterday so Sprig got the day off. I told Charmin he was probably glad to get a break. She said he gets really excited when the physical therapist comes in to get him, he's really trying and really wants to get better. I think he's really ready to come home.
December 25, 2010
We went to visit Sprig this afternoon and he looks great! He's still putting the majority of his weight on his front legs but he's using both his back legs when he walks. He's got much better movement in both back legs and he's bending his left knee again. He's got a little bit of swelling on his right hip but so far the incision is still closed. He sits up and scoots all around the bed, nearly falling off a few times and giving us heart failure trying to catch him. He was very excited and extremely talkative. We took him a bag of cookies, wrapped up of course, and he greedily ate the whole bag again. Poor little thing seems to be starving.
I've posted a video on facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=152497378132678
If he keeps making progress the way he has the last two weeks it shouldn't be much longer before he gets home. I was amazed at the difference since our last visit.
If you would like to help with Sprig's vet bills please use the donate button below or call Eastern Carolina Veterinary Referral at 910-790-1070.
