We got almost a foot of snow last night...I can't even leave the porch there is so much snow!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
This is a TON of snow!!
We got almost a foot of snow last night...I can't even leave the porch there is so much snow!
Monday, January 26, 2009
I heart bones!!
It was a pretty rough weekend with my hips, so my parents gave me a bone. That makes everything better!! The good news is the scar on my leg is almost covered in fur so it isn't as embarrassing anymore.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
My Not-So-Flattering Lampshade
I don't like wearing my cone...but if it will make my legs better, I'll do whatever it takes.
My Story and Why I Started My Blog
Hi, my name is Allie. I’m a 1 ½ year old German Shepherd/Labrador Retriever mix. My parents got me from a local pet store. When they came in the front door I gave them the cutest puppy look I could. I overheard them say that they just wanted to hold me and that they weren’t ready for a dog, so I knew I had to kick it up a notch. After doing my best to impress them, they eventually left the store. I must have made quite an impression, because the next thing I know I am riding in the back seat of their car, on my way to my new home!
The first few days were tough, but I tried my best to make a good impression. When I had my first veterinarian visit, I got all of my shots, which were painful and not fun! The vet looked me over to make sure that I was healthy. After what seemed like forever, the doctor broke the news to my parents that I had very bad hip dysplasia. The vet said hip dysplasia is an abnormal formulation of the hip socket, which, if not treated, can lead to crippling lameness and very painful arthritis.
The vet told my parents he would call the pet store and let them know what my problem was. The pet store then told my parents that they could return me and get their money back, or keep me and incur all my medical expenses. They told me that since I was such a good girl and so smart that they couldn’t dare get rid of me, even though I was only with them a few short weeks.
As I got older, I started limping around the house. Even doing my favorite things like going for car rides and taking walks was becoming more and more difficult. When I would get in and out the car from our rides I would cry in pain because my hips were so sore! When I got off the bed, my hip would come out of socket and my parents would have to roll me on my back and rock me back and forth until my hips popped back in place. My hips hurt so bad that I couldn’t run or walk like a normal dog, I had to bunny hop most of the time. Eventually, my parents said that it was time to make an appointment with the doctor because I was getting worse every day.
Finally, the day arrived for my X-rays. This was the day when we would find out what my options were. I had been to the vet plenty of times for my hips by now, but nothing compared to the pain involved with getting my X-rays done. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst of it. The surgical vet said that my knee was actually worse than my hips (I could have told him that!!) and my hips were a train-wreck. It turns out I had a level 3-4 luxating patella, which means my kneecap was always out of place. He said that he thought I could make it a few years without hip surgery if my knee got surgically repaired.
On December 14th, 2008 I went in for my knee surgery. I was so scared to go back into the office, because of my previous experiences. After speaking with the vet, I thought it was time for my parents to take me home and call it a day. Boy was I wrong! The vet took me from my parents to the back room where they would begin surgery. I had no idea what was in store for me that day. When looking at the situation, I really can’t remember a whole lot (they put me on some really good stuff!). All I know was that I took a long nap and I woke up to a shaved leg, stitches and a lot of pain! The doctor ended up moving my knee cap to where it should be by putting some pins in my knee and moving some things around. To make matters worse, I had to take some nasty tasting medication and wear a none-too-flattering lampshade around my neck.
After a couple weeks I got my stitches out, which meant I didn’t have to wear that ugly cone anymore! A couple weeks later, I limped in for my surgical follow-up visit. It turns out that I was supposed to be putting weight on my leg and walking mostly normal at this point.
Apparently, my hips were worse than even he thought. So here I am, still recovering from my knee surgery. Eight weeks since my knee surgery and I still can’t put any pressure on my leg. I have to walk, run, play and jump all on three legs. When I went in for my follow up visit during week 6 of my rehab the doctor did not have very many positive things to say about my progress. The vet said that after having my knee surgery he can truly see how bad my hips really are. He broke the news to my parents that to avoid atrophy of my leg muscles and in order to finally put pressure on my leg I would now need hip surgery.
My parents already couldn’t afford the couple thousand dollars they had to put on a credit card for my knee surgery, now it will cost another couple thousand dollars for my hip surgery, and that is only for one of my bad hips!!
Since they already took out a credit card to pay for my first surgery, I took it upon myself to create this blog and see if I can’t get them a little help. I will update my blog regularly with pictures and videos. Hopefully, if we can raise enough money, you will be able to see me get my hip surgery and walk on all four legs!!
The first few days were tough, but I tried my best to make a good impression. When I had my first veterinarian visit, I got all of my shots, which were painful and not fun! The vet looked me over to make sure that I was healthy. After what seemed like forever, the doctor broke the news to my parents that I had very bad hip dysplasia. The vet said hip dysplasia is an abnormal formulation of the hip socket, which, if not treated, can lead to crippling lameness and very painful arthritis.
The vet told my parents he would call the pet store and let them know what my problem was. The pet store then told my parents that they could return me and get their money back, or keep me and incur all my medical expenses. They told me that since I was such a good girl and so smart that they couldn’t dare get rid of me, even though I was only with them a few short weeks.
As I got older, I started limping around the house. Even doing my favorite things like going for car rides and taking walks was becoming more and more difficult. When I would get in and out the car from our rides I would cry in pain because my hips were so sore! When I got off the bed, my hip would come out of socket and my parents would have to roll me on my back and rock me back and forth until my hips popped back in place. My hips hurt so bad that I couldn’t run or walk like a normal dog, I had to bunny hop most of the time. Eventually, my parents said that it was time to make an appointment with the doctor because I was getting worse every day.
Finally, the day arrived for my X-rays. This was the day when we would find out what my options were. I had been to the vet plenty of times for my hips by now, but nothing compared to the pain involved with getting my X-rays done. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst of it. The surgical vet said that my knee was actually worse than my hips (I could have told him that!!) and my hips were a train-wreck. It turns out I had a level 3-4 luxating patella, which means my kneecap was always out of place. He said that he thought I could make it a few years without hip surgery if my knee got surgically repaired.
On December 14th, 2008 I went in for my knee surgery. I was so scared to go back into the office, because of my previous experiences. After speaking with the vet, I thought it was time for my parents to take me home and call it a day. Boy was I wrong! The vet took me from my parents to the back room where they would begin surgery. I had no idea what was in store for me that day. When looking at the situation, I really can’t remember a whole lot (they put me on some really good stuff!). All I know was that I took a long nap and I woke up to a shaved leg, stitches and a lot of pain! The doctor ended up moving my knee cap to where it should be by putting some pins in my knee and moving some things around. To make matters worse, I had to take some nasty tasting medication and wear a none-too-flattering lampshade around my neck.
After a couple weeks I got my stitches out, which meant I didn’t have to wear that ugly cone anymore! A couple weeks later, I limped in for my surgical follow-up visit. It turns out that I was supposed to be putting weight on my leg and walking mostly normal at this point.
Apparently, my hips were worse than even he thought. So here I am, still recovering from my knee surgery. Eight weeks since my knee surgery and I still can’t put any pressure on my leg. I have to walk, run, play and jump all on three legs. When I went in for my follow up visit during week 6 of my rehab the doctor did not have very many positive things to say about my progress. The vet said that after having my knee surgery he can truly see how bad my hips really are. He broke the news to my parents that to avoid atrophy of my leg muscles and in order to finally put pressure on my leg I would now need hip surgery.
My parents already couldn’t afford the couple thousand dollars they had to put on a credit card for my knee surgery, now it will cost another couple thousand dollars for my hip surgery, and that is only for one of my bad hips!!
Since they already took out a credit card to pay for my first surgery, I took it upon myself to create this blog and see if I can’t get them a little help. I will update my blog regularly with pictures and videos. Hopefully, if we can raise enough money, you will be able to see me get my hip surgery and walk on all four legs!!
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