Well, friends, my early athletic days, and all that running around and trying to keep up with Mark, have finally caught up with me!
A couple of weeks ago, I had to have surgery for a torn ligament that I'd gotten who knows when, and how! :-)
Our neighbor, Heidi Goss, from across the street on Pine Avenue is a veterinarian, and she saw me hobbling around and asked my Mom, "What's wrong with Fritz?" She examined my leg and said immediately it was a torn ACL and told my mom to take me up to her classmate, who is a board certified surgeon, in Largo.
Well, for those of us who never get off the island, that was a big excursion! Mom and I, with the help of navigators, Gina and her daughter, Rachel, finally found our way to the clinic about an hour north of the island.
Our neighbor, Heidi Goss, from across the street on Pine Avenue is a veterinarian, and she saw me hobbling around and asked my Mom, "What's wrong with Fritz?" She examined my leg and said immediately it was a torn ACL and told my mom to take me up to her classmate, who is a board certified surgeon, in Largo.
Well, for those of us who never get off the island, that was a big excursion! Mom and I, with the help of navigators, Gina and her daughter, Rachel, finally found our way to the clinic about an hour north of the island.
The doctor, Matt Oakes, examined me and said, "That's an ACL. It's very common in big dogs and very fixable." Mom picked the best type of surgery for me (aren't I a LUCKY dog??), and I had it the next day!
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| (See below to find out what it was and what I had!). |
Here I am with one of my favorite staff:
They told my mom it will take four months to recover fully, but just two months of being careful with my leg. That's hard for an active dog like me!! I'm always hopping in and out of the car, and following my Mom wherever she goes!
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| I'm feeling great, and my mom is so relieved! |
INFO on ACL injuries:
It is very common in both humans and dogs! You Tube has more graphic videos, but this one explains it well enough!
An Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury is a tear in one of the knee ligaments that joins the upper leg bone with the lower leg bone. The ACL keeps the knee stable.
Fritz says, "No wonder I was limping!!!"
The most common surgery for this involves putting something almost like a "fishing line" in to tie the joints together. The surgery Fritz had, though, is called TPLO, or Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, and it is a newer, unique method of treatment of cranial cruciate ligament disease in dogs. An actual plate is put in, which decreases the slope of the tibial joint surface so there is little or no cranial force on the proximal tibia during weightbearing. The muscles then have a greater mechanical advantage and become stronger.
The doctor told Fritz he'd recover fully in 8 weeks. It's only been a little over 2 weeks, and he's already doing better!
The most common surgery for this involves putting something almost like a "fishing line" in to tie the joints together. The surgery Fritz had, though, is called TPLO, or Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, and it is a newer, unique method of treatment of cranial cruciate ligament disease in dogs. An actual plate is put in, which decreases the slope of the tibial joint surface so there is little or no cranial force on the proximal tibia during weightbearing. The muscles then have a greater mechanical advantage and become stronger.
The doctor told Fritz he'd recover fully in 8 weeks. It's only been a little over 2 weeks, and he's already doing better!
Fritz, what an ordeal! I hope you heal quickly and are feeling like your old (young) self!
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