Friday, 19 December 2008

And nothing has changed, Everything has changed

Well, those of you on Facebook or who read Jez’s blog will know that she didn’t have an operation on Monday after all. Trying to get her sorted is turning out to be a real rollercoaster for us. If fact, Monday was a bit of a naff day all round. It was supposed to be sunny, but was cold and damp and miserable. The journey to Devizes was ok, but takes about 1 hour 50 minutes to do the 56 miles. Nevertheless, we arrived on time, only to have to wait half an hour to see the vet. He was excellent though, and we spent over half an hour with him. At the end of that time we left Jez for more Xrays and, we thought, an operation. Interestingly he didn’t think the original vets had done a bad job.

We had planned to go to Lacock Abbey for the day, as I said. And we did go to the village of Lacock. But it turns out that the Abbey is only open at weekends through the winter. So we only got to walk round the village. We did get lunch there at the village bakery though. Chris took one or two photos of the village, and of the Abbey (from a distance) – oh, and of me!

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We then went into Devizes and walked round the town centre, which was nothing to shout about, and went and got a coffee to kill some time. After that there was nothing else to do, and so we went back to the vets only to find he hadn’t even got round to looking at her by that time. So we sat in the car and read. Eventually, just as it was getting dark, he phoned us - I told him I was in his waiting room! Anyway, he’d re-Xrayed her and said that we had to make a decision. He could try to move the ligament again, but there was a chance that he couldn’t move it any further / wouldn’t be able to move it far enough. But apparently in Staffies, due to their stance, the femur can be at an angle with the tibia, putting pressure on the knee joint. He showed us this on her Xrays. The operation to correct this (femoral straightening) involves cutting through the femur and removing a wedge of bone, and then plating the whole thing back together again. This is a much bigger operation involving an epidural to help reduce the amount of anaesthetic required. So we had to decide whether to risk letting him have a go at another tibia crest transposition that day. The problem was that if he couldn’t move the ligament, then he’d have to close her up and have her back again for the femoral straightening. It was a bit of a no brainer really – we opted to take her back another day when he had time to do whatever was necessary in a single operation.

So they bought her round and we bought her home. She was a lot better than usual after the anaesthetic, and slept most of the night. I suspect he’s got a better anaethnatist. She’s been a bit sore since then though.

Today I took her back to Devizes ( a 4 hour round trip that Chris kindly volunteered me for). Just after lunch the vet phoned and said she’d had her op and he’d done the femoral straightening after all, which wasn’t really a surprise. As she’s had an epidural she’s got to stay there tonight. We have to phone in the morning and check that she’s well enough to come home before going to get her (another 4 hour round trip). As her leg will have been plated I’m hoping that this means that we needn’t be quite so nervous about pins moving etc. But apparently we will get written instructions on her care when we pick her up. And the estimate for this little lot? Around £2,000! That will wipe out the remainder of her insurance cover for this condition. Still, it will be great to get her home and well again. The vet is very hopeful of a successful outcome, by the way.

Otherwise I met Val for dinner last night – we had a Chinese and a really good natter. And today we’ve been back looking at bathrooms. We’ve got a design we’ve agreed upon, and a bath, shower cubicle and toilet. We just need to sort out the washbasin now – oh yes, and find someone to fit it as that will involve laying the floor where the sunken bath currently is.

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