June 2, 2012 • 2 Comments
So it’s Friday, 8:30am. The vet should be 30 minutes into the surgery. I receive a call. It’s the vet. He says that after rechecking Marco before surgery, he feels that the bones are actually healing now. Since he’d had a week of total crating, vitamins, antibiotics, and puppy food that the infection is almost clear and the bone is repairing. He says that he is NOT going to do the surgery, he’s keeping him another 2-3 weeks, same regime, with more x-rays and “you might even get some money back”. I’m floored… Is he just trying to drag it on more because he feels guilty? Are they going to suck up all this money then when it doesn’t work yet again ask for more? He doesn’t understand why I’m not jumping and screaming hooray, that actually I’m more confused. I hadn’t seen him in a week and all I can see in my mind is all the blood and infection oozing and x-ray after x-ray of these 2 little chicken wing bones snapped in 2. “How in the world could this be better in just 7 days?” I went to visit him. He had no cast or bandage on. He really did look a lot better. So now I’m going to go with what this vet says and Marco will keep his “spare” for now.
The only thing now is that I have found this wonderful community and I will probably not have a tripawd after all! You all have been the nicest people I have ever talked to. Thank you all for your encouraging words. I have uploaded 3 pics. 1 a week ago and2 now.
Category: Uncategorized
May 31, 2012 • 6 Comments
My name is Sharla. This is my first blog ever so please, bear with me. I have joined this community because as of tomorrow morning, my Marco will be a tripawd. He is the sweetest 9 month old poodle puppy. He found me just 3 short months ago. He was so scared of everything. He just shook in fear, he wouldn’t walk, play, and he barely ate. I worked with him all the time just snuggling him and reaffirming how much I love him. He went everywhere with me, even to work. In 3 weeks he was a new dog. Protective of me. So loving, and he loved my customers too. One day he was excited to see a customer and he jumped off the couch funny and broke his leg. I have never been so scared in my life. All I wanted was for him to not be in pain anymore!! I got him immediately to the animal hospital where they confirmed that both bones on his lower left leg were green twig fractured. They soft casted him up and for seven weeks we did x-ray after x-ray, 5 casts, and lots of pain for Marco. Last week the pain was unbearable for him. As I raised his leg, an abscess burst. I cleaned him up, medicated it bandaged him and took him to the vet. This time there was a vet that had never seen him before. You could see in her eyes how appalled she was by what she was seeing. All of the other times I had taken him, they worked on him in another room. I never got to see under the cast until that day….. I cried. He had so many resistance injuries under that cast. They were infected and bleeding. The skin was sloughing off at the elbow and beginning to die. After x-rays for the fourth time, it showed that his break was worse than the day I brought him in. This has been 7 weeks, 5 casts, 4 x-rays and $1648.00 . My Marco is worse off than the day he broke his leg. They offered to do surgery to repair his break with metal plates and screws…. They would have to be the size of toothpicks… this would also take 3 days with bone marrow this and bone graphed that then more casting and more crating for 2-3 months more. Then he could possibly reject it, his bone would liquify and it would be all for nothing. oh yeah and that would be another $1600.00. Amputation is another option, that would eliminate the break, the infection and the cost is $600.00. They have stopped charging me for the boarding fees, the doctor offered to knock $1000.00 off the repair, now he wants to come in on his day off to do the procedure. Does it seem as though he’s feeling a little guilty to you? I just can’t run the risk of doing the repair and I know Marco does not want to go through 3 more months of this. He’s been getting around very well with 3 legs and a cast hiked back behind him. So, Marco will be joining the world of tripawds tomorrow morning at 8:00am. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks……. Marco’s Mom
Category: Uncategorized Tagged: amputation, broken leg, Marco, mymarco
