TPLO

Things have moved very quickly with Kane's leg. Have some bullet points!

• Kane had his consultation last Thursday at MSU.
• The surgeon palpitated the joint, manipulated Kane's leg this way and that, and diagnosed him with a partial (if not complete) cranial cruciate ligament tear. He quoted me an estimate of $28-$3200 for the TPLO surgery.
• My mother is awesome enough to split the surgery between her Care Credit and a credit card, and then I'll pay her back.
• The surgeon was concerned enough about the way the joint felt and the quick muscle loss in the two weeks between my visit with Dr M and MSU, that he wanted to admit Kane that day, do the surgery last Friday, and then release him the next day. I told him I couldn't do it because of my work schedule, so he agreed to admit on Monday (yesterday), surgery today, released on Wednesday--despite the fact that they were fully booked this week.
• With this in mind, I took off Wednesday and Thursday of this week from work so I could be home for him the first two days.
• MSU ended up calling on Friday while I was at work and left a voicemail, basically saying "Oh, whoops, heehee, surgeon isn't here on Tuesday like he told you, so we went ahead and re-scheduled your appointment to drop-off Tuesday, surgery Wednesday, released Thursday. Please call to confirm!" Gee. Thanks.
• Called them back on Friday initially, but they'd already closed. So, I called them yesterday. The receptionist said they were fully booked this week, but they had a cancellation on Thursday, would I like to take it? I said, "No, you don't understand. The surgeon said it was okay if we did the surgery despite you guys being booked." She replied, in a slightly uppity voice, "Well, it'll be easier for you to take the cancellation on Thursday, and I'll have to confirm what you're saying with the surgeon, but ok."  ...... Seriously? Like I'm just inventing the fact that the surgeon said he'd get Kane in even though they were booked? Why would I just come up with that? But everything worked out, surgeon confirmed, yadayada.
• I dropped Kane off today for admittance at noon.
• He took a huge crap in the middle of the hallway. Yes. Yes, he is That Dog.
• When the student handling his case leashed him up to take him to a kennel, she went one way and I went the other. Kane dragged her to keep up with me, but after some encouragement on the student's part, followed the student with one last look over his shoulder.
• She called me earlier tonight to tell me that Kane was being a model patient and was one of the favorites at the hospital. They'd already gotten the radiographs and measurements done for tomorrow. And, he also ate his dinner without a problem.
• She'll call tomorrow morning to tell me how the night went for him, again before his surgery at 1pm and then after, and finally one more time later that afternoon to tell me how he's recovering. This is a lot more communication than I expected from such a large teaching hospital, but it's very helpful for my nerves. :-)
• I pick him up at 330pm Thursday.
• Then we begin the fun part -- 8 weeks of strict crate rest with leashed potty breaks only, radiographs taken at 8 weeks confirming the surgery is healing properly, and then 8 more weeks of a gradual return to exercise. But still no running or jumping until a minimum of 16 weeks after surgery. Oh joy. 4 months of no exercise for a highly active, not-quite-2-year-old puppy. Because, I'm sorry, but leashed walks up to 20 minutes is not exercise for Kane.
• I have a runner between Kane's crate and the enclosed porch so he doesn't slip on the hardwoods. Then my stepdad is building a ramp for the three steps down from the porch to the front yard with some indoor/outdoor carpeting so that Kane doesn't slip on that either. For the most part, Kane will be getting around with a jerry-rigged towel sling.

Wish him luck in surgery tomorrow!