Poor Gracie, surgery

[mollysmom]

My sweet Gracie is going in for Surgery on Tuesday. I took her to the Ortho vet today because she suddenly came up lame. Vet examined her - very painful in the hip - and put her under for Xrays which showed she has terrible hips, terrible alignment, deformed bones, you name it, she's got it. The hip needing surgery the ball can't even get into because the socket has filled in. The reason she came up lame is because she chipped the femur. But the hips have been bad for a long time and poor Gracie is only 18 months old. The surgeon wants to do a femur ball removal and let the muscle, grissle, etc. hold the bone in place. She says Gracie will do just as well with this as with THR. Also Gracie's left hip is lousy too. Just not as bad. Once the ball is removed, you can not have THR done, so if the other hip needs to be done later, down the road, it will have to be a THR.

Has anyone had this femur ball removal done on a giant breed? I'd like to hear what you know, please.

Molly was diagnosed with LOUSY hips when she was 14 months old and is doing well on supplements, has no trouble getting up, getting about. But Emma has to have Xrays done when I take Grace in on Tuesday for Surgery because she's having trouble getting up now.

I am SO bummed, SO upset, I hate for my girls to be going through this.

 

[NewfMom]

We didn't have any surgery done but did look into it about 5 years ago. One thing that struck me about the ball removal was that the recovery seemed to be much easier than with a hip replacement. For us that was a concern because keeping Kimber quiet after surgery has always been difficult.

 

[sarnewfie]

i have heard of no ball on the end of femur working well, i also know of a newf that was born without ball on either femur, and as long as the muscle is built up that dog gets along like no ones business! she is active and up and about all the time! i know it is hard to see them have this done, but i believe it will be worth it if the cavity has filled in that much,good luck with her and keep us posted ok?

 

[mollysmom]

Gracie is an active girl. In fact she's the reason we had to install the electric fence. She could jump that fence like a pro athlete. Who would have thought she had hips this bad? It's going to be hard keeping her down for the recovery time, but it will be worth every bit of it if she can jump and play like she wants to.

It's good to hear it's been done and turned out well before. I was concerned because I haven't heard it discussed here before. I know my ortho surgeon is tops in her field, that helps my confidence a little. I'm just worried for Gracie.

 

[Annie Milliron]

Linda,

I'm so sorry to hear of Gracie's problems, and will be thinking of her this week, and sending good thoughts and prayers.... please keep us posted!

Annie

 

[Giddyuppy]

My lab/retriever had to have the ball removed from his leg when he was only 6 mos. old. He recovered just fine and lived an active life for 16 more years. His last 6 months took their toll.

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

Sorry to hear about Gracie's hips. Hope the surgery is the answer and that she enjoys an active and healthy life for many more yrs!

 

[mollysmom]

Thanks Giddy and Newf, I am starting to relax just a little about this. It makes me feel better to know this might work.

Gracie is doing a lot of sitting around. She's on rimadyl until Tuesday and I hope this is relieving the pain. She's such a character, makes you laugh every day without fail. She's quiet and reserved right now, making me think she's not pain-free.

Thank you for keeping Gracie in your thoughts.

 

[AmyPC]

Originally posted by Giddyuppy:
He recovered just fine and lived an active life for 16 more years.

That's promising!

Sorry to hear abou Gracie. Fingers are crossed for her to be pain-free.

 

[Giddyuppy]

http://www.activexamerica.com/synflex/

I spent 3 entire days on the 'puter, looking for something to help my Lab when he could no longer take meds...bleeding internally from them. I found Syn-Flex and I SWEAR by it! There was a very NOTABLE difference in him by the end of the 4th day, believe it, or not. My vet has now got Syn-Flex in his practice. It's amazing stuff! It gave me another 6 months with him.

I've got my 9 1/2 yr. old Boxer on it, and in time, I will put my little Newf on it. He turned 4 mos. old, today!

 

[sarnewfie]

There are many suppliments that can be used, but....once that cavity fills up with arthritus, nothing can totally take that pain away, i would most likely opt for that surgery, one of the few i would consider, simply becouse i have seen resutls for myself, in some of my customers dogs, labs included.

 

[Sabeaux]

Dear Linda,

I am so sorry to hear about Gracie's problems...you are both in my thoughts..I am sure everything will be fine.It's hurts alor when our furkids hurt.

 

[IrishMist428]

Oh gosh Linda this must be so hard for you. I have no experience to give advise, just well wishes, any many of then. We are with you in thought and prayer, before, during and after. Fingers, toes, paws and anything else we can cross, well we certainly will.
"Stay postive"

[ 09-14-2003, 10:59 PM: Message edited by: IrishMist ]

 

[macgirl13ca]

I saw a show on Animal Planet about the ball removal. They did it on a Saint, and it went very well. The surgeon did say it was much less painful and quicker recovery for them, and as long as proper exercise was done afterwards, he'd be fine. He suggested swimming as much as possible.
Good luck, our thoughts are with you.

 

[mollysmom]

Thanks !!! I am feeling much better, no more boo-hooing here

. Gracie is uncomfortable, but not to the point of painful. Making any sense? She gets up, moves about, but just doesn't have any spunk. Something she has to excess at times

. It is SO good to hear about the Saint doing well. Thanks for that information. That was my biggest concern. I do have a lot of faith in my surgeon, I won't let anyone else touch my kids. Knowing a huge dog did well feels wonderful

. Knowing many other breeds have done well feels great too!

It's going to be difficult keeping my Gracie down. She's active and happy. So a shorter recovery time is really necessary for her. Not only for her physical wellbeing, but for her emotional wellbeing too. My surgeon is big on exercising and getting back to normal life asap for her patients.

another good point here is that we live a few hundred feet from the bay here and there can be all the swimming exercise the vet requires

.

Thank you everyone for the support you're giving us. I felt pretty bad at first. Now, I'm just ready to take it on. Gracie recovered really well from her OCD surgery about a year ago. I expect her to do the same this time.

 

[Liz]

Good luck! We'll be thinking about you both tomorrow and sending positive energy your way. Keep us posted.

 

[janices]

Has anybody tried the gold bead implants? I've heard good stuff about their use for dysplasia and lately now for spondylosis and stifles for arthritis pain.

I personally do use acupuncture. Had good success with it on three dogs now. Specialist who does it for my dogs did something new, injection of B-12 into the acupuncture points which they think works better.

 

[sarnewfie]

Janice
how invasive is the gold bead thingie?
and who would do that? holistic?
i would greatly be interested, what cases it worked on, how severe they were before and after what was the prognisis after so much time......

 

[mollysmom]

Thanks Liz, I'll definately keep eveyone posted. She has to stay overnight tomorrow

but I will be speaking with the vet at the end of surgery tomorrow.

Sar, I think Amy PC has gone the gold bead route. I remember a long while back she discussed it here.

 

[janices]

Sar, would be done by same vets who do acupuncture. If they do good with acupuncture supposed to do good doing this cause it's a continuous acupuncture. The dogs have to have anethestic for this and heard costs around $300 or so.

My vet who does acupuncture is also a board certified surgeon with a secondary specialty in surgical oncology. She's certified in acupuncture and is big into using it to aide in pain control.