She was off for assessment and hopefully, Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy to counteract her arthritis and spinal issues. Wednesday, I put together a short list of notes directed at things I felt our vet ought to consider in her review of WD's health. Number one on the list was "if after your do your exam of My Girl you feel that the risk involved is higher than what would be normal for this procedure call me before beginning. If there are concerns I am inclined to delay treatment until we can fix those concerns."
Fortunately, Rosie, the surgical nurse, and Dr. Julia agreed that White Dog would tolerate the therapy which involved drawing blood, centrifuging it, and redripping it back into her affected joints; they would use light sedation. It would take less than an hour but they would keep her all day to monitor and to do a thorough exam of her teeth and throat and mouth to see if they could garner any clues to explain her reluctance to eat. She recovered from the procedure well. They found a thickening of her mouth muscles that was limiting White Dog's ability to open her mouth easily. There are no signs of the c monster or abnormal growth nor does her blood work throw any red flags; Dr. Julia has asked for a bit of time to research possible causes and corrections for this condition.
White Dog came home at the end of the day, rested in my arms as we all welcomed her back and cheered the success of the PRP, then she had some slurried nutrition before falling asleep on her bed.
When she woke it was nite-nite walk time; she went outside for a few minutes...and stood on her own...before drowsing again. She began crying in pain in the wee hours and it seemed to take the tramadol forever to settle her down. Hearing her discomfort kept the entire house alert and ill at ease. She finally slept again.
We called our vet first thing in the morning to give a report and were somewhat comforted to know that it was not unusual that there would be pain for three days or so...and we built a pain management plan. There was no way White Dog was going to be defenseless over the weekend.
Already we are seeing small signs that something is happening. During the night WD managed to move across the room on her own, drink from the water dish, climb up on Tizenegy's bed, and find a new spot that was comfortable enough to allow sleep.
We are hopeful and find strength in our bonds to each other. White Dog, ever the philosopher, said as she watched the nest building outside our window, "Even the season brims with hope. We have got this, momma. Together."
2 comments:
That sure sounds positive, hooray!
Love to you all
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