January 27, 2010: 8 week TPLO check

Well, today we went for Winston's 8 week check.  He wasn't too upset about going to AMVS.  I guess it's been long enough that he didn't automatically expect bad things.  Good to know that he's willing to give us all the benefit of the doubt.  Good boy!

We got to go into an exam room right away and Winston paced and panted.  He also didn't want to go back for x-rays, but did it anyway.  He's so funny.... you can pretty much do anything with him.

Dr. Duerr looked at the x-rays and then did the exam.  The bone has started healing but isn't fully healed.  He seemed pleased with the progress considering what we've been through.  The result will never be as good for a "fresh" TPLO (not following a previous repair).  I asked whether we could take down the baby gate across the stairs.  He asked whether Winston walks up and down them and I said yes, but then qualified it by saying that if someone rang the doorbell, he might run down them.  He recommended waiting another two weeks before we take it down. 

We're to keep increasing his walks as well as he can tolerate them so that we can work on the muscle atrophy.  Today we bumped back up to walking around two blocks instead of just our own.  The pups were both happy when we went that far.

As far as increasing any other exercises, we're supposed to wait on that too and go back for another check in 4-6 weeks.  All in all, it was pretty much what I expected and good news.

January 22, 2010: Day 51, healing on track?

The past two weeks have been uneventful for the most part.  At 6 weeks we moved to walking around two blocks instead of just our own and Winston got more sore.  At first there wasn't a noticeable difference but the more we did it, the more he seemed to limp, so we've cut back to going just around our block again and he seems like he's doing better.  This is a marathon instead of a sprint so I don't mind if our progress is slow. 

What I see as progress:

• His leg looks good; there's no swelling anymore.  
• The little lump where the seroma was has gone down a lot and is pretty hard.  It doesn't feel like there's any fluid in there anymore (if there is, it's well hidden between the lumpy hard stuff).
• He's having an easier time standing up from a sitting or lying position.
• He's using the leg to step onto or off of the couch (it's a lateral move so there's no jumping involved).

The things that worry me:

• He's still not using his leg fully while we're in the house or when he's standing still.
• He's got a noticeable limp while walking.

His 8 week check with x-rays is scheduled for next Wednesday, so I'm hopeful that the bone will be fully healed and we'll be able to move onto some of the harder exercises that will force him to use his leg (lifting his other foot and walking in figure eights), but I won't do any of that until we know more.  It could be that he's just healing slower this time and we need to wait.

January 11, 2010: Day 40 - back to longer walks

On Saturday I tried taking Winston around the block for three of our four walks.  He didn't seem overly sore, so we did it again on Sunday and then again today.  I think we've officially moved to this distance/time.  About time!  On Wednesday we reach the six-week milestone and we're supposed to start increasing walk time/distance again.  It seems like our progress is slower than last time, but I think that the weather is definitely a factor at times.  Not only the weather, but the roads must be considered.  The county budget must have tightened up because our street doesn't get plowed during the snowstorms anymore.  The street to the west side of our property does.  The snowpack and then ice is slick at times and we don't want Winston to slip and fall. 

January 8, 2010: Day 37 - Slow but steady

 The temps crept up a bit today so we did a 5 minute walk at 9am when it was coldest and then by the time I got off work at 3, it was in the low 30s so we went around the block.  Winston seemed fine with that, so this evening after dinner I bundled them up in their coats and we went around the block again.

January 7, 2010: Day 36, Winston is less sore

So it's REALLY (ok, for us anyway) cold today.  When I woke up it was -11F and windy, so it was pretty ugly outside when we went for a potty break.  Winston seemed pretty uncomfortable on his leg in that cold, and I don't blame him.  Newly healed tissue, healing bone, and metal plates and screws aren't much fun in the cold.  We didn't go out again until about 10am when it had warmed up to about 5 degrees and the wind had died down.  We did a 5 minute walk all bundled in our coats.  When out walking today and around the house, Winston seems more comfortable on his leg than he was yesterday, so we did a 10 minute walk at midday and then another quick 5 minute walk at 3pm.  Our only outings after that were potty breaks in the yard.

January 6, 2010: Day 35 - Winston's pretty sore

Ok, so the three longer walks yesterday was tough on him.  There were a couple of times that he stood up, and just didn't want to use his leg at first.  He did start walking on it, but I could tell he was saying, "Ouch."  It's snowing and in the teens, so even though we've walked 3 times today, I've kept it to 5 minutes per walk.  He still wants to get out and do it.  Once he gets going, he's not limping too much.

January 5, 2010: Day 34 - increased time on another walk

The weather is still holding nice and Winston seems to feel good, so we tried 3 around-the-block walks and one 5 minute walk.  This evening he still seems fine, but the true test will be tomorrow.  I expect he'll be more sore, but I'm just not sure how bad it will be.

January 4, 2010: Day 33, Increased walk time

Not much to report here.  We've been able to increase two of our walks to around the block (about 12 minutes each) and we've been doing two 5-minute walks in addition to that.  Winston has gotten used to the additional time and activity.  Depending on the weather, we should be able to bump up one of the other walks to around the block.  We're supposed to get a cold snap with some snow on Wednesday, so we'll see what happens.

January 2, 2010: Day 31, Walking around the block again

The weather has warmed up (it's 47 right now according to our little weather station) so there's more dry pavement to walk on.  The rest of the street is either slushy or snowy depending on where we are and what time of day it is, so we tried walking around the block for our last walk of the day on December 30th.  Winston was noticeably tired afterwards, but didn't seem much more sore from it.  On New Years Eve and New Years Day we walked two 5 minute walks and one "long" walk -- it's about 12 minutes rather than 10 so we increased the time just a bit more than the recommended increase.  Winston is no longer more tired from it.  I'm thinking that we might try for a second round the block walk today.  We've already done one 5 minute and one round the block walk.