Tate’s surgeon called and said he did “fabulous!” She sounded really excited that things went so well. All his vitals were stable throughout the whole procedure, no complications, and there was enough healthy muscle to construct sort of a “pad” at the top of the amputated hip so it looks a little more normal. And she was able to use mainly top skin (as opposed to using skin from underneath) to cover things up, so the fur will look more normal when it grows back.
For the record, Tate had a hemipelvectomy (now I know that word) for suspected cancer in his hip joint. When we met with her this morning, she said it is similar in a way to a triple pelvic ostectomy that they do for hip dysplasia, except they don’t replace the hip. She took her time with us to make sure we were both okay with moving forward, especially since we’d asked for a second opinion on the pathology from CSU which hasn’t come in yet. She explained that if whatever nasty is chewing up his bones is not cancer, like an infection of some type, they could do things to possibly rebuild the bone but it is complicated business and could take quite awhile. That gave us pause but we decided to trust the doctors and go ahead with it.
They are sending the whole amputated part out for examination. I don’t even want to think about how we’ll feel if it is not cancer; I think I should review the “No Regrets” forum again.
Our boy was a trooper. The doctor left to give the nurses a heads-up and it was kind of a long wait. When she came back, he hid behind my legs. I went over next to the doctor and Tate headed for the door! But he came to me when I called him, and I knelt down and he looked me right in the eyes while me and Dad pet him and told him what a good boy he is. He didn’t flinch when she put the leash on him and walked right out like the brave little guy he is.
Sorry this is so long but I thought the details might be helpful to someone else some day. Not that I’d wish a day like this on anyone.
