In case you need a refresher, let me back up a bit. Charlie was diagnosed with bilateral elbow dysplasia and osteoarthritis a few months ago and with the advice of a surgeon at UPenn Animal Hospital it was decided to operate as soon as possible. The thought behind getting the surgery now instead of later is that it would relieve Charlie of his pain and possibly slow any further digression of his elbow joints.
We spent a couple of months raising funds through t-shirt sales, generous donations, a silent auction event at Commonwealth On Queen, and a softball event with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Deputies against the Prison's Correctional Officers. We've raised our goal to cover the surgery expense as well as the rehab costs.
Yesterday, we arrived at UPenn Animal Hospital in Philly around 7am. We had a very brief wait until the talented Dr. Agnello and Mark came out to greet us and go over the surgery. Charlie was handed over and whisked away for his pre op stuff. He was weighed, measured, and had blood taken to make sure everything was in order to proceed with his elbow arthroscopy.
They put him under anesthesia and everything went smoothly. They were able to remove the fragmented medial coronoid processes in both elbows- the one in his left was larger than his right. They also smoothed out the areas that were rough and said the cartilage was severely damaged there. The good news is that everywhere else the cartilage is healthy.
After they did all that digging and removing they gave him some injections to help with the pain and to decrease inflammation. They kept him for a few hours to monitor him and let him sleep off the anesthesia.
And then, I got the call I was wishing for all day- Charlie is ready to be taken home! They were gracious enough to let us go to him instead of them taking him to us... to know Charlie is to know his stress level was significantly lowered for us to go get him. As we rounded the corner he looked so tiny with a soft cone around his head and as soon as he saw us he started whining and wiggling like a maniac. It was obvious the drugs still had not worn off- he was very loopy!
We were given assistance to put Charlie in the car and as soon as he was in he plopped down right on my lap and snored for the whole ride home.
He is currently restricted to very limited walking- 5 minutes at a time. He gets his elbows iced and is on some pain meds. We will slowly increase his walking and work on his range of motion, but he won't be able to run or jump for at least 6 weeks. He gets his stitches out in 10 days and will be able to get into rehab then.
Please check out his facebook page for more updates and all the pictures... www.facebook.com/charlietheservicedog.
Thanks for your love and support. We really do feel it!!!
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