I didn’t realize how far Hudson had come since his first
surgery just over 4 weeks ago. On Thursday morning we headed back to the
surgeon for his check up/x-rays/next surgery. Hudson was so excited to be
there; of course he had no idea what he was in for. He was just excited to get
out of the house for a few minutes.
Setting up this appointment was probably the most confusing
thing we have encountered throughout the whole process. This appointment was
multi-purpose. First, we needed to take new x-rays to see how the healing was
progressing. Second, we wanted to be sure his other hip was still a candidate
for the TPO surgery. To do the x-rays, he would need to go under anesthesia so
they could get good images in uncomfortable positions. Since he would already
be under, it was important to us that if he is a candidate for the second hip,
that he go straight into surgery to avoid both the cost and toll on his body of
another dose of anesthesia.
Of course, that can be kind of difficult to explain to the
person trying to schedule an appointment. I probably explained it 3 times, and
then called back 3 times to check that they got it right. I wouldn’t have been
very happy to find out that Hudson looked great, but the surgeon was all booked
for the day and couldn’t do the surgery. Eventually, though, the got it right.
When we got there, the surgeon wanted to take him back to a
carpeted area to see him walk. While I understand the reasoning for having
linoleum floors in a vet hospital, it is extremely difficult to walk a dog with
unstable hips across that slippery floor.
Anyway, the vet came back and said that he was pleased with
Hudson’s progress and felt comfortable going into the x-rays as if he was going
into surgery. In fact, he said that Hudson was back with the vet techs running
around like a crazy man. For my sanity, I am going to believe that he was
kidding, but a separate vet told us the same exact thing after he was neutered.
He said they were going to go ahead and do the
x-rays, and unless Hudson wasn’t a candidate for surgery, we wouldn’t hear
anything until the surgery was completed. Talk about a long day of waiting.
By noon or so, we felt pretty confident that Hudson was
having the surgery since we hadn’t heard anything, but it is still a lot of
waiting. Around 4, the surgeon called and said Hudson was out and looked good.
Hudsy’s first hip was around 70% healed already, so that was great news, and he
was recovering comfortably from his second surgery. Just as last time, Hudson
would stay overnight at the hospital, and we would schedule a time to pick him
up as long as he was still doing well the next day.
The vet called early the next morning to say Hudson looked
good and was ready to go home whenever. Unfortunately, I had to work, so we
made an appointment for 4:30.
We weren’t as nervous to pick him up this time, but my heart
still dropped when I saw him limping into the room. My poor guy was back in a
cone to keep him from bothering the long row of staples he has across his hip.
His right back quarter is now shaved down to the skin, exaggerating the length
of the hair on his left hip. It’s now about ¼” long.
Since we were old pros at the recovery process, we didn’t need
to talk to them much. We basically just grabbed the paperwork, the pills, and
left. This time they gave him some extra pain medicine and a sedative for the
first few days. I guess to give him a little more time to heal since he doesn’t
have a good hip anymore.
So far, recovery has been uneventful. It feels like we have
taken a few steps back. Back in his cone, not wanting to stand up, trying to
figure out a way to eat laying down, but just like last time, we will get
through it.
This time, though, we are on the real road to recovery.
