May 6, 2009, 1 week check following wound closing

Winston's wound has been healing nicely and we're scheduled next week to take the stitches and staples out, but AMVS wanted to see him a week after they closed the wound.

Even though the wound itself is healing, and the infection seems to be gone (he's still on antibiotics until May 19th), he isn't using his leg. The swelling is gone and now his leg is shrinking right before our eyes.

Don and I are still team lifting Winston in and out of the car, so he comes home for lunch and we get Winston loaded and unloaded. Both Dr. Trousdale and Dr. Duerr are really happy with the way the wound is healing -- apparently it's doing better than they expected. Hooray!

After all his visits to AMVS, "skeptical Don" is finally a true believer that they genuinely care about their patients. The lobby has often been crowded when we've gone, and all the doggie parents commiserate with each other. Often we've seen each other before and we're able to ask or see for ourselves how so-and-so is doing now. As the staff comes out to take patients back to exam rooms or into the back, they all stop and say "hi" and give a little hug and a pet to the other pups that they know. It's a nice friendly atmosphere.

During our exam, Dr. Duerr brings up what they'd like to do next. They can't do another Tightrope because there is too great a risk of re-infection, so they would like to do a TPLO. There is still a pretty high risk of infection because he's already had one, but at least if he gets one this time, they don't have to remove any of the implants and his leg will remain stable. He also mentions that they know of our financial concerns (unfortunately I think we didn't hide the fact that we were seriously worried about money with each of his recent visits) and that the owner of the practice is willing to do the surgery at a large discount.

I'm still not excited about the TPLO surgery itself, to quote someone else out on the internet, "it seems wrong to break a bone to fix a ligament," but after all that we've been through, it actually doesn't sound that different from some of what we've already done. Also, last fall Winston had 4 "mostly working" legs and now he has 3. I'm willing to go ahead with the plan, but we have to go step by step before we know whether we can try the TPLO.