Hello all.......took Maybrie to the vet today, and I was so excited to show him that she could walk on all 4's and to share with him everything we have been doing.   There is good news and not so wonderful, but still okay for her case.  The good news is that the healing of her TPLO and FHO are going fairly well.   There are ZERO problems with the knee, it is healing quite well.  Everything is in place, and holding well!  No swelling, and she is bearing weight.  The FHO is okay by xray, but he took one look at her clinically and said, "Well, she's walking on all 4's, and that's good, but I'm  not happy with the worsened, (severe) atrophy in her right leg/hip."      I reminded him that leg has never been the same size as the other and that we had JUST started walking with her on a routine basis because she JUST started using all 4 a week ago!   He asked if she had been swimming, and what we had been doing with her.  I told him that the swimming wasn't working out because she refused to move that bad leg in the water, and though she would swim with 3 legs and seem to enjoy herself, after about 5-10 minutes in the water, she was shivering so badly and wanting to get out....even with a wetsuit and lifejacket.   He said that perhaps we started the swimming too soon based on her case, but encouraged me to try again!   I told him we had been walking hills this week, and that I had just started walking her on an air mattress 50% full.   He said I was doing all that I could be, but questioned why her muscle was so small.  I explained again that she just made this concrete milestone a week ago.  He said, 'OHHHHHHH!  He felt a bit better then, and so did I!    Lets see....8 weeks OFF, 1 week ON.....spells ATROPHY! 

On another concerning note, I asked him about allowing her  to run and play outside and explained that after about 6 or 7 weeks, she went stir crazy and started destroying things because she had so much pent up energy.  I explained that I couldn't put her in her kennel because she might lie down on the bad leg again and not be able to roll to the other side and get up.   I told him that her energy is SO high after 6 weeks of confinement, I felt sure that I could put her in a room with nothing but 4 walls and she would find a way to destroy the sheetrock!  No joke!   He said that in a perfect world, she really should NOT be allowed to take off running at full speed .....you know how this breed is though.  They run like bullets out of a gun, and go crazy if they can't.  He also said, "In a perfect world, my son would not be on Ritalin."  For the past 2 weeks, maybe 3, I have been allowing her to bolt out of the door and run her usual 4 laps around the yard.  I have also allowed her to play with Kaido in a controlled setting, and bought them things to play tug with.  I  was convinced that allowing her to run, and allowing her to play with Kaido, naturally helped her gain confidence to use all 4 of her legs again.  We were not walking prior to this point because I didn't want to walk her on 3 legs!    He said that if at all possible, I should keep her on leash when she is outside for at least the next 10-12 weeks until she builds up some more muscle. The healing is done.....not to worry, it's just that she MUST build more muscle in that leg.  He assured me that now that she is on all 4's, we must continue to train that muscle memory, as well as trigger more muscle growth.     He assured me that the running would NOT and HAD NOT  hurt the TPLO, as again, there is NO resistance.  She's essentially walking on a cloud as far as the knee is concerned.  However, it DOES put undue stress on the other 3 legs, and this may actually continue to be the case, as most FHO dogs will run on 3, but walk on 4.  It's just easier for them, so they do it.   He also explained that she has so little muscle there, that if we walk her for a few days and she gains some muscle, what little muscle we build, can easily be torn down by a strenuous run.  It can also cause her undue soreness that will keep her from walking on it for days.  Again, he said, "that's in a perfect world.  Do what you can do that works for Maybrie and your family, just know that she will have a speedier, and better chance if recovered slowly."  He said that if we had to let her run, she would eventually get there, but not without potential accidents of the other joints, as well as more adhesions and scar tissue on the FHO leg rather then good solid healthy muscle.  So, the strict muscle building on leash only is for the benefit of building muscle to support her femur.   I asked about stairs and other ways to build muscle.  He said that right now, because she has almost NO muscle, that just walking on leash, and walking on SMALL hills and the 50% inflated air matress would be plenty.  He said that he did not believe she could support her weight on the stairs yet, and that it might be too stressful on her if we tried.   He wants us to continue to TRY the swimming.    He watched her do sit squats, and at this point, she is using her good knee ONLY, so he said no more on the sit squats until she has more muscle.   He did tell me I could put a harness on her, and allow her to pull ahead of me on our walks.  He said it will encourage her to use all 4, and add a bit of resistance.   So......I have NO IDEA how we are going to survive the next 10-12 weeks. I'm just going to take 1 day at a time, I guess.  He said she has to gain more muscle before we move up the ladder a bit as far as therapy, and that for now, we are doing ALL that he wants to do with her for now.   Water treadmill is okay, but the pool we go to has a sitting ledge all the way around the pool, and he said that I could walk her on that and it's essentially the same as the water treadmill, but just not as warm.......but a LOT cheaper. It comes up to just above her chest where the legs meet her chest.   He said he wanted to see her again in 3 months to re-evaluate the muscle, and move onward and upward in our therapy.   He cautioned not to get discouraged, and gave me an estimation of a minimum of 10 weeks before we saw any evidence of new muscle growth.  He also cautioned against hope for that muscle to return to the same size as the left hip.  I asked about holding her front paws up to waist or shoulder high and walking her backwards.  He said, "Not yet!"   He wants to build muscle slowly and systematically without tearing down the work we have already done.  A little tear down and build up is expected, and okay, but risking injury to what little muscle is there will put us weeks behind.  He said he is very encouraged at her prognosis because she IS BEARING weight on all 4's without difficulty.  He cautioned that her recovery would be long and arduous, and that we were going to try to go slow so we have continuous 2 steps forward, and no 3 steps back!  He is guestimating 1 year now to roughly 75-80%, but that that back muscle would never be as large as the left one, and she would probably always run on only 3 legs.  (I have read literature that says the same thing about FHO procedures.) I told him, "That's okay, it wasn't the same size when I got her!"     So.....today was encouraging, and yet a bit discouraging, as I found out that I cannot let her run or play outside with Kaido for the next 10-12 weeks. By summer, it will be too hot!   I'm going to follow his advice to the letter though...hoping for the best.

I will keep you updated. The vet refilled her Previcox, and gave another injection of Adequan.  One expensive vet bill today!   

 Thanks Splat. So everything he says make sense to you? I'm trying so hard to see things objectively.   I  think I just got to where I felt since she wasn't using it, she wasn't going to hurt it.  I also felt like she got more use of it when she did run and play.  She did more standing around, "hunting" than anything.   Luckily, no harm has been done...thank goodness.    The TPLO is completely healed with good ROM, although we still don't want any trauma to come to it. The fact that she has no resistance at the hip will help out in that arena.   The FHO is okay and healing well, with good ROM,  just needs more muscle.   I am told that by 10-12 weeks, we should start to see a healthy pad of muscle, but he said it will never be like the other leg.....not sure why, but not questioning it to much because it's always been considerably smaller, with some POSSIBLE  early development neurogenic atrophy according to one vet.  However, this vet says there is no neurogenic atrophy or the entire leg would be limp.  We'll see. I'm going to give his instructions an honest try for 12 weeks, swim her, walk her in water, and on hills, and the air mattress, follow his instructions exactly, and see what happens. Hoping for the best.   I am encouraged that she is at least walking so now I CAN work with her more!   I asked about putting a pebble or marble on the bad rear leg to encourage her to use the other leg 100% of the time.  He said not to torture her like that.  Just keep doing what I'm doing for now......minus the running free part.  

 Thanks Kpwlee....I'm going to do my best.  You've been telling me, and now the vet's telling me.....been reading similar on other forums....so, it sucks, but for Maybrie, gotta do it.  Thanks.

I'll send progress videos in about 10 weeks.  Hopefully we will be seeing a stronger Maybrie. Until then, patience is going to be my best friend....or enemy!

 Thanks Keanmu....I'll try not to hyperventilate!  Taken a lot of deep breaths today!  I just keep imagining that I see a little more muscle on her when we walk!  If anything I'll get in better shape too!  Lots of walks throughout each day! 

 Thanks Nancy D.  Yes, I agree, for the most part, it was encouraging.  Lol on the Ritalin!  I think one could become fairly well off financially selling Ritalin to GSP owners!  Lol!   Naa...kidding.  I wouldn't trade their energy level for anythihng.  I LOVE it!  Just not good during times when we have to keep them down for so long.  I feel bad for Maybrie because she doesn't understand why I won't let her outside to run. The walks are sort of half-way appeasing her though.  Just when she thinks she can't stand it anymore, it's time for another walk!  

 Thanks splat, that is a fantastic idea!   

 We walked her today at the park with hills, and we brought Kaido with us.  He walked in front.  This drove her nuts, and she pulled the entire time, walking on all 4's. We only did this for 10 minutes though because we didn't want to overwork the muscle...we'll see if she's still walking tomorrow!  As of tonight, she is still walking on all 4's, doesn't seem to be sore.  My husband and I decided that because the vet encouraged us to allow her to pull,and because we don't want her to think she can pull us around all the time on walks,  we decided to use two different leashes for certain types of walks.  For pulling walks, we will use a harness, and when we want to work on the "heel" command, we will put a standard collar on her.  We will alternate  frequently between the two so she gets the idea that different tools allow her to do different things.   I just don't want her to forget the heel position!  She just learned a solid heel prior to this surgery.   Hopefully she won't forget. 

Thanks so much Nixies Mark for the positive thoughts and encouragement.  Hopefully she will come through this with flying colors.  I don't expect her to be 100%. The vet told me she wouldn't be, so I'm prepared. I just want her to be happy and have a good quality of life.  

Splat, your idea was GENIUS!   I did my routine cleaning today and had her attached to my hip.  Thankfully this is a curious breed!  I let her carry around a dust rag...clean of course!   She watched everything I did!  Perhaps I can teach her how to wash windows, and dust!  I tied the leash to my hip with a very short lead, I have one with two hooks, one on each side.  It kept her from bunny hopping or trotting, and she walked for almost a solid 2 hours except that we paused a lot.  When I was vacuuming, she walked forward and backwards.   She is super smart.  My breeder said she was pulling some carrots up from her garden, and Maybrie copied her and pulled up some carrots too!   I just love this breed!  I

I don't think we over did it today. No limping anyway.  Not sure how much muscle building we did due to all the pausing, but it definitely served it's purpose. We still did our routine walking for muscle building.  Boy, can this little gal PULL!   She is amazingly strong.   Keep her moving and occupied!  GREAT IDEA!!  

Something interesting that I have figured out with all of our new walking......  I have learned to take her for a walk in the backyard FIRST because otherwise undesirable things happen in our neighbor's yard!