outdoorschik
Posted : 3/7/2006 9:52:37 AM
Thanks everyone for worrying, but I'm ok. It was just a real long day yesterday. I got up and got some work done for my classes (I've got four grad classes with very heavy workloads starting right now) Then I went to central Maine to the surgeon and had to run back to northern NH to thrwo Oliver in his crate in the house and then off the class in west/central NH! lol By the time I got back from class at 11 I was BEAT.
I also had to get together my paper work for the northern VA ASPCA... the invesigation into oliver's rescuer/possible breeder is getting quite interesting and she's feeling the heat down there.
The Visit went ok... I wrote down my questions on a legal pad I just happened to have for class and wrote down his answers. I don't own a tape recorder.
The first thing we talked about was the narrowing of the pelvis. He explained that two things caused the narrowing of the pelvis. An overcorrection of the hip... as in, it is not precise to the degree and depends on the plate you use. He used a 25 degree plate which did to his credit work great and pop that ball joint firmly into place. So in that, everything turned out the way he expected it to and he was happy with it. The surgeon we had taken Oliver to consult with complimented his choice of the latest plate in current technology., so that's all good.
the second thing which caused the rest of the narrowing is the fact that the pin came out at the bottom and the bones moved caused by muscles pulling the two sides. That's where the other surgeon says that it is a complication that "can" happen and that our guy said that it has happened to him before (like the other surgeon) and that while it is not ideal, the bowel/urine issues should resolve themselves. Not every surgeon uses a pin there, some leave it loose. Ours used it because he feels he wants as much support as possible in these young dogs. There's not much here that I can pin blame on him for, except that he didn't explain any of this to me before he left for the CARIBBEAN (yes he was tan, it made me mad!)
Basically, if he didn't do anything technique wise wrong.... then it was sort of a fluke, or something that just happens once in a while. I think the overcorrected joint + this complication makes it as bad as it is. The shifting was not caused by jumping, falling, etc just his muscles pulling at the broken bone.
As bad as the pelvic narrowing has been and is, it's not my major problem since even the other surgeon couldn't point out anything technically "wrong" just areas where he'd have talked to us about other options.
The major beef that I have with him that I sort of saved til the end was WHY he did the surgery on the second hip when the second surgeon we saw was able to point out joint damage which could indicate risk of MAJOR degenerative arthritis soon. He said that he made the decision based on his years of experience doing TPO on dogs and their normal outcomes. Oliver has at the very limit of what he was willing to TPO. He felt this was Oliver's best chance to have a real hip. He felt like he "knew" what we wanted after talking to us about our lifestyle (outdoors) and money situation (FHR would never be an option). He said that YES, another surgeon COULD make an arguement either way... that the surgery shoudl be done or it should not be done based on the xray so he had to go by his experience, what he knows of the studies/statistics, and the "art" of it. He said that this is what he would have done for his dog (yes he does have a lab that he did TPO on a few years ago).
So I asked him.. well what was he going to do if Oliver went lame on that leg next year due to degenerative arthritis? He said that then that would be his fault. That he'd have made a choice that was wrong and he took it too far. BUT that he didn't expect that to happen, that he's done TPO's on dogs at this point and they have gotten a good six+ years out of the TPO. He pointed to the really well seated right hip and said that he also based his decision on how well Oliver healed on that side and said that if this side seated nearly as well then he should be good.
He wants me to try and wean Oliver off lactulose but we're not at this oiunt because Oliver still strains when things harden up. He thinks that once all internal swelling is gone Oliver should be able to defacate normally with the possibility of my having to go back to the lactulose once in a while if he eats a stick of something to cause a backup.
He expects the urination issues to resolve but will try PPA if they do not.