Wonderful news! Hugs, Linda
________________________________ From: Quinn <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2012 3:59 PM Subject: [Chihuahuas] Happy New Year! Hi! This board has been a huge source of strength for me in the last couple of months, thank you! I hope 2012 has been great so far :) I was really discouraged since my last post. George is now 8 weeks post-op, and it has been a really tough recovery. We did x-rays this week because George was not wanting to use his left leg at all, he was completely carrying it again :( The surgeon came in and said it looked like George might have a ligament tear in the left leg. He said it could have been so small it was not visually obvious when he was inside doing the patella repair. Maybe during recovery George made the tear worse. Even though he said "maybe", my stomach dropped. The last 8 weeks have been awful for everybody in the house, having to start over at week 1 would be horrible. Then, he said...George's knees are healing well. There is no instability in the joint, so... "let him get back to normal, running, playing doing whatever he feels like doing" and "let him get back to being a puppy" wait...what? All along, everything they've said and that I've read says on leash activity only until week 12 or later. Ok, well, he is one of the top ortho surgeons in the country, so I'm going to trust him. I was worried, but excited. As soon as we got home, I put George down and took all of the gates down. OMG - the reunion was awesome. George and Rylie, all they've wanted for the last 8 weeks was to be back together. Immediately they started playing and RAN out the doggy door. They chased and wrestled and tugged, it was awesome. They were both HAPPY!!!! No more doggie depression (or mommy depression either)! Then, we went for a playdate with George's best friend Charlie...and guess what?!?! George ran like the wind, faster than I've ever seen him run. Laps, turns, quick stops and direction changes for almost an hour straight. Using ALL 4 legs, no limping, bunny hopping, carrying the leg or any signs of pain. It was AMAZING, everybody had so much fun. George was back to George and Rylie was back to being Rylie. Made me cry (really good tears). I had been questioning if I had made the right choice almost since the first week. And guess what else? George and Rylie slept through the night and this morning George was jumping on Rylie trying to get her up to play. They chased the kitties and played all morning. George is still using both back legs, haven't seen him carry his left or even tiptoe all day. And, the zoomies are back :) We have another follow-up in 2 weeks to check on the ligament, but I am pretty confident now that the lameness is discomfort related rather than structure related. I am so relieved! I think we are over the hump... tails wagging and bright happy eyes are wanting to go play now. WWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Quinn, George and Rylie :D
