October 30, 2014, 01:35:42 PM » Unfortunately, there will be no graft on Monday. Daegan's platelets are down again and the vet thinks it might be too rishy to try a surgery if blood clotting is an issue. Back to square one on this problem. Doubled the pred and giving it every day again. Also keeping up with the antibiotics and melatonin.

November 10, 2014, 09:16:37 PM » Thank you both for keeping my girl in your thoughts. We had the weekly vet visit today. I should get the platelet results tomorrow. The wound continues to decrease in size, new tissue is trying to grow, seepage is diminishing. Surgeon still wants to do a graft, vet thinks the wound will heal on its own. Surgeon says that even if the skin does eventually grow over the wound, it will be so thin that it will always be vulnerable to being torn off. Vet is leery about closing the wound since Daegan has had so many infections. An infection after the graft would mean removing it and starting over again. What to do?

November 14, 2014, 10:20:50 AM » I have cut up all my compression socks from my hospital stays and I''m using them over her wound wrappings now. The "leg warmers" are an excellent idea.

November 22, 2014 Not too much new to report. Daegan has an ugly narcosis patch that has developed in the center of her wound. I am changing her bandages and cleaning the area daily to try to keep up with this. There does seem to be some healing taking place. I am also reinstating the honey patches in case there is still infection in there. Not to be outdone, Kieren broke off a back toenail and the quick was causing him quite a bit of pain. So, he finally got to meet the emergency vet. The nail and quick has been snipped back some and foot bandaged. We will see how things look when I remove the bandages tomorrow. He is not lifting his foot when he walks now, so I think he is feeling better. This has been Kier's first visit to the vet for a problem. He did really well!

December 02, 2014, 08:21:16 PM » Vet appt today, Dec 2. Vet just checked and re-bandaged Daegan's wound. Daeg is holding at 165 pounds, a bit lower than I expected. She sure doesn't look that light! Next appt is Jan 5th when CBC will be done to check platelet levels. With a suggestion for a couple thousand dollar graft that may or may not hold, or a trip for couple days away to get another opinion(more $$), (we have had 3 surgeons and the emergency vet opinions already), we have decided on a watch and wait approach. The wound continues to heal, the necrosis is gone, Daeg is still on several meds. The fight continues.

December 06, 2014, 08:22:04 AM » Thank you. We are keeping on. I am so lucky that Daegan had been a trooper through all of this. She has started to bulk at all the pills, so we keep changing the "pill transport". We have switch to grain-free food. The new "pill pocket" is a slice of bread! With peanut butter, of course.

January 06, 2015, 12:18:35 PM » Every time I post something positive, it all seems to fall apart, but here goes anyway. Daegan continues to lose weight. This past Monday, she weighed in at 157 pounds. She looks really good at that weight, but she has come down from 198 in just a couple months. (Wish I could lose weight that fast!). It has been a worry with the leg wound not really healing, weight loss, what else? So vet did a CBC+ and checked liver, urine, thyroid, and anything else they check in complete blood work. She called this morning and EVERYTHING is GOOD! She suggested that I can go back to feeding Daegan the suggested amount on her kibble bag and reduce her Pred to just one a day. She is also off the Cephalexin for now. I think Daegan actually jumped for joy since I don't have to shove my hand and wrist all the way down her throat for those 3 babies twice a day! They smell and stick to her cheeks. I was finding them all over the place after she managed to spit them out! As for the wound, the narcosis is resolved, but the wound remains the same. Vet may try putting in a few stitches to try and pull the sides closer together. We will see. Stitches haven't held in the past. Maybe if she starts with the hard splint right off the bat, the stitches will stay in this time. We will see.

March 17, 2015 Thanks, Lynn. You are right. I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far so good. Daegan's CBCs have shown platelets well into the normal range the past three times. We have stopped bandaging the wound and letting the air get to it. Best move yet. It has shrunk by almost half and appears to be healing. That's a long shot from amputation, a fourth surgery to try to stitch it closed, etc!! She has been off prednisone for over a month and the hair is finally starting to grow back on her leg. Her meds now consist of 9mg melatonin twice a day, clindamycin 2 caps twice a day, but she usually loses one or two of those each day, and 500mg of mycophenolate every other day. Vet visits are only monthly now and I am hoping to further cut back on meds soon. Even with the insurance, this has been a long and expensive run. As always, Daegan has been wonderful throughout the whole episode, never even showing signs of distress. Here is her wound now. I have not posted earlier photos because they were pretty gross! (I finally figured out that the black patches around the wound are her normal skin color!)