You’ve probably realized by now that Mr. Lavajava has been adopted! His foster family couldn’t resist his charms and finalized the paperwork on Saturday (to no one’s greyt surprise, hee hee). Because his story is so compelling and because he really is GEGR’s dog, we’ll keep his blog up and running so that his many fans can continue to follow his progress. Thanks again for everyone’s support in this long journey!
Lava Flowski & His Family
The Lava Java is turning into a real Greyhound. He’s becoming very playful and a happy, happy boy. He sort of roo-woofs at us when he wants something. Sometimes he’ll jump and snap at the air because he’s so happy. He gets very excited when Ted gets home. Ted is greeted with play-bows, full helicopter tail wags, woofing, and he does the hi-ho Silver thing rearing up on his back legs and pawing at the air with his front leg.
This morning Ted found the Eeba-jeeba in Ohanna’s little peanut basket bed. This thing is little and he squeezed himself in. It must have gotten a little chilly in the sun room last night. He’s running through the house with Chaos and Ohanna and is very silly.
All of his test results came back negative. The neurologist said that it could have been a false negative for a TBD since he’s getting better on the antibiotics. We’re to continue the antibiotics for 3 weeks and go from there. He still yipes in pain but just occasionally now. He’s really coming along and it’s hard to hold him back. We’re supposed to restrict his activity for another 2 weeks, yeah right! Would someone tell Lava that please?!
~Cindy Ski
Mr. Lava-Java is now about 6 weeks post-op and has had a busy couple of weeks!
It was thought that the pain Lava has been experiencing was due to an injured disc in his neck. Because he’s not a good candidate for surgery, GEGR decided to try an acupuncture visit with Dr. Feldhaus of Three Notch Vet. Here is a summary from Lava’s foster mom after the first visit:
After further discussions with Dr. Feldhaus, it was decided that Lava should be evaluated by a neurologist. Lava and his crew trooped up to Leesburg on October 1st for an evaluation with Dr. Tiches at Bush Veterinary Neurological Service.
He had an MRI, spinal tap, blood work, and many other diagnostic tests. The MRI was clear – no disc problem! We’re still waiting for some other test results, but in the meantime, Lava is back on antibiotics for a possible spinal infection and some different pain meds.
(What do you notice about the last photo??? Another first for Lava… *wink*)
A big thank you to Ronnie Daldos from Bella’s Pain Relief http://www.bellaspainrelief.com/. She donated a hot/cold pack for Lava. Cindy says it is wonderful and has made it so easy for her to do compresses on his neck.
We at GEGR have constantly been amazed by the generosity and outpouring of support for Lava and his foster family. The kind people at RuffWear have generously donated a special harness for the Lava Man!
Click the link below see a video and watch how it works!
http://www.tripawds.com/2008/04/29/new-ruffwear-harness-now-available
I feel like all I do is give you guys gloom and doom, but I also feel I have an obligation to let you know what’s going on with your Lava. The good news is Lava does not have a scraped-up throat. The not-so-good news is he has a disc problem in his neck. Knowing where it hurts does make a big difference in the way we handle Lava. Collars are now out of the question for this guy forever. Harnesses for tripods could be a challenge. Cindy is researching special harnesses for front tripods. If you have any ideas or can think of a way, that would help us out a lot.
I want to leave this update with some highlights of the past two weeks. Lava has adjusted to walking without his bum leg. If you watch him walk from behind (just his rear legs), he has adjusted so well you’d never know he has a leg missing. His side, just before his stitches came out, looked really pretty good. The surgeon even took time to line up the stripes on his skin so when he’s healed he won’t have crooked lines.
Finally the best part: When I came home from work yesterday, Cindy reported that Lava made a special effort to come into the living room and sought out her affection. Way to go, Lava! Last night Lava made another effort when he came back into the living room and stuck his head across the armrest of my recliner and rested his face in my lap; his tail was wagging as happy as could be. I don’t know if it was the sudden release of anxiety or the surprise, but I started laughing and the more I watched his tail, the more I laughed and the more I laughed, the more he wagged his tail. I hope last night is our indicator for what is to come…
~Ted Ski
Lava had his first post-op visit with his surgeon today. Lava’s incision looks good, and he had his stitches out today. His surgeon is happy with Lava’s progress in that area. He thinks the source of Lava’s severe pain is a disc issue in his neck, which will hopefully be resolved with rest and muscle relaxers (cross your fingers!!). It was suspected that his trachea was scratched or bruised during the surgery, causing eating to be painful, but there’s nothing wrong with his trachea. It appears Lava-java scammed some vanilla ice cream out of the Skis (Way to go, smart boy! Keep those peeps in line!).
Please continue to keep Lava in your thoughts during his long and painful recovery…
Unfortunately, Mr. Lava has been dealing with some pretty severe pain but his foster family is doing everything they can to make him comfortable. They are working together with his surgeon to find the right combination of pain meds, and they can see some improvement although he still has a ways to go. The good news is that he’s eating better, and they can still see flashes of his sweet personality.
A HUGE thank you goes out to everyone who has supported Lava and the Skis over the past week and a half since his surgery! Your prayers, actions, and well wishes are deeply appreciated.
