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Preparing For Recovery After The Cruciate and Meniscus Repair

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So Sherman is scheduled for surgery Wednesday to have the meniscus trimmed and the cruciate repaired.

The preparations have already begun.

Last week we checked his bloodwork which looks beautiful and we’ve taken x-rays of  his chest to make sure all is clear and there are no issues going on like there was 8 months ago, and just too make sure nothing funky was going on, we shot a lateral x-ray of his right knee and it’s still consistent with a cruciate tear and it looks pretty much like it did on x-ray 8 months ago. That’s a good thing. It means that after 8 months there hasn’t been too much degenerative changes in his knee, that we can see.

But I’m concerned.

I’m not concerned about the surgery itself, I’m concerned about the recovery.

Sherman’s recovery is crucial and it’s going to be difficult.

We’ll make it through, I know we will, it will just be a long road.

I’ve been going over the recovery directions (Thank you Jana) and I think we’re well on our way of being prepared.

1. My husband built a ramp for Sherman. I had Gracie test it before I let Sherman walk down it:) Just kidding. I tested it by jumping up and down on it and when I didn’t fall through I felt it was safe enough for Sherman.  I wanted to get the ramp up before the surgery so that we could get Sherman use to it, and so far so good.

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2. Ice packs. I’ve got plenty of ice packs to ice his knee after extensions.

3. Sling, Just in case. We’ll probably need this the first few days to assist him in getting up and walking down the ramp.

4. Non-slip rugs. To make Sherman doesn’t have any slipping accidents. They are placed all over my house and none of them match but I don’t care.

5. Weight loss. Sherman has gained a few extra pounds since his activity has been so on and off restricted over the last 8 months. I’ve cut back his calories over the past few months and we’ve gotten 6 of the 10 pounds off him that needs to come off.

6. Crate. I’ve got it. He’ll have to use Leroy’s crate and neither one of them is going to be happy about that. Leroy loves his crate and Sherman hates anything to do with a crate. Ever since Sherman was 6 months old and broke out of his crate, he has despised it. It’s gonna be so tough to keep him on crate rest.

7. Separation. During Sherman’s recovery he will have to be separated from Leroy. Leroy has always been……………how do I want to say this……………..rough with Sherman. He’s like the annoying, pushy little brother and he does just that, pushes Sherman out of his way, pounces on him, and takes him out. One would hope that maybe he would feel for Sherman and take pity on him because he’s injured. Yeah, not so much. So I can’t take any chances and they will be separated for the next 8 weeks, unless adult supervision is present, adult meaning my husband.

8. I have Sherman’s surgery team in place and it was hand selected by me. There will be 2 techs and 1 surgeon handling the surgery. I will NOT be there. I will NOT be anywhere in the building. The surgery is being done on my day off. Believe me, it’s better for all involved that way.

9. Hydrotherapy. The plan is to pursue hydrotherapy when Sherman is ready.

My big concern is the way that our house is set up. We live in house where the garage sits under the house. We have a walk out basement but everything else is upstairs. The easiest place to keep Sherman is downstairs, but Sherman likes to be where we are, unless it’s super hot, than he wants to be downstairs.I’m pretty sure I should keep him upstairs and when he needs to go out I can walk him out the front porch and down the ramp. I don’t know. I’m confused and I just might have to wait and see.

So what do you think? Anything I’m forgetting? Anything you can suggest?

 

 

 

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Kimberly Gauthier

Wednesday 21st of August 2013

WOW! That is quite a list. The non slip rugs is a nice touch and something I wouldn't have thought about and I love that your husband built a ramp.

Thanks for sharing. The other day, Rodrigo injured himself (just a tender muscle) when playing fetch and it made me immediately think of Sherman and I started to wonder if I should possibly start massaging him and Sydney before we go out to play, to warm up their muscles.

I'm also considering adding this spice I learned about yesterday (Turmeric) to their diet, because it's supposed to be great or joints. Not sure if it's better than salmon oil or should be used with salmon oil. Much research to be done.

Nichole

Monday 19th of August 2013

You're on the right path with all the pre-surgery prep! We did a lot, but should have done more -- namely teaching Zeus to go out the back door and using the big ramp we had borrowed BEFORE the surgery... but we somehow forgot and of course, once the surgery done it was too late - he had no part of this new "going out" routine. He also HATED the sling... HATED it. He was stubborn as all heck.... Good luck! We'll be thinking about you guys!

2browndawgs

Monday 19th of August 2013

It sounds like you have everything prepared. I bet it will be hard keeping Sherman and Leroy separate if they both want to be with you. Best of luck on Wednesday.

Jessica@YouDidWhatWithYourWeiner

Saturday 17th of August 2013

I've never had to go through anything like this so i don't have any advice. I can see why you tried conservative treatment before surgery. Hopefully in the end everything will be back to normal but it sounds like things will be very intensely not normal for a while after. I look forward to reading your progress updates.

Jen

Sunday 18th of August 2013

Thanks Jessica.

I think the first few days will be the biggest adjustment for all of us, especially Sherman, but my hopes are he will fall into the routine fairly quickly and accept it.

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