Sprig has been sneaky overnight. He's gotten around his cone of shame and been licking at his feet again. He's licked his left hind foot bald! The tech said they put a bigger one on him and now he looks like he's wearing a satellite dish around his neck. When I asked if they had any idea why he was doing that the tech said Dr. Williams thinks he may just be bored. The tech asked about getting him some toys, maybe that will help some.
I added a new page with his x rays today. There are quite a few of them so I just picked out a few that I thought showed his progress. I had no idea the damage was that bad. The initial x rays from our vet didn't show everything as well as these. Even after hearing the surgeons talk about what was broken and how to fix it I still didn't understand the severity until I actually saw it for myself. I don't know what I've done to deserve such an amazing dog. I have a whole new respect for Sprig now!
September 2, 2010
Charmin is the tech I've talked to the most. She's also the tech that came to take Sprig back to his bed when we went to visit the last time. There were two techs that brought him in to see us, one holding his leash and the other supporting his back end. When Charmin came to take him back she did it all on her own. She got the sling underneath him and asked him if he wanted to go outside. Sprig flopped on his back first ( I think he was trying to tell me he wasn't ready to go back yet) but Charmin asked him again if he wanted to go outside and he rolled right over and pushed up with his front legs to stand up. Charmin had to help him a little to get his back end up (the external skeletal fixator keeps him from bending his left knee and he's not able to use his right leg yet) and off they went, leash in one hand and sling in the other. I told her today that I appreciated the way she handles Sprig. She makes him do for himself as much as he can and she's there just in case he needs her.
Charmin said she took Sprig outside a couple times yesterday and he's doing a great job walking! She said the hole in his leg is still looking healthy and it's healing but it's a really slow process. As soon as they can get his leg closed back up he'll start on physical therapy to help him regain use of his right leg again. I guess if there is a bright side to this it's that the infection has kept him from using that leg and given his hip time to heal so he didn't break it again.
September 4, 2010
He's doing SO good!!!! He's walking extremely well on three legs. His incision is stapled closed. It looks like it might not have been ready to close yet and may not hold but I guess we'll wait and see.....some more. We've been doing a lot of that the past 5 weeks. His poor little feet look horrible though. He must have gotten to his back right foot pretty bad because they have a sock over that one. We took him a toy to give him something else to chew on for a little while. He was very proud of it when he got to carry it back to his bed with him, and of course I didn't have the camera in my hand for that one either.
I snuck him a piece of goose jerky. Oh my goodness, they must not give him any cookies in there. He wagged his tail from the time I pulled the baggie out of my pocket until he swallowed it then looked at me waiting for the next piece, which I didn't bring. Next time I'll have to take him a whole bag!
September 5, 2010
The tech called this morning while I was at the grocery store and spoke to my daughter. Sprig is doing well. They're feeding him 3 times a day since he's lost so much weight while he's been there. His incision is looking good. They've got to wait 10-14 days after it's been closed before they can begin physical therapy. I'm really hoping the therapy can be done as an out-patient so he can come on home soon! The tech said he's been happily playing with his toy. Maybe he was just bored.
September 7, 2010
My wife and daughter went to visit Sprig last night. Other than his feet he's looking pretty good. His incision is still closed. It was a little swollen above the incision but that's where the drainage tubes are inserted so I'm going to take that as a sign that it's normal and they were expecting it.
I spoke with Charmin today and she said the incision is looking good, still held together with the staples and as soon as it heals up he can come home!!!
September 8, 2010
Sprig is doing pretty good today. The tech was just about to give him his dinner and take him outside when I called. She said the swelling above his incision is going down a bit. They're going to do some kind of smear on his feet tomorrow and try to figure out why he's licking on them. I really don't think it's anything neurologically wrong. I think if that was the case he would have started doing it immediately, not 5 weeks later. I think maybe he's stuck in his bed all day laying on them and they're falling asleep, kinda like if we fall asleep on our arm and it starts tingling, and he's licking them trying to get the feeling back in them. At least I hope that's all it is.
September 9, 2010
Charmin called this morning to let us know Sprig is doing well. His incision is still holding together. They're putting compresses on it to get the fluid above the incision to drain out. Still no word on when he'll be home. 40 days and counting now. I miss my boy!
September 11, 2010
Dr. Stoll is very pleased with the way Sprig's incision is healing. The tech said they are going to continue physical therapy ( I didn't even know they started it). She said he's still wearing his giant cone of shame and it seems to be helping, the hair on his feet is starting to grow back. They've loosened the hinge on his fixator a bit more to give him some more flexibility in his left leg. All in all Sprig's doing pretty good!
September 12, 2010
Sprig looked really good today. We stopped and got him a bag of treats and a new baby on the way. He ate the whole bag of treats and was less impressed with the baby. He sat up a lot more than he has been in previous visits. His feet are looking better too! They are keeping his cone on him all the time now, I guess they caught on to his pretend sleeping. He's walking very well!!!! He's pretty much supporting himself on his left leg, but he is putting his right leg down and moving it as he walks. I was glad to see it wasn't just hanging there anymore. He has a whole lot more range in his left knee now too. His incision looked pretty good. It looked to me like there's one spot that's not holding as well as the rest. It's still a bit swollen above the incision, not too bad, just a bit.
September 13, 2010
After not receiving a phone call today I called Charmin around 1:45pm to check on Sprig. Charmin was unavailable at the moment so I asked that she return my call. At 4:15pm I still hadn't heard back from her so I called again, this time a little more aggravated than the first. I was told Charmin had left for the day but finally did get to speak with someone. She said Sprig is doing good. I asked about the possibility of taking him to a Therapy Dog Evaluation October 8th. She checked with Dr. Stoll who said it would not be possible. He would not be able to do anything by October 8th. I don't think she fully understands what the evaluation consists of. Sprig would be evaluated on how he reacts to people in groups, approaching him from the front, approaching him from behind, other dogs, his behavior, and so forth. It's not a service dog test. He doesn't need to DO anything but be himself. She also said we should keep our fingers crossed that he'll even be home by October 8th, he still has a lot of aqua therapy to undergo. Really??? I was told he could come home once his incision heals! Which is it??? Needless to say I've asked that a doctor call me. Not only about the phone calls coming for a few days and then none for a few days but also about the game plan for Sprig.
September 15, 2010
I didn't receive a phone call yesterday but a tech did call this morning, although I can't remember her name. She said Sprig is doing very well today. He had been up and around a few times this morning. She took him his breakfast and he just looked away from it so she sat down with him and fed him. That's the third person that's told me they hand feed him.....oh is he ever playing them! I've visited twice during lunch and dinner time and he's had no problem eating from the bowl with me. She said they took some more x rays last night and everything is still looking good! I asked if the screw in his left hip had stopped moving but Dr. Stoll didn't say anything about that to the tech, just that everything looked good. The drainage in his leg has slowed to almost nothing. I told her I had noticed when we were there Sunday that he's putting his right leg down and moving it forward, not putting any weight on it yet but not letting it hang either. She said that was great progress. As long as it works and moves the way it's supposed to the physical therapy will rebuild the muscle so he can bear weight on it again.
September 18, 2010
I finally got an update today! I didn't get one yesterday nor the day before. As hard as it was, I was going to wait and see just how long it was going to take them to call me. If I hadn't heard anything come Monday I was going to call Dr. Williams and raise hell. Anyway, Sprig is doing pretty good. His incision opened back up a little bit. They're flushing it out daily and say it's looking really good. With that being said, he hasn't been able to start aquatherapy yet and won't be able to until they can close the incision back up and the staples are removed but they have been doing some physical therapy with him. He's walking really well now, still not putting weight on his right leg though. The hair on his feet is coming back slowly. They've been able to keep his cone on and keep him from licking. 7 weeks and counting. Somehow I think our initial estimate has at least doubled by now.
September 20, 2010
I went to visit Sprig yesterday. The office was extremely busy and I had to wait about an hour while they tended to everyone. Finally an exam room opened up, but the last patient that used the room had Parvo so I opted to visit with him in the waiting room instead. I know the room had been thoroughly cleaned with bleach but Sprig has had enough bad luck lately so I sure didn't want to chance it. He looked GREAT! I think he was a little disappointed that he finally got to come through the double doors but didn't get to come home with me. He did get to eat a whole bag of cookies, though. He's walking really well. He has a little trouble with his right foot slipping on the tile floor. He has the biggest cone on his head I've ever seen and it's working. The hair on his feet is growing back. Leslie was the tech that called today to give me his update. She is aiding in the spoiling of Sprig. She said he was being a little bratty this morning and didn't want to eat so she rolled his breakfast into little meatballs and he ate them out of her hand. She said Sprig is using his right leg a lot more, he's gaining some weight back and we talked about his incision some. I told her it looked more like it just hadn't healed closed yet and not that it had opened back up. She agreed with me that it just wasn't healed closed. She said they've been flushing it out daily and in doing so it opens it up a little each time to keep the tissue healthy. She says it's kinda like taking a half step backwards but then two steps forward. He has a lot of range in his left knee now. He can bend it instead of being real stiff legged when he walks.
I tried 3 times to upload a short video of Sprig walking into the waiting room but each time I got an error message. It is on my facebook instead http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001172504329&v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=129525277096555
I did get brave enough to ask for a copy of his charges to this point. She said they don't usually print out the charges until everything is complete because it's going to change. I told her I understood it was going to go up between now and then. She wasn't budging so I told her I was guessing we were around $7000. She said it was lower than that, in the $5000 range so far. I am really impressed with that number! I know, it's still a big number but when Dr. Stoll told me she had to re-do his hip surgery she said it would take the total to around $5500 and that was before the infection and the extended time he's had to be there because of it.
September 22, 2010
Charmin called this morning to let me know Sprig would be resuming physical therapy today. I didn't know he had quit...an effect of not getting daily updates I suppose. I think we're on the 'if anything changes we'll call you' program now. Anyway, she says his incision is looking OK. About an inch of it still hasn't closed back up yet and it's still oozing a little. Oozing sounds like an improvement from draining to me, but maybe I'm reading more into it than I should.
September 26, 2010
We went to visit Sprig last night. He was SO excited to see us! His back feet are looking really good, all the hair is growing back in now with no bald spots. His front feet are a different story. He's been getting around the cone by sticking his feet underneath it at the neck. What a sneaky little thing! They don't look any worse they just aren't looking better.
His incision wasn't quite what I was expecting. They've taken the staples back out since it wasn't healing so now it's open again. The tech I talked to yesterday said the tissue looks healthy. She's not exactly sure what they're looking for as far as when they can try to close it back up, but she would ask Dr. Stoll when she came back Monday.
His left leg is looking and working great! I can't even see the scars in his hip or his knee. The external fixator doesn't seem to bother him at all.
Sprig was himself last night, that's a wonderful thing to see! After all he's been through he still has his same attitude. I never thought it would have been possible but I think he's even more loving now than he was before. Of course all the techs sitting with him, loving on him and hand feeding him could have something to do with that.
It was a battle of the wills when the tech came to take him back. Sprig got up from the bed and while I was trying to look at his incision he was trying to sit back down (he loves his bed) while the tech was trying to keep him standing. Eventually the tech won, but Sprig didn't give up easily. It was the same tech that was there when we took Sprig one of his babies. When they were going back Sprig dropped the baby and I told him to fetch it up, which he did. The tech was amazed by that. He told me last night he had been showing off Sprig's "fetch it up" skills. He'll take him out of his bed, toss the baby, walk Sprig over to it and tell him to fetch it up. I'm sure Sprig loves the opportunity to get out and get to play again!
Now for the news that scares the hell out of me. When we were leaving, the girl at the front desk was taking a golden retriever outside. She told us he's been there for a year. His owner had paid $5000 toward the bill and then stopped paying so now this poor little baby belongs to the clinic. That tells me Sprig's bill has to be paid in full before he can come home. I know, judging by his incision I still have some time before that happens, but I was really hoping I would be able to make payments.
I tried again, unsuccessfully, to upload video on here so once again they're on facebook
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001172504329&v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=130992076949875
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001172504329&v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=130994236949659
September 28, 2010
Charmin called this morning to let us know Sprig is doing well. Dr. Stoll closed the incision back up again, well at least most of it, she left a little bit open to allow for drainage. Charmin said Sprig is eating well and just being Sprig. He's still milking it for everything it's worth. He's still doing his physical therapy. I'm not sure how often they're working with him but Charmin said he's already had one session this morning. She says they're trying to get him home as soon as they can....I sure hope so!
If you would like to help with Sprig's vet bills please call Eastern Carolina Veterinary Referral at 910-790-1070 or use the donate button below.
