Oliver update...

I'm so glad to hear that he's doing well!

    Thanks for the update on Oliver. I'm glad to hear that you found a good alternative to the lactulose, but sorry to hear that the hip hasn't popped back into place yet. Please let us know what the surgeon says about the x-rays.  I'm sending healing thoughts your way

Sending healing vibes for Oliver.  Hope you have a complete recovery soon.
 
 

Well you have some good news anyway...sounds like Oliver is doing pretty well except for that darn hip, hopefully the doc will have something good to say. We'll all be watching for you!

Karen, I'm not sure I understand, and when you go to see the surgeon for the follow-up,  I'd love for you to talk to him and get a really good explanation of the hip "popping in".  The TPO is supposed to reposition the hip socket over the ball on his femur.  Then, it heals that way, with the ball in the socket.  So what would there be to "pop in"?  I remember you talking about the wiggly thing way back when....would that have anything to do with it?  When do you take him in for the x-ray? 

I am glad to hear that he's off the lactulose.  The metamucil you can deal with. 
Let us know how it goes when he gets checked.
Sally

Sally... yes, the surgery repositions the hip over the socket, but right after the surgery, the ball is not actually in the socket completely yet. i didn't know that either, but learned it after talking to the surgeon. it's an interesting process... By virtue of dysplasia, the joint gets loose and the tendons and ligaments stretch. One of the qualifications for determining if TPO is an option is the amount of "laxity" in the joint. After the surgery, the body actually pulls the joint back together! Interesting huh?
The longer a dog is severely dysplastic, the further everything gets stretched out... which is what happened to Oliver and another reason why the surgery should prolly not have been done and why it's harder for the body to pull it together even though the stage is set from the TPO procedure.

Can the surgeon pull and push it into the correct position, or is this a nature has to do it?

Okay, Karen, now that I've used up my words for tonight (on my own rambling post), I'll look tomorrow and see what the X-ray says and I'll write you then.
 
Somehow, we just move forward, don't we? What can we do otherwise?
 
Good to hear from you and thanks for the good words on my post.
 
Good luck and talk soon!

sally....
nope, it can't be pushed or pulled into place... because it "is" in place, it's just that the tendons/ligaments are loose allowing it to slip in and out. they need to be tight to keep it there...

I'm off to the x-ray!

Hey everyone...
Oliver's x-ray looks great.... he's healing well and is allowed out of his crate
now under surpervision, though he's not allowed to jump or play yet. You can
see the bone being fused and how the first hip is really solidly in place, also
that his pelvis did not narrow any further.
As for his left hip, the one not yet in the socket, we are starting a lot of
leashed walking/pulling(yup bad leash manners are encouraged ) on hills to
try and get the body to pull it in and keep it there. When he walks straight the
hip stays in place, but any turn or twist makes it fall/pop out. The surgeon
thinks that with excercise it will tighten up though he's not had it take this
long before. He said that his dog looked similar at this point but not quite as
bad as Oliver. He's encouraging a lot of walking on hills, hours worth as soon
as he's up to it... to try and build it up. no running or jumping, but more
walking than they normally start with to try and get things tight in there.
the good news is that there isn't as much degeneration between the x-ray
five weeks ago and this one as we feared. If we can strengthen everything,
hopefully we can minimize the damage from this point on. the surgeon
thinks we "squeaked by" on this and that we'll be very happy with it come
summer.

I'm off to take Oliver for a walk!!

Yahoo - congratulations on a good report on Oliver!!!  That must've been a relief to hear and no doubt, Oliver is thrilled at the idea of getting more exercise [].

Yea!  Glad you got some good news on your boy.  Things are lookin' up!

Karen, that really is good news.  Just remember to keep him under control in the house.  It only takes a second.......   I am really glad to hear that it looks like life will be normal for you soon.  It's been a long, tough road for you.

     That is great news Karen. He'll love being out of the crate, too.