It’s been 5+ months of trials and tribulations since Bailey’s original TPLO surgery. We have shed many tears, lost weight from the stress of the ordeal, and yet we are smiling. Nothing has been easy. Nothing went as planned. But what ever does?
Soon after Bailey’s “blood in the urine” episode, he then “blew” his other knee at roughly 7 weeks post-op. Oy ve. I freaked. I cried. A LOT. We had been told that greater than 50% of dogs would tear their other ACL within 12 months of the first surgery…..and we did it at 7 weeks. We (foolishly) convinced ourselves we could do it again…we could make a 6 month rehab for Bailey…we had done it well so far, and we would do it again. Clearly, premature thinking on our parts.
We met with Dr.Agrondia a week early, as the original plan was to have an 8 week follow- up to evaluate bone growth/healing. Dr.Agrondia was great, as always. Calm, compassionate, and yet matter-of-fact. “I have good news, and I have bad news……Bailey’s surgery leg looks great, completely healed and solid……but his other knee isn’t looking very good.” It wasn’t entirely what I wanted to hear, but it was official. Dr.Agrondia was specific with what our options and time frame were. We were in a rock in a hard place. She would do TPLO #2 ONLY after getting to 12 weeks post-op from the first surgery….and that was 5 weeks away. We needed to rehab Bailey to get his original surgery leg strong again…which at this point was atrophied and still painful. We needed to decrease the stress and weight load on the new, bad knee. We needed to continue full on pain medications (Tramadol, Rimadyl). In light of the new, non-text book predicament, Bailey was granted “house rest” as opposed to crate rest in hopes of strengthening his surgical leg and decreasing the stress on the other leg.
The following few weeks were a new level of stress and anxiety, for me at least. I watched him like a hawk. Juno desperately wanted to play with Bailey, but somehow knew to keep her distance and only cuddle him in the crate. Bailey enjoyed his new-found freedom. He somehow knew his limitations and was patient when I put the sling on to help him with the stairs.
We contemplated daily as to what the right decision for Bailey would be, and finally agreed we would do round two of TPLO. I called Dr.Agrondia and scheduled Bailey for the end of August. We psyched ourselves up. We knew we could do it.
Life is full of curve balls, and somehow, we are never prepared. Life came to a halt one Saturday morning in early August. Bailey had been sleeping upstairs at night since his activity restrictions had been lifted, but on this morning, he was nowhere to be found. We called his name, but he didn’t come. We panicked. We searched the house. Where oh where could Bailey be? With my heart racing, I found him in the back of Brent’s closet, unable to move. Desperately trying to safely get him out of the closet, I kicked in the Nurse Mom mode….did he have a stroke?…why is his body flacid?…can he see me?…I was freaking out! Bailey could not get up, his eyelids drooped so low all I could see was red, his body was limp. I had Brent pick up my 100 pound love and put him in the car. Off to the vet we went.
The vet office was horrified when they saw Bailey. I couldn’t stop crying. “Melissa, this doesn’t look good…I don’t like what I am seeing”…the vet was assessing Bailey, poking and prodding without so much as an eyebrow raised by Bailey. Bailey’s blood count was low. But why? My mind was racing. Bloodwork, xrays, needles in the abdomen….and Bailey didn’t even care. My vet suspected Bailey was suffering from hemangiosarcoma. If you aren’t familiar with this, you may not want to google it…..simply put, it’s an aggressive cancer that really has no treatment in terms of quality and/or quantity of life. I was familiar with it, and I was devastated. I was finally hearing words I had always dread…”Melissa, I think today is the day”. I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready. Bailey wasn’t ready. My family wasn’t ready. Between my sobs, I asked if Bailey was in any pain, as that was my sole deciding factor at that moment…..”No, I don’t feel that he is”. With that, I said that I would like to take him home, so he could enjoy the home comforts and have the children say their goodbyes. My vet and I agreed we would keep in contact each day, and reassess as the time got closer to the final injection…..hours, days away.
For the next 3 days, our house was full of tears. I could barely breathe, let alone eat or sleep. An amazing thing happened though…Bailey was getting stronger every day?!?! He wasn’t back to his old self, but he was becoming independent. What was going on? I told my vet, who told me he wasn’t surprised Bailey was rebounding, but also said it was temporary as the internal bleeding would wax and wane. I decided to take Bailey to a specialist who could do an abdominal and thoracic ultrasound, because simply put, I NEEDED TO SEE THESE TUMORS that were killing my dog. Then, and only then, could I be at peace with the final decision I had to make for my canine love.
I had called Dr.Agrondia to let her know Bailey had made a turn for the worst, and we would not be in for the second surgery. Instead of just saying how sorry she was or some other empathetic thought, she probed me for details…when you found him in the closet, what were his eyes doing? Was there deviation? Was their any asymmetry with his body? How was his gait when he finally did walk?..I told her all the little details I could possibly remember. She agreed the situation didn’t sound good. I told her I would update her once the ultrasound was done.
I think it is clear at this point that we have had an emotional roller coaster summer, and the recent events had pretty much put me right over the edge. So when I met with the Radiologist who reviewed Bailey’s story, he too agreed this was looking like a classic hemangiosarcoma….but when he completed Bailey’s ultrasound, he was smiling. I kept my composure and asked to see the films. “There’s no need to….I didn’t see anything that noteworthy!” I was speechless. I was confused. But more importantly, I was elated!
Multiple phone calls later, to family, friends, and all vets involved, the question still remained; what happened to Bailey? To make a long story short, no one knows, even to this day almost 3 months later. Follow up blood work was still abnormal, but there was no explanation. All the vets had different theories, but none could be proven.
So there is no round 2 TPLO in his future, and we are okay with that. It simply wasn’t meant to be. Bailey seems happy living the senior citizen lifestyle on the couch, tolerating Juno’s puppyhood, and enjoying his family. He is still taking medication (Cosequin, Adequan injections, Rimadyl) and it seems to agree with him.
Although we thought originally thought we would be on the tail end of TPLO #2 recovery, I must say…we have no regrets.
Maine Labs 