Hannah's Journey

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This is my attempt at impressing Santa Paws…my mom says I must impress him somehow because she says that Santa Paws only comes for good dogs…and while I am generally a really good dog…I have my moments and my mom hopes that those moments don’t blow it for me and Santa Paws…last year I was too young to remember Santa Paws, and I had just been rescued a couple weeks before Christmas and didn’t even know what my future was going to hold,  so I am really excited this year, I have a forever home and I have been all surgically repaired and really hope Santa Paws will cut me some slack on those bad moments I have had! 

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So it has been awhile since my mom has updated my progress. She said things were moving along at a snails pace anyway, up until about a month ago, then I really started to get up and use my repaired rear leg and every since then I use it more every day. She says there is hope for me to hop along like a real tripawd! She said the surgeon told her complete healing can take about 6 to 8 mos, especially since there was cutting and stretching of muscle and he wasn’t joking my mom says the rate that I am going I will be walking upright for the rest of my life really soon! =) Here are a couple recent videos of me using my leg! I hope everyone else out there is hopping right along!

I had my two month check up. The doctor gave me the all clear, says I am healed up good enough to resume normal activity. My first order of business was a long wrestling match with my brother…NO CHASING though…my mom says not yet…it sure felt good to wrestle. My mom thinks that playing and resuming normal activity will help me build up my strength. She says that the doctor did his job, the physical therapists have been helping me, but i am still not walking upright, I am using my leg exactly the same way I was before my surgery to repair my only existing rear leg, she has nicknamed me scooty, because I scoot myself around. My mom says that the doctor said I am safe to use the leg in any way I choose, so she tells me that she will love me even if I don’t walk the way we all thought I would after this surgery. But she says that I am standing strong and tall and that is something I have never done before. She believes that the walking part of it will come in time. She says I am like a baby who crawls first, until they are strong enough to stand and then they are strong enough to take that first step, all in good time, as long as I am safe that is all she cares about…So now we start the process of acclimating me back into life with my fellow pack members, small baby steps here also. Here I am with my grumpy brother.

Well all the whining my mom has done, we have finally made it to a month post op, she said that she can’t believe how fast the month ended up going after all! =) And she says I am a baby! I am still on “sling” restriction. My one month xrays looked really good, I am healing up beautifully but the Doctor does not want me using it on my own just yet, he said I need more muscle built up before he will release me from the sling! My mom and I are working better at the sling, but she does give me all the credit, she says now that I am using the leg more it really is easier to navigate. My mom found a really nice person to help get me to a 2nd PT session a week, they really want me there 2 times a week, but it is far for us to drive and my mom will miss too much work, but she knows how important this is for me, she is really lucky that she knows some really nice people through the rescue to help us with this. So starting next week I will get 2 PT sessions!

Here I was being a goof at work last week! Those cow hooves really get to me! =)

I had my first physical therapy session this week. My mom didn’t watch because she felt she was going to be too much of a distraction the first time, so she only has reports from the tech who worked with me! They said I did really well, I got to go on the water treadmill, they said I didn’t know what to do the first two times they put me in, but the third time I had it down and I walked for a minute and a half! woo-hoo. They gave my mom like 4 pages of exercises to do with me! Holy cow…we are still working on getting them all done throughout the day, but there are some my mom can’t do for me by herself so we will have to get alternatives this week when we go to PT. I will go once a week for the next 5 weeks.

Yesterday my mom was a little surprised because I wasn’t using my only rear leg, she said that sometimes people really feel the affects two days after physical therapy so she said maybe dogs are the same! She said her life has become a little easier lugging me around in the sling because I have been using my surgically repaired leg more, but she says I must have just been too tired yesterday to try to use it, so she is the one hurting today because she was getting really used to me taking on some of the work! But she says that I still need to rest more than I do so that I can continue to get stronger! When I go to PT next week, I get my one month set of Xrays done and we are hoping that the doctor might release some of my restrictions!

My mom says this recovery has been the hardest thing she has ever had to deal with! I have completely worn her out, she says she needs a vacation but whatever a vacation is, if it means leaving me then she is going to have to change her plans! I got my staples out this past Thursday, the doctor was mucho impressed with my recovery and I get to start physical therapy this coming Tuesday! My mom is not off the hook yet, since I am not completely using my surgically repaired leg, she still has to take me out with the sling and I get NO free time! She tried to give me a little more “space” this morning and left my cone off while she walked my brothers and sisters, do you know what I did? I chewed up the area rugs she has put down for me and I licked my incision (it still itches even though the staples are out), she told me I was lucky I didn’t do too much damage to the incision, it looks good, but for safe measure I am back to the cone! =).  She knows once physical therapy starts that I will make quick progress, because I am ready to GO. She also can NOT wait to start physical therapy because she knows it will wear me out! She says that being a 9 mos old puppy and having to be cooped up ALL day is just making us all crazy! She is trying her hardest to make things better for me, but I still end up arguing with her. In this picture she is giving me some time outside! I love being outside and I miss it!

My mom can not get over what a good patient I am.  I guess I must be old hat to this since I just had a pretty major operation in February when they had to amputate my rear leg. We are working better at the sling, my mom found that if she tries to keep me on her left side it works better, because you see my tail is my “fourth” leg, I use it for everything to help balance and direct me and it is LONG, the doctor calls my tail my rudder and my tail tends to be headed in the direction of my missing leg, so if I am on her right side that means my LONG tail is also on her right side…I bet we get it in sync just about the time I don’t need it anymore, well if you ask me I don’t think I need the sling now but they tell me I must use it, so my mom will, she said she did not fight for me to have this surgery for it to get messed up, so she is going to be a drill sergeant and keep me in line! I truly want to thank all of you out there for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers, being a Tripawd has many benefits and the support that is found here is one of those benefits! Happy Memorial Day!

The doctor is absolutely amazed at how well I am doing. However, now it is up to my mom to keep me LOW KEY…I am ready to go and I go fast! I have to use this stupid sling for 30 days and my mom keeps telling me I have to slow down or we will both be in the hospital! So if anyone out there has ANY advice on how to use a sling please let us know, because she has only taken me out once since I got home a couple hours ago and she was scared! I hope the pictures of me that I am posting don’t change anyone’s thoughts about me, my grandma tells me I have a haircut like a POODLE…whatever that is! =) But my mom tells me that I am beautiful and brave and strong, she is so amazed by me!

It was a long hard day yesterday, I didn’t even go under the knife until 5 pm and my mom had to have me to the hospital by 9 am! My surgery lasted over 3 hours, my mom didn’t even get an update until after 9 pm, she had to keep reminding herself that no news is good news! Finally the call came, I was still under anesthesia when the doctor called so he couldn’t even tell my mom how I was doing, he could only tell her about what he was able to do for me! I know that stuff is important but my mom loves me just the way I am, so she really wanted to know that I was ok. The surgery went well, but I am not out of the woods yet, the first 24-48 hours are very critical for me. I won’t be able to come home until Sunday or Monday. The doctor did an FHO on my hip and he rebuilt my knee with pins and wires, he said my biggest hurt is going to be the muscle he had to cut to get some stretch, he said I grew really fast (isn’t that what puppies do?) and the muscle was starting to fuse together, so the muscle will now be able to work better with my new leg! He said that I have a really long road ahead of me, with lots and lots of physical therapy…but my mom and I are committed to doing whatever it takes. She said I was the best doggie patient she has ever had when I had my leg amputated and she thinks I will be the same now. Of course my mom called the hospital first thing this morning just to make sure I came out of anesthesia ok and I did, I was resting comfortably when she called.  Thank you to everyone for all the thoughts and prayers please keep them coming because like the doctor said I have a long road ahead of me!

Hello Fellow Tripawd Friends,

Today is my surgery day…I am hoping that you can all send thoughts and prayers that my surgery to have my only existing rear leg surgically repaired is a success! This was me waiting to be lifted out of the car this morning at the vet hospital. Had I known my mom was going to leave me there I might not have been so excited. But my mom tells me that today is the first day of the rest of my life. She assures me that once my healing is done that I will be as good as new and ready to go on hikes with my pawbrothers and pawsisters. Thank you everyone for your love and support.