Friday, August 22, 2008

6 Week Check Up


Rudi had his 6 week follow up appointment today with Dr. Stallings. We were crossing our fingers that everything would point to a positive prognosis. We brought Rudi in at 9am. His ride there was very stressful for him for some reason. He cried the entire ride. I'm sure he is putting two and two together that whenever he goes "bye bye" he goes to the vets office. Not fun for him, I'm sure. Anyway, he got weighed in at 77lbs. He lost some weight but Dr. Stallings said it's fine. He's not skinny that's for sure. He would prefer Rudi stay pretty lean due to his orthopeadic problems anyway. His xrays came back and Dr. Stallings went over them with us. He is pretty much fully healed. His bone looks great and his knee is stable according to the doctor. The good news is that Rudi was released for short leashed walks everyday and we will gradually go longer as time progresses. We still have the issue with the other knee. Since this is degenerative it will be a matter of time for his other knee to give out. Dr. Stallings was honest enough to say that it could be 6 weeks from now or 2 years but there isn't anything we can do to stop it. I refuse to worry about it right now. I'm just going to concentrate on Rudi's physical therapy. Since Rudi is a major puller Dr. Stallings recommended the Gentle Leader to use as a harness when walking Rudi. Brian and I took him out for his first walk this evening and although he resisted a bit with the new leash he got used to it after a couple minutes. He enjoyed being outside and it was great to be able to walk him again. It's been an emotional day for me. I haven't cried but it's a bit of a relief to know we've come this far and we are getting some good news. Lisa, who works at Dr. Stallings office, has been so sweet during this entire journey. Between her and my cousin, Crystal they have talked me down from some pretty high ledges. I've been a nervous wreck through all of this and they were patient with me. Lisa is in the picture shown here. She has no idea what it meant to me when she handed me Rudi's physical therapy instructions and said "Here is the light at the end of the tunnel". It hit me right then and there that this has been a long road but yes, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel and it will only get brighter from here!

1 comment:

Pam Monahan said...

That is great news about Rudi! All your love and tender care has paid off! Enjoy those walks, they are very special.
~Pam Monahan