Diego is currently on one medication and a handful of supplements to alleviate as much of his pain as possible. We recently added a new medication and altered the dosages of his other meds recently. He had started lifting his right front foot up while standing again. One of his rehab vets had us increase his anti-inflammatory, Boswellia to being given twice daily. When just that didn't do the trick, we added in a new prescription medication that helps with nerve based pain. Diego is now flying around my apartment as much as I'll let him. He is standing up again instead of preferring to lay down. And he's back to being his very agreeable self.
During his consultation with Dr Jackson, we received some challenging news. Due to the further break down of Diego's wrist (despite my diligence with his care), Dr Jackson believes that our best chance of getting Diego pain free is to perform an orthopedic surgery (arthrodesis) that would fuse the bones in his wrist together and use a metal plate to stabilize. This is the option I wanted the least. It scares me because of the higher incidence of potential problems after the surgery. However, Dr Jackson has many years of experience, and many reasons why this surgery will give Diego the best outcome.
1) Without very advanced imaging, we can't ensure that all of the tiny bone fragments are removed (our original plan). Removing some of the fragments, but not all, may mean the really painful ones will still remain. We don't want this because we'd be in the same place we are now.
2) Diego has evidence of break down in his left wrist as well. Even if he were to be in an orthotic 80% of the time, he would still be putting a lot of weight on his left wrist. After he is healed, he should use his right leg more than his left because it will be non-painful.
3) Dr Jackson believes so strongly that this is the best option for Diego that he reduced the initial estimated cost by almost 50%.
So, Diego is having surgery on November 19th to fuse his right wrist together. He will spend the night there so they can administer very strong pain meds and monitor him after the procedure. He will then be in a bandage for 12 weeks (with weekly bandage changes) while his leg heals. During this time he will be able to go on very short leashed walks a couple times a day. He will need to be kept as quiet as possible to ensure the best possible outcome.
Diego and I thank you for your support!
Diego also thanks ESRA and his spectacular veterinary team. Last but certainly not least, he also thanks all of his fans!
