I’m so sorry for my New Year’s absence. I didn’t mean to take any time off, but life (once again) got in the way of my best laid plans. I would love to tell you the story. It’s dramatic, for sure, but for privacy’s sake, let me just say briefly that my mother-in-law (and all of us) could use your prayers and mojo. Imagine the worst possible scenario, then multiply that by about 10, and you’ll be somewhere close to the truly unreal reality. Plus, in the midst of all this family medical drama, which now spans both sides of our family and at least two generations, Ginko woke up New Year’s Eve morning with a swollen, painful knee.
(Who me? Injure my knee at the worst possible time?)
Seriously. Like I needed that.
To find him hopping around on three legs and seeming quite out of sorts was the LAST thing I expected to find when I awoke from what little sleep I managed while waiting for news from the human ER.
But, because my presence was required elsewhere, I did what I could with pain meds and other at-home remedies for a couple days. I merely wanted to buy myself some time until I could get him in to see our regular veterinarian … rather than the much more expensive ER one.
So, Saturday morning, I got Ginko in for some x-rays at our usual practice. My fears, considering all the other bad news lately, included that one of his TPLO screws had come loose or that a tumor had formed under the plate, which is a risk.
The good news is that there appears to be nothing structurally wrong with the right knee. Yes, there is much more arthritis damage in the joint than six years ago when he had his knee surgeries. Yes, he is swelling and such, but all in all, it looks like something fixable with rest and meds.
Since infection taking seed under his metal plates is a tremendous risk, we have him on a major antibiotic. They also gave me some additional pain meds and some anti-inflammatory meds to use for a week or so. I’m OK with the as-needed pain meds, but I get a little twitchy about the long-term use of these powerful anti-inflammatory ones.
I had a big-name veterinary pain specialist tell me once that my fears merely meant I had not been properly educated about the meds, but I fear what I fear, and that’s liver damage from using these things potentially for the rest of his life.
And, yet, Sunday morning, Ginko awoke with the look of a young pup. He is using his leg again. He even got away from me outside to bark at some pups that were loose on the road. When I called him back from the gate, instead of poking along, he ran at full speed … and considering he is half greyhound is substantial … back to the house.
Lesson learned. Even if I put Lilly and Ginko out separately to potty, other things might beckon the chase — like a rabbit or another dog.
So, today, he is back on dog pen restrictions. They want pretty much complete rest for two weeks. We’re talking about trying Adequan if it seems like this isn’t a one-time glitch, and they want us to look at swim therapy for him. Both would require many visits, which feels daunting to me right now.
Either way, we do need to find a better Ginko transport solution since stuffing him into the back of the Mini was a bit of a struggle. He was fine coming home, just laying down, after two hours getting poked and prodded, but on the way down the mountain, I nearly tore a rotator cuff being a Mommy restraint system. (Tom drove.)
So, now you know why I disappeared for a while. The tremendous demands on my time and energy continue, but I’ll do my best to post as much as I can … and to visit your blogs too. If I don’t comment, I apologize, but I will try to visit regularly.
