Surgery

May 21, 2008

We met with Dr. Conrad for a consultation. He has done over 2000 procedures, with only one rejection. It was a dog whose body simply would not accept the monofilament nylon (like heavy fishing line) or the Securors clamp (clamps the two ends of the nylon wire together).

He said that he has also modified the procedure a bit for heavily muscled dogs like Sophie, placing the mofilament nylon deeper in the tissues to make sure that it stays secure and tight.

We had radiographs taken of her knees and hips. Dr. Conrad said that he likes to x-ray the hips to make sure that there won't be any "surprises" down the road.

Now, remember that vet that told me years ago that x-raying the hips was unnecessary if she was asymptomatic? Well, to this day Sophie has never exhibited any lameness or discomfort in her hips. The x-rays tell a different tale. Sophie has Hip Dysplasia.

This was a devastating thing to hear. I have always been very paranoid about HD (hip dysplasia). I keep her lean and fit so that there is no excess weight on her joints or organs. A panic set in when I was reviewing the radiographs with Dr. Conrad. First a cruciate tear, now hip dysplasia?!

I needed to take a breath. Hip Dysplasia is not as condemning a diagnosis as it used to be. There are many options for managing the condition through diet and supplements and never needing surgery. Since Sophie has never shown discomfort from her hips, I believe that we will be able to manage the condition and keep her happy through a good joint supplement containing Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM, Vitamin E and Hyaluronic Acid. This will also do well for easing the arthritis in her knee.

I asked Dr. Conrad about the possibility of Sophie's other knee blowing out, since this is very common with cruciate injury. He said that because of her conformation, Sophie has an 80% chance of eventually needing surgery in the other knee.

Dr. Conrad said that he could do the surger today if we wanted. I did not want to wait any longer than I had to, so we left Sophie at the hospital for surgery. She was already sedated from the x-rays, so they shaved her down and scrubbed in for surgery immediately.

I was able to visit her the same day a few hours after surgery. This is what her knee looked like:


Sophie stayed overnight at the clinic.