Waylon: An Update
March 16, 2010Well, we finally took Waylon into the vet for X-rays on his leg. He hurt it while playing out in the snow last year and for a while we thought he was getting better, but his limp eventually grew worse and now he doesn’t even put weight on it.
I had to bring Corey along to help, because I can’t get Waylon into the back of the car alone in my pregnant state. We made the drive down to Wilsonville to our vet and piled into the the tiny exam room at the clinic. We decided to do his yearly check-up and shots to save another trip and it took Corey, and two of the staff to hold Waylon down to take his temp, give him his shots, and check his ears. I’m not sure what we did to him to make him so terrified random medical devices, but he was having none of it. It was pretty funny to have 4 adults smashed into this tiny room trying to control a man-sized dog that wanted nothing more than to run for the hills.
The doggy doctor felt around on his hurt leg and went over the X-rays with us. I sat in the corner of the room sobbing uncontrollably as the news came down that we could either give him pain medication until he can’t walk anymore or do knee surgery that only has a 50% chance of working. Apparently he tore a tendon or two, the dog equivalent of ripping through your ACL. Even worse, she said that the way his knees have grown, that it’s probably going to happen to his other hind leg as well. Let me tell you, the tears were flowing! Being 8 1/2 months pregnant didn’t help my emotional state at all, and I couldn’t help but think about the little boy I’d be responsible for soon. How can I be in charge of an entire person when I can’t even keep my dog healthy!?!
We always said we’d never pay for pet surgery, especially one that would cost roughly 5 times as much as we paid for him in the first place… I realize it’s a strange thing to love a dog like a part of my family, but I do. I think we may just have to bite the financial bullet, put him under the knife, and hope for the best. He’s gonna have to wait a couple months though, I don’t think we can handle a brand new baby boy and a 120 pound dog recovering from surgery at the same time!
Megan posted the following on March 16, 2010 at 4:45 pm.
Oh no poor Waylon! That is a lot to digest, I hope everything turns out Okay.
Jenni Carmon posted the following on March 16, 2010 at 5:11 pm.
How could you say “no” to that sweet face? He is adorable. I hope the surgery goes well.
Bunn Salarzon | Photographer posted the following on March 17, 2010 at 8:24 pm.
Speedy recovery, Waylon! I hope the pain is not too bad until it’s time.
caroline posted the following on March 18, 2010 at 8:12 am.
I actually used to work for a vet, in Uniontown. So I’ve watched a LOT of these ACL surgeries, and recoveries. It’s always a little harder for the larger dogs, but we had a fairly good success rate even with them. Unfortunately, they do have a tendency to overcompensate for the injury, and end up needing to have both knees fixed. But it isn’t always the case. Good luck with him!
Misty Damico posted the following on March 21, 2010 at 10:44 am.
I will pray for your puppers, I so feel for you I couldn’t even image what we would do if that happened to our Bishop. I so understand, our Mandy had 3 legs and many complications, it killed me to see her in pain and it was very expensive. Please let me know if we can help in any way! Loves and prayers.
Summer Bowman posted the following on March 21, 2010 at 5:37 pm.
Oh no! Brit’s dog had this same surgery a few years ago and she recovered. It was a very long recovery time but now she is perfect. She’s a big dog too, although not quite as big as Waylon!
Cat posted the following on March 23, 2010 at 1:08 pm.
Oh Waylon!! I hope he is ok. Such a cute friendly guy.
Lindsey Jackson posted the following on April 28, 2010 at 2:09 pm.
Poor Waylon! I see this surgeries done all the time sadly! Most recover really well. Start taking some weight off him now…he will do better post-op if he is a bit on the lighter side (Sorry Waylon). If you are looking for a specialist to do the surgery in the tigard area… Cascade Veterinary Referral Center has amazing surgeons. That is where i would take my Stella-bean if she needed it. Good Luck!
P.S. Congrats on the little man. He is adorable.