June 1, 2009

June 1, 2009, TPLO surgery

We dropped Winston off at 7am this morning (with his satellite dish e-collar and his sling). I'm beginning to feel like a pro at this. In the first two Tightrope surgeries, I chose to resusitate him if something should go wrong during surgery. This time I signed a DNR. I think he's been through enough. If something goes wrong, I think we should let him go, and Don is now ok with that. As I was signing the form, I had that little voice in my head question whether I was jinxing him, but I'm not superstitious enough to do anything other than acknowledge I heard it.

My co-workers ask all morning if I'm really nervous and so far that hasn't set in. I've got a really calm feeling about the whole situation. I think we've been through some pretty bad stuff so far and we've all come out ok, so I think we can handle whatever comes our way from this surgery. Of course, I still hope it turns out well!

I wasn't expecting anyone to call me until later in the day, but Dr. Duerr called later that morning and said they were all done and that it had gone well. There was no sign of infection, but there was a lot of scar tissue in and around the joint. He removed some of it but had to work around the rest. Because of all the scarring he was unable to get the "ideal" 5 degree angle, and instead got it to 14 degrees, which is still in the range of acceptable. He said that the knee was really stable and that the long term prognosis is good. I'm fine with the angle, I'm just happy that he's going to be able to walk on it again. HOORAY!

They kept him overnight, and I got to sleep in my own bed again. Such a treat!

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