Lava made an urgent visit to see his surgeon, Dr. Morrison on Monday April 28th. While “vacationing” at Greyhound Central Lava developed some bleeding at one of the pin insertion sites. He was first taken to be seen by our Dr. MacCubbin for evaluation. After Dr. Mac assessed Lava, controlled the bleeding, and took some x-rays she spoke with Dr. Morrison. It was decided he should be brought to Annapolis to see Dr. Morrison. With a fairly quick turn over of volunteer transporters, Lava was lovingly packed- up and on his way to CVRS in Annapolis to see his favorite surgeon. When we arrived in Annapolis, Dr. Morrison was in emergency surgery and we had a bit of a wait. We pulled some comfy pup cushions out and sat on the waiting room floor with Lava until he was taken in to have his bandage removed. Lava was a greyt sport as usual and tolerated all these procedures and moving from one place to another without one complaint.
When Lava was brought out after having his bandage changed, he was a happy, bouncy pup with a wagging tail. We were brought into the exam room to meet with Dr. Morrison. When he opened the door and walked in, Lava greeted him like an old friend. Dr. Morrison sat down to speak with us about his evaluation, all the while rubbing Lava’s ears and neck. The doctor feels there was a little too much wiggle room for the pins to move after the sponge packing was removed. This may have been the cause of the bleeding. Lava decided to remove and eat one of the sponges himself and the other sponges were removed on the 4/27 because Lava seemed so bothered by them. Lava’s surgical site and hardware is all cleaned up and repacked with fresh bandaging so, he’s good for another two weeks. Dr. Morrison would like to see a little more “filling-in” between the fractured bones. In order for this to occur, Lava needs to start putting more weight on that leg. His foster family will start doing some rehab exercises with him that will help build more bone.
Lava and the GEGR family appreciate all the support and well wishes for a full and speedy recovery we have received. This is one special hound and any person with the good fortune to meet him is quickly smitten.
Lava is taking a long weekend at “Greyhound Central Resort and Spa” on the beautiful Patuxent River while his foster family has a well-deserved respite and some quality time with their own dogs at Greyhounds in Gettysburg. He was a little anxious for awhile after he arrived on Friday, but he settled down in his luxury suite for an afternoon nap. Dinner was the Chef’s Special of dry dog kibble and a little deer meat on the side with a cheese-medicine chaser. After a little jaunt on the grounds to sniff around and do some personal business, Lava had an evening Milkbone night cap and settled in for the night.
Checking out the accomodations:
Accomodations are judged satisfactory:
Saturday was beautiful and sunny, and Lava enjoyed several walks around the grounds led by various nature guides, followed by long naps in his luxury suite. He has been a perfect gentleman guest, very polite, and always ecstatic to see the staff and receive ear scritches and neck rubs. He has been eating, taking his medicine, and getting down to business like a champ.
Sunday dawned cool and dreary, but Lava received a spa and beauty treatment! After a breakfast in bed of pancakes and syrup (OK, so it was more like a small bite after his real breakfast of dog kibble *wink*), Lava had another walk around the grounds and an invigorating massage with the Zoom Groom. A chamomile-lavendar bath wipe rounded out the experience. Later, he had a very relaxing pet-icure while lying in the assistant’s lap (actually, he fell asleep!). Lava was a patient, quiet gentleman throughout the treatment.
Nature tour:
Discussing the local flora with one of the nature guides:
Peticures are exhausting!
Lava is now resting quietly in his suite, waiting for his foster family to arrive…
Lava has another follow-up with his surgeon, Dr. Morrison, this week. Stay tuned for an update on his progress!”
Lava and his surgeon, Dr. Morrison:
Lava, on his way home from his first follow-up visit:
Lava and Dr. Mac:
Lava’s new hardware (looks good for a first follow-up!):
Lava had a follow-up visit with his surgeon on Tuesday. He did greyt both on the ride up and back. Lava is starting to put a little weight on that front foot. Dr. Morrison was very encouraged by what he saw. He still has an infection and will continue for another 4 weeks on the same antibiotic. He got his stitches removed and the bandage changed. Just the fixator rods are covered now. The front and back of his leg are exposed to air. While Dr. Morrison was talking to us, he was kneeling down and loving on Lava the entire time. It was very nice thing to see. Lava was all snuggled up to him and loving every minute of it. He’ll go back in 2 weeks to see Dr. Morrison again.
It has been a busy first week. Lava got home about 5pm Monday and his first night was pretty quiet. Tuesday and Wednesday we had some issues with getting him comfortable but he did sleep pretty well at night. Dr. Mac came over Wed, on her day off, to tend to him and change his dressing.
He has up days and down days but mostly is sleeping through the night. Yesterday was by far his best day. He hopped around the yard and even tried to escape; lucky for me he can only hop so fast. We are spending more time outside during the day with him hoping that will tire him out and he will get better rest. Lava is definitely cheese-motivated; he loves the stuff! Makes things a lot easier when trying to get him out. He doesn’t like going out, even though he has a nice ramp to get him down the porch steps!! But once he is out, he is greyt. Mostly we have to nudge him down the ramp.
His appetite is very good. He has his first follow up with his surgeon on Tuesday. Overall I think he is doing pretty good. Keep him in your thoughts because he still has a ways to go.
On October 13, 2007, in what was to be his last race, Lava Flow (Lava to his friends) slipped in the first turn of the 5th race of the afternoon card at Seabrook Greyhound Park and cleanly broke both bones in his front left leg. He was immediately transferred to the adoption kennel on site at Seabrook, and they rushed him to the local veterinarian’s office for care.
The local veterinarian determined that Lava’s leg would need more than a cast to heal, so he performed surgery to support Lava’s leg bones with internal metal plates that were attached with 12 metal screws. Lava convalesced at the track adoption kennel, and in February of 2008 he was transferred to Greyt Expectations Greyhound Rescue in Southern Maryland to finish healing and find a permanent home. A few weeks after his arrival, his foster home noted that he had developed a sore near one of the screw sites that had begun to ooze.
Lava was taken to the group’s veterinarian for assessment. It was determined that he had developed a severe infection in his leg. He was put on an intense course of antibiotics, and after 3 weeks, he was re-tested. He still had a significant infection and was referred to an orthopedic specialist. The orthopedic specialist felt that the only way to cure the infection was to remove the hardware from Lava’s leg.
The hardware was removed successfully on a Thursday morning and Lava returned to his foster home on a Friday. On that Tuesday, April 1st, 2008, while on leash outside in the rain to take a bathroom break, Lava shook himself (as wet dogs will) and re-broke his leg at the same fracture site.
Since that Tuesday, Lava has had no less than 6 doctors (most orthopedic specialists) in 4 different practices consult on his current situation. There were a lot of concerns about the next step, given the fact that his leg has been weakened by both the hardware and the on-going infection. After much discussion, it was decided to try and save Lava’s leg.
On April 4th, 2008, Lava underwent surgery to clean the edges of the break sites on both of his front leg bones, had the bones realigned and set using a bone graph from his humerus, and had pins inserted to support his leg with external hardware. Now Lava faces a long recovery: he will need to be leash walked for the next 3-4 months; he will then need to have the hardware removed and will need another few months of leash walking to heal completely.
Lava has a long road ahead of him. There is still a chance his bones may not heal together properly, but his surgeon is confident that he will be running around playing at our 2009 reunion picnic. It is our hope that by October 13, 2008, Lava will be a happy, healthy, 4-legged, 3-yr-old dog ready for adoption. Through all of this, Lava has remained a silly, friendly, fun puppy and we all want what’s best for him.
It is thanks to the many donations, fund raising efforts, and grant monies that GEGR has received, along with the generosity of the veterinary hospitals that have significantly reduced their fees, that Lava will have this chance. Thank you to everyone who shares in this common effort to help Lava!
