Hi all
Well picked Wicca up at midday, the specialist again cannot say how the tendon is as she is now wearing a half splint (fibreglass) for approx 4 weeks to give support whilst she starts to use the leg the down side of the fixators coming off was the last pin inserted in the bone had broken ! which was why she hadn't been using the leg although it was x-rayed it wasn't visible. he was unable to remove the bit imbedded in the bone but says it shouldn't cause a problem if it does then its full surgical removal, i asked does this often happen & he said it was the first time - great. Anyway Wicca is pretty sad obviously we just hope things improve.
X K

So you still don't really know, that's frustrating. On the positive side, at least it wasn't definitely bad news.

Hopefully Wicca will be more comfortable now the fixator has been removed, once she gets used to the splint.

Hi all just a quick update for anyone whose interested, Wicca was supposed to be in less pain with the fixator off but she spent most of Friday & Saturday wimpering & unable to lie comfortably, we have had to resort to Pethidine tablets to control the pain , she is a very stoical dog so it must be really sore. She has had to be redressed twice already as the dressing slipped & the 2nd time the splint wasn't firm enough ! The specialist expected her to start using the leg within a couple of days , so far it hasn't touched the ground
Nobody can give me any confidence as to whether this is how things go & it will improve if only slowly, i know all dogs & their injuries are different but so far Wicca has been the opposite to everything said, we are all losing the will to live with this at the moment & nowhere near the end of this nightmare
Thanks for reading my moan
X K

Oh, Kathryn, so sorry to hear this, no wonder you feel in need of a moan.

(((Hugs))) to you and Wicca.

Well at last Wicca has started to use her rather withered leg, if we walk at a snails pace she will weight bear most of the time - its a start hopefully in the right direction, the downside of the last few months apart from the ruptured tendon is the fact that her abnormal gait & body posture has made her back muscles really tender, tight & sore so at the moment she is on a course of acupuncture which is helping, her back muscles are in so much spasm they cause the needles to vibrate ! Once the splint is off i hope she have a bit more physio & maybe move onto some hydrotherapy, trying to move forward & be abit more positive.
X Kathryn

Awe thanks for the update, I was wondering how she is getting on. Hopefully now that she is beginning to weight bear on it things will improve. *Hugs* and moan as much as you want to. We are all here for you. XX

Been offline for three weeks so missed this. Poor Wicca, i hope shes feeling better, Hugs & Kisses from the Welshies xxxx

Hi all
Wicca been back to specialist today as he decided he wanted to see her after all ! She has good & bad days with walking. He changed the support himself today - my vet normally does it, & she hasn't touched it down yet. Has decided that the spint stays for another week then the splint goes & she wears a support bandage for another 3 weeks after which he will examine her again, still no comment on how its going though
Have been intouch with a very experienced hydrotherapist who is the other side of the country to us but he has explained a programme of rehab for her - very helpful,although he didn't have any experience of achilles tendon rupture, it seems to be such a rare injury finding info is really difficult. Have to wait for orthopod to agree with the rehab programme & obviously have to wait 'til
she's out of dressings.
X K

Had to take Wicca in early this am to see vet as she has not used her leg all w/end & was in considerable pain with it, the dressing that was replaced Fri did seem quite tight to me & my vet also thought it was a little on the tight side with not as much padding as she had been using, consequently she has the beginnings of a pressure sore on her foot grrr, after the dressing change she went mad, biting at her foot & crying so had to take her back again, they thought she had like pins & needles so now she has had an opiate type drug & she seems much calmer & is now taking some weight again - not happy
hopefully we will have a restful night
X K

Hopefully she has had a good night, & is a lot more comfortable.