Hi Mary,

Fergus had to go back under to be re-closed.  After about 4 weeks, only half of his incision had healed and he was still oozing.  The doctor sedated him and put 2 layers of stitches under the skin and stapled the top layer.  At that point I would say the incision was about 4 inches.  He came home the night of the surgery and was very woozy.  I don't think he knew which way was up and walked around in circles.  The next morning he was fine.  He did not backtrack on mobility at all.  The healing was quick from that point.  He remained on antibiotics after the procedure.  Make sure if Lucy is on chemo to get antibiotics from the doc until she is completely healed.

I wouldn't worry about the recovery at all.  It was as if nothing had changed.

Good luck to you and Lucy,

Tara & Spirit Fergus

Hoppy 3 weeks ampuversary. That is wonderful that you're not dealing with cancer.

Just wanted to offer my support & hope all goes smoothly for you & Lucy. Keep us posted!

Sending you many golden hugs,

Cathy

Hi Mary,

Our dog Gaby (right front amp. on 10/25/11) went through something similar…the vet called it an "incision revision".  We had taken her to the vet on day 14 to get her staples out…but she ended up leaving the vet with stitches.  They said that some dead tissue needed to be removed along with some extra skin from the amputation.  She had to be completely put under again and back on an antibiotic and pain medicine.  The first night she was a little loopy, but the next morning she seemed to do fine.  That procedure was nothing like the major surgery of the amputation or the pain from the OSA.  She did have those stitches in for about 14 days. 

Good luck and I hope everything goes okay.

Joanie and Gaby

I'm sure things will go just fine tomorrow. Try to relax and stay calm — that will help Lucy more than just about anything. Deep breaths, girl! Keep us posted on how things go!

Micki and Rio

Mac had his amputation two weeks ago and the doctor had originally said she would use staples but the surgery went so well she decided to stitch him up instead.  That incision was along the length of his collar bone and across his leg.  They come out tomorrow and it looks like he healed very cleanly.  For Mac this is a first!  Most of his prior surgeries were injuries from sticks and rips, which needed staples and at least one extra visit to fix holes.  I'm sure Lucy will be fine, its just the border collie in her that makes everything a little more difficult.  Good luck.

Lucy is back home!!  She had her surgery early this morning and we received a call mid morning letting us know the surgery was over and Lucy was doing well.  When we picked her up this time it was very different.  She was alert and ready to go home!!  They took out some fat and additional skin.  The area looks good, although they had to shave her again… BOOooooo!  She's a little red again too.  She has eaten some tonight so we were able to give her rimadyl.  Tonight she'll have to have tramadol again too.  

So far so good, they only issue is whining.  They gave her some sort of pain med when she woke up after surgery so I imagine that's really messing with her and although she's eaten I haven't given her a full meal's worth yet. 

We're so glad she was able to come home today.  I know she is too! 

Back to recovery mode!  Sleep is in order.  Yeah Lucy!!! 

Mary, Lucy's mom