Ellie’s TPLO Surgery Recovery: 17 weeks- That’s all folks

The final act begins:  The lights are dim, a single muted trumpet plays the opening notes of ‘My Funny Valentine’, the curtain slowly rises, and in the middle of the stage there is a dog standing in the spotlight smoking a cigarette and sipping scotch. Bit by bit and piece by piece the dog removes clothing in a temptatious flirting with the audience….Wait a minute…Ellie does not smoke, drink alcohol, nor does she wear clothing. I must have been thinking of something else. Let’s try this again…

This is it folks, the final entry in Ellie’s TPLO Recovery Blog. I have to first thank the hundreds and thousands of readers that became loyal followers of the mutt’s daily adventures while recovering from her surgery. My running dialogue (or some may say diatribe) was tolerated by all of you for 119 days and I can only hope that in some way it was beneficial. Since I had a tendency to lace the daily updates with minor attempts at humor I only hope that no one has been scarred for life. For those of you that do not know me personally you can now see what my family and friends have to deal with on a daily basis. It is amazing that the majority of them remain fairly well adjusted human beings and do not find themselves regularly sitting in a corner with towels over their heads trying to figure out the best way to separate themselves from me while they weep uncontrollably. At least my dog has an I.Q of somewhere around twelve so maybe she is able to just deal with me as long as the food keeps coming on a regular basis.

While writing the Blog my feeble attempts at humor were obviously a way for me to deal with what was/is/has been a very difficult situation. Ellie is not just a dog to me nor does she fall into the often used terminology of ‘they are members of the family’ or ‘they are your children.’ Ellie is so much more than that and for me to truly describe her place in my life would be impossible. Everyone that has an animal companion develops that specific connection, or bond, that is unique between the two of them. I like to think that I did not train Ellie but rather she trained me. Great sculptors have often said that what they do is not difficult and that anyone could create the same masterpieces from stone. The masterpiece is in every chunk of marble but the key is to be able to see what is inside. I guess that the key for Ellie and I has not been me seeing what is inside her but more so her seeing inside of me and then polishing in all the right spots. I think she has me just the way she wants and it has only taken eight years. It is quite possible that there are some people that may not like me however, Ellie likes me and in my mind that is good enough for me. There I go again, waxing romantic.

The heart wrenching part of this ordeal was seeing Ellie sustain such a devastating injury. I personally damaged my knee many years ago and in no way did I suppress the pain like Ellie did. It was almost as if she did not want to show some weakness that might make me not like her anymore. As tough as it was to watch her prior to the surgery that paled in comparison to seeing her that afternoon when Shandra and I picked her up at the hospital just a few short hours after the procedure had taken place. That evening listening to her do a canine version of crying while she came out of the anesthesia was brutal and Shan and I both questioned whether we should have subjected her to the whole procedure. You ask yourself if you did it for your own selfish reasons or if you truly did it so that your dog would be whole again. The amazing thing was watching the resiliency of Ellie and how fast she bounced back and began to heal. My eternal thanks to Dr. Faulkner the surgeon and Dr. Ahmsberry, Dr. Moore, Lindsay, Trina, and all the fabulous staff at West Hills Animal Hospital in Corvallis, Oregon. Without all of them Ellie’s recovery and continuing rehabilitation would not be possible.

Many people out there will unfortunately have to deal with their dog sustaining a CCL or Meniscus injury and if you read the varying research and stories on the internet you either will have the crap scared out of you or you will come away feeling confident in the procedure. The surgeon and hospital are key however, the actual surgery is just a fraction of  what it takes for this to be successful. Your dog must be in good health, you must be prepared to make changes in your life and daily routines, you must realize that this is going to be expensive, and above all else you must absolutely be prepared to be patient. Have faith in your dog and don’t ever think that just by having this surgery everything is going to be all better. Your dog is counting on you to get them through this so show them what you are made of and do not let them down. You cannot just lock them in a room to heal and figure that time will take care of things. On an hourly/daily basis be involved in helping your dog get around safely, do the exercises, keep things interesting for them so they are stimulated, make certain they eat and drink, and always be sure that they take care of their bodily functions. If you think that your dog gives you unconditional love and devotion right now, just wait until you go through something like this with them and show them the patience that you are capable of displaying. Do not let them down.

Today is a great day since once again Ellie and I had our 5:00 am walk and finally, we found a prune plum tree that was loaded with ripe fruit. Tomorrow Ellie gets to go to the market and on Sunday she is getting her first sojourn into the mountains since this whole episode began. Fall is in the air and this morning I actually think I saw steam rising when Ellie was peeing on a lawn. Things feel good and as they should be. I do not foolishly think that there will not be any setbacks in the future regarding Ellie’s rehab but I am hopeful that they will be few and far in between. My many thanks once again to all of you that followed along with us and whether you find this Blog today or even in five years if you have questions about this procedure just send an email and I will happily respond. All the best to you and your animal companions-

Russ Milstein

Corvallis, Oregon