We’re sorry it’s been a while since our last post. The past few weeks became a bit of a blur and Ollie’s recover was (we thought) going so very well that we didn’t really have much to blog about besides a few updates about his therapy. We honestly meant to give more updates, and were planning on a very celebratory post filled with cute pictures like this one of Ollie in his laser therapy goggles.
We honestly wish we’d posted about these last few weeks more, especially because we are now posting with some pretty shocking and bad news.
Yesterday, Ollie went in for his 8 week check up. His surgeon, Dr. Brourman, flew in from Idaho and took x-rays of the hip implant. Unfortunately, the x-rays showed the stem of the implant had subsided into his femur and was causing a gap of about a centimeter between the ball and cup of the implant. This separation was making Ollie turn his leg out slightly, which we had both noticed, and put his hip at too great a risk of future dislocation to leave it as it was. We made the difficult decision to undergo emergency repair surgery on his implant. Initially, Dr. Brourman wanted to simply replace the ball portion of the implant with a larger one, but that didn’t close the gap enough. The entire stem portion of the implant had to be removed and replaced in order to get the implant to fit correctly. Here’s a picture of his new incision right next to the one which was healing so nicely.
We are basically back to square one with his recovery. Because the implant is larger this time, and because the removal and replacement caused a small fissure in his femur, we are even more concerned about him potentially breaking his femur this time. We must be incredibly vigilant and not allow him to put any weight on his leg for the next eight weeks. We are extremely distraught because this means Ollie will have to endure more pain and discomfort, and the effort and money we have already spent on his physical therapy has all been for naught.
Ollie is home now, we just got him a few hours ago. Fortunately, he seems a lot happier this time than he was after the first surgery. We’re hoping that, because they only had to replace the stem and not the cup, the pain won’t be as bad. He’s also on a slightly different medication regimen, which Dr. Brourman hopes will not cause the delusion which we believe caused Ollie to cry so much over the first few days last time.
We started this blog to chronicle the ups and downs of this procedure and the recovery. It looks like we just hit our first big down moment, and it was tougher and more unexpected than we could have imagined. We thought we were only a few weeks away from being pretty much in the clear, and now we are starting over on a much more difficult and dangerous path. Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement. As tough as the last 36 hours have been, our belief in Ollie’s strength and ability to come through this like a champion has never wavered. He’ll be running around his yard this time next year and will be looking this happy all the time.
Oh Ollie, I am sorry you had to go through this again. You said something about the therapy being for naught. No you made him stronger this time before surgery which maybe why you notice the small pain difference already.
Healing thoughts & prayers
Michelle & Angel Sassy
Thank you for the kind words and positive thoughts, Michelle. And, thanks for pointing out how the rehab work we have done helped him be better prepared for this surgery! We hadn’t thought of that.
I can only imagine how defeated and discouraged yo mist feel. I’m just so sorry you and Ollie are having to go through this ordeal.
Michelle had a REALLY good point about the PT helping and helping Ollie have an advantage this go round.
And you know what? We DO have some things to celebrate…in a bizarre sort of way! Ollie is out of surgery and one step closer to complete recovery. As awful as it is to jave to go through this again, it appears to have prevented hip dislocation down the road.
Ollie has probably had more spoiling and loving and attention in these past eight weeks than most dogs get in a lifetime! If you ask Ollie, I’m sure he would say it was worth it!
Look at those pictures of Ollie! He is ecstatic at all the love he is getting! The dog is smiling while he’s stylin’ his cool “sunglasses”! A very confident pup!
And you are soooo right! OLLIE DOES HAVE THE STENGTH AND ABILITY TO COME THROUGH THIS LIKE A CHAMPION!!!! And he has you on his side…and us! We are all cheering for you Ollie!!
Chronicling Ollie’s journey, with all the ups and downs and ups, provides so much inspiration to any dogs facing seemingly insurmountable odds!
Please keep us posted when you can. I know you have a loton your plate right now. No way but up from here on out!!
We love you Ollie!!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle too!
PS…Check out Murphy’s story and, how as a three legged dog, he handled surgery on his remaining rear leg less than two months after his amputation (if I’m recalling things right).
Ohhhh nooooo. You guys I just saw this and I’m so sorry for all of you. But OK, as hard as this is to go through, we all KNOW that Ollie is gonna rock this latest challenge, you all are and in one year’s time he WILL be that crazy runaround kid again.
You have such a great team of docs and I know it seems crazy right now but this has gotta get better. Remember, sometimes what we don’t understand is very, very scary to us, but our vets are often feeling way more confident because they know more about the procedure. this is the education nobody wants but in time you’ll feel more confident too.
Hang in there, you are all in our thoughts and hearts and we are sending Ollie lots of good vibes for fast, injury-free healing. xoxo