The Patient is Home from the Hospital

We're proud of our little girl. She took her surgery like a champ and is now home recovering.

Just over a month ago, Roxxi was playing in the yard and suddenly let out a painful yipe. For the next several days, she put minimal weight on her left hind leg — and it only got worse. Dan's online research quickly pointed to the canine equivalent of an ACL tear (a cranial cruciate ligament tear).

The prognosis was confirmed a few hundred dollars of exams, x-rays and blood work later. Our vet (Dr. Katz at North DeKalb Vet Clinic) shared a few different repair options with us, the mostly highly recommended of which being the TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy). This surgery is supposed to be better for big dogs and for its shorter recovery time and lower risk of a second repair surgery. Dr. Katz told us the surgery would run about $2,200. To us, having a healthy and active dog (versus a forever limping one) made the surgery worth it. (note: the best-priced surgery was $2,800 because of our dog's size.)

After getting a second opinion with Dr. Becky Teal of Tri County Animal Hospital in Cumming (loved her!) and shopping around local orthopedic surgeons for quality and price, we settled onNorthlake Vet Surgery (located in Clarkston). We felt like we were in good hands with Dr. Corse, an experienced and friendly animal ortho doctor/surgeon. Dr. Corse assured us they would take care of Roxxi, and that we could come back for follow-up appointments as much as we wanted (any and all follow-ups are included in the surgery fee).

Roxxi went under the knife yesterday mid-afternoon. Surgery and her subsequent overnight stay went well. When Dan picked her up this morning, the vet's assistants said she may not be hungry. Wrong. Roxxi always can find her appetite. 

She's resting now, trying to embrace her interesting new haircut. In about 12 weeks or so, we hope our sweet Roxxi will be skipping, jumping and playing like new.