My friend, Elena, has a service dog named Marley. Marley had surgery Tuesday (14th) and below is her latest email:
Marley’s Home!
A quick synopsis for those of you who haven’t been getting the almost daily updates via Amateur Radio . . .
On Christmas Eve morning, Marley woke up lame. The vet said she had a partially torn cruciate ligament. She had probably planted her foot wrong while chasing a squirrel. No running, no jumping for six weeks and she’ll be fine.
Six weeks later, the orthopedic specialist diagnosed a genetic disorder that is causing her knee ligaments to deteriorate. Her left knee ligament was now completely torn. The right one was partially torn. The only fix — surgery.
Then during her pre-surgery exam . . . Marley has a slightly slipped disc in her neck. The neurologist was called in. No signs of any nerve damage.
Then a mass was found in her spleen. The biopsy determined “normal” old age mass.
Then she was checked for Cushing’s Disease (her blood work wasn’t quite right). The tests came back normal, but they want to recheck in six months.
Okay, I know she’s not a spring chicken, but this was rubbing my nose in it! I knew Marley was of retirement age for a while but hadn’t taken it seriously. She’ll be eleven this spring. The average life span for beagles is twelve to fifteen years. The orthopedist said Marley MIGHT have one or two more working years.
When all the pre-surgery exams were done, it was time to decide which surgery — we had a choice of two. One wasn’t cheap and the other was really expensive. With the not so cheap one, the surgeon would attach a thread to her two bones creating a replacement ligament. The success rate for full recovery is eighty percent.
We hoped that Marley could have the really expensive surgery – if her bones were big enough. The success rate is ninety percent. And, in the long run, Marley would be a lot more likely to be able to return to work (I am not looking forward to the day I have to tell her that she can’t work any more. She loves her job!).
As it turned out, Marley had the really good surgery – TPLO (If you want to read more about it, this is pretty good. http://www.vetsurgerycentral.com/tplo.htm). She had to spend the night in the hospital. It was sooo quiet around here. She came home Wednesday afternoon moving really slowly.
Its now Thursday evening. Marley is still very weak but getting around a bit better. Her leg is quite swollen. She’s becoming accustomed to the warm compresses against her leg (she screamed the first time I touched the fur on her foot). We haven’t counted the staples yet. There are three at her ankle and several more at her knee and up her thigh. Lew caught her licking the staples last night, so she got to wear an e-collar while we slept. The wound was seeping slightly in one spot, but seems to have finally stopped. The staples come out in about two weeks.
For the next eight to twelve weeks, she’ll be on leash or in a cage 24/7. The purpose is to limit her activity – no running and no jumping. (Sorry, Lois, no playing either.)
I made a platform for Marley to ride on so we can still go out.
Oh! And what she looks like now. Her stomach was shaved for the needle biopsy. Poor baby!
I’m hoping to flesh out the story over the next few days (though, Marley has top priority). If you’re interested, check her web pages at www.RideMaps.com (Click on the link near the top).
Elena
