ClairefromClare
Give 'em Helen!
I have no cartilage in one knee. Glucosamine every day. Cortisone and synvisc to get through ski season, and even they don't do it anymore. The orthopede is already talking replacement. "Geriatric" is beyond the pale.
P.S.A.: For post 2000 I was told to do something good.
I have no cartilage in one knee. Glucosamine every day. Cortisone and synvisc to get through ski season, and even they don't do it anymore. The orthopede is already talking replacement. "Geriatric" is beyond the pale.
Harry Longshanks
ILikeBigPutts&ICannotLie
Pfft. I'm lacking cartilage in both knees and I'm nowhere near geriatric. Don't sweat it.
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OK, this is a two-week report.
Last Wednesday we took Bandit in to look at his knees, since the kneecaps have been floating since he has been on the prednisone (which he has been off of for three weeks as of this appointment). The doctor who looked at him diagnosed two torn ACL's (when this all started, we thought he had a torn left ACL but no vet who looked at him could confirm that, and we are now of the opinion that it was not torn then, but is now). He told us he could perform a surgery called TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy) is where they do a circular cut on the tibial head, readjust the angle of the bone, and then screw a plate in to hold the knee all together until the bone heals. This procedure costs $4,800 to do them both at the same time. So after our jaws come up off the floor, he also tells us that there is a chance, very slight, that byt doing this, he could relapse back to the immune disease that he is all but over now. Well, that made the decision for us. No surgery. The doctor said he wouldn't get worse than he is right now, but likely wouldn't get any better.
I did some research and came across this site: http://home.earthlink.net/~tiggerpoz/index.html, which basically helps you through restricting what the dog does (activity) for several months while continuing with the supplement the vet suggested we give him for his joints on our last appointment. It cover a lot more about ligament injuries and the cons of TPLO. This guys dog had two torn ACL's too and the dog was running and jumping months after restricting the dog's activities. He actually seems to be doing better than he was a month ago anyway, it's not like he's been out running around anyway. The vet said just to try to keep him from doing steps. Well that's impossible since we come home and he's at the bottom of the steps! Plus the ones on the deck that he uses all the time.
So we are just going to keep him from running around for a while and see how he is in a few months. This is the only option anyway, since there is no way we are ever doing the surgery.
So that brings us to yesterday's appointment with the vet who has been looking after him throughout this whole thing. This is pretty short and sweet. He had the whole gamut of blood tests done this time (as always, now that he's only going in once a month). Everything is within normal levels, including his liver enzymes, which is finally all the way back to normal. They cut his Azathioprene down to half a tablet every other day. The next step is to cut it out completely, since that's the only thing he is still taking, other than the joint supplement.
Last Wednesday we took Bandit in to look at his knees, since the kneecaps have been floating since he has been on the prednisone (which he has been off of for three weeks as of this appointment). The doctor who looked at him diagnosed two torn ACL's (when this all started, we thought he had a torn left ACL but no vet who looked at him could confirm that, and we are now of the opinion that it was not torn then, but is now). He told us he could perform a surgery called TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy) is where they do a circular cut on the tibial head, readjust the angle of the bone, and then screw a plate in to hold the knee all together until the bone heals. This procedure costs $4,800 to do them both at the same time. So after our jaws come up off the floor, he also tells us that there is a chance, very slight, that byt doing this, he could relapse back to the immune disease that he is all but over now. Well, that made the decision for us. No surgery. The doctor said he wouldn't get worse than he is right now, but likely wouldn't get any better.
I did some research and came across this site: http://home.earthlink.net/~tiggerpoz/index.html, which basically helps you through restricting what the dog does (activity) for several months while continuing with the supplement the vet suggested we give him for his joints on our last appointment. It cover a lot more about ligament injuries and the cons of TPLO. This guys dog had two torn ACL's too and the dog was running and jumping months after restricting the dog's activities. He actually seems to be doing better than he was a month ago anyway, it's not like he's been out running around anyway. The vet said just to try to keep him from doing steps. Well that's impossible since we come home and he's at the bottom of the steps! Plus the ones on the deck that he uses all the time.
So we are just going to keep him from running around for a while and see how he is in a few months. This is the only option anyway, since there is no way we are ever doing the surgery.
So that brings us to yesterday's appointment with the vet who has been looking after him throughout this whole thing. This is pretty short and sweet. He had the whole gamut of blood tests done this time (as always, now that he's only going in once a month). Everything is within normal levels, including his liver enzymes, which is finally all the way back to normal. They cut his Azathioprene down to half a tablet every other day. The next step is to cut it out completely, since that's the only thing he is still taking, other than the joint supplement.
ClairefromClare
Give 'em Helen!
Thanks for the update, Smallie. Not so great about the knees, but given all Bandit has been through, that almost seems pretty minor. Hey, just the fact that you have to prevent him from running is good news, right?
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On 6/30 we took Bandit in and after running all their tests, they have decided to cut the Azathioprene (the only drug he is still on) down to 1/4 tablet every other day (from half a tablet). The doctor is hoping to get him off that after the next checkup. All blood levels are fine, liver enzymes normal (glad we got him off the prednisone a while back!). Other than the knees, he's basically the same dog before this all happened. He started coming down the stairs to the basement a while back but we always either had to carry him back up or walk him around to the backyard. In the last couple of weeks, he's begun to climb the stairs (again, they are steeper and more narrow than the ones going off the deck - - - and there is thirteen compared to five. That's quite a bit for a dog who at the moment has to go up them basically sideways). But today he came down when we got home and I told him to get upstairs and he went ahead of me immediately. Usually we have to leave him down there and he'll get bored and come back up. I hope that is OK on his ACL issues; we are just trying to keep him from running and jumping.
ClairefromClare
Give 'em Helen!
Thanks for the update, Smallie. I was even wondering about this the other evening!
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Today was Bandit's monthly checkup. Slight setback but not anything to worry about (this is why he goes in every month). His platelets were down to a point where they want to put him back on pred for a month and then they will likely increase his azathioprene back to where it was two months ago and get him off the pred again.His count was 69,000 this month. They want it to be about 100,000. It was actually in the 90,000 range last month but was visibly clumping so it was no big deal: it's harder to get an accurate number when it clumps, but clumping is what they want. This time it wasn't clumping significantly. Since he's going back on pred for a month he also has to go back on the Dimasil (sp) since pred is bad for the liver. He has been on the Synovi G3 supplements for a couple of months now for his joints. We'll probably increase that since, surprise, the pred is also bad for the joints. GRRR!
They want to see him next Tuesday to see what a weeks worth of pred does for him, they don't want him on it for long, and they are loading him up with it short term to nip it before it gets out of hand. So HOPEFULLY he will be back to just the azathioprene this time next week. I'll just be glad if the pred only lasts a month. Once the platelets are where they belong, they will be back to getting him to the minimum he needs. We were wondering when this was going to happen, or if it was, for a while now, because they are trying to get him to that minimum and don't know where that is until he has a setback. So hopefully that's the point we are at now. Everything I've read said this time would come, so we aren't freaking out or anything. The bad news is that he'll likely be on azathioprene from here on out, once the platelet level gets back to where it's supposed to be.
He hasn't been looking like he's feeling bad, in fact he just continues to look like he's doing better all the time. The two torn ACL's seem to be healing up nicely (actually, the ACL's aren't technically healing but the problem is taking care of itself - - - without the surgery).
On top of all this, when I was lifting him into the truck, my back went out. Probably worse than it has in a while. Odds are probably less than 3:1 that I'll be golfing tomorrow with MO as I have been icing my back 20 minutes an hour since I got home and it hasn't improved much yet.
They want to see him next Tuesday to see what a weeks worth of pred does for him, they don't want him on it for long, and they are loading him up with it short term to nip it before it gets out of hand. So HOPEFULLY he will be back to just the azathioprene this time next week. I'll just be glad if the pred only lasts a month. Once the platelets are where they belong, they will be back to getting him to the minimum he needs. We were wondering when this was going to happen, or if it was, for a while now, because they are trying to get him to that minimum and don't know where that is until he has a setback. So hopefully that's the point we are at now. Everything I've read said this time would come, so we aren't freaking out or anything. The bad news is that he'll likely be on azathioprene from here on out, once the platelet level gets back to where it's supposed to be.
He hasn't been looking like he's feeling bad, in fact he just continues to look like he's doing better all the time. The two torn ACL's seem to be healing up nicely (actually, the ACL's aren't technically healing but the problem is taking care of itself - - - without the surgery).
On top of all this, when I was lifting him into the truck, my back went out. Probably worse than it has in a while. Odds are probably less than 3:1 that I'll be golfing tomorrow with MO as I have been icing my back 20 minutes an hour since I got home and it hasn't improved much yet.