Day of Surgery

The day has arrived for Rudi to have his knee fixed by Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (TTA). We, or should I say "I" have been dreading this day. My husband has been the calm one. I don't think I have many more tears to shed but I know this is inevitable. 10 months ago, Rudi injured his knee when we were playing ball on Labor Day 2007. I really didn't realize what had happened at the time. All I know was that I threw the ball, turned around and then saw Rudi on 3 legs. He didn't yelp and then he was back running again. We dismissed it as a fluke thing. Thought that he had stepped on a pine cone. Over the course of a month he started limping. Back and forth to the vet we went only for the problem to go unfounded. He was taken out of doggie daycare and hasn't returned since last year. That has been hard for him as he had lots of buddies to play with. He was tested for hip dysplasia and lyme disease and nothing was found. He was given Previcox which seemed to help but it only masked the true problem. I went to see another vet who told me he should have his knees xrayed. Again, nothing was found and I was told it didn't appear to be arthritis. We did conservative management for 8 weeks which kept him from jumping on couches and beds. He was behind baby gates at all times. His activity was extremely restricted and he got very bored. He also developed severe muscle atrophy in his bad leg. I must have cried everyday watching Rudi go through this new lifestyle. Then I found a PT in the area that thought he sprained his tendon. I finally had hope! For two weeks we did short walks and did extension and flex exercises. After two weeks of PT, Rudi got past us and jumped on the bed which he was not allowed to do. He jumped back down off the bed and yelped. After that he was hobbling on 3 legs and immeditely took him back to the vet. We finally got a referral to an Orthopedic surgeon. After more xrays and drawer tests he confirmed a ruptured CCL and significant arthritis build up in the bad leg. His good leg is showing signs already and we know that he has a 40% chance of damaging the good leg. Today is the day that will hopefully start the road to recovery and give Rudi his life back. Maybe he'll even see doggie daycare again.