Pat writes:
We had a roughly two-hour appointment with Dr. Margie Garrett.
She evaluated Luna's lumps;
the one on her hip appears to be sebaceous cyst.
Although she wasn't concerned about removing it,
she said it could be removed and it would not impede her water therapy
as they would cover the incision with Vaseline and all would be well.
Dogs with recent surgeries undergo water therapy without issue.
The one near Luna's ear is doing much better . . .
no longer weeping, and it feels to have gotten smaller.
It is a good thing we decided to wait to have the lumps removed
until talking with Dr. Margie. I have been applying Neosporin
as the vet in Ohio suggested. So, with two of the three vets
opting to not remove the lumps, and the ear one getting smaller,
I didn't push the fact of getting it removed.
I will continue to measure and watch it though!
I was really in uncharted territory with all the Chinese medicine terms,
and trying to figure out what all was being talked about.
Luna has three herbal supplements (Di Gu Pi San, Body Sore,
and Epimedium Formula) she will get two times per day.
Dr. Margie felt every inch of Luna's body,
and did say that there was a lot going on
She said Luna's mobility is limited,
including her front legs because she is shifting weight
toward the front to relieve the back end.
I did let her know that if it was necessary to take additional x-rays
to make the best assessment of her condition it would be okay.
She said she didn't think we needed to do it now,
but may do it a little further into her treatment to see
how things progress with her back.
Today Luna received a head-to-tail chiropractic adjustment,
had the low-dose laser therapy around her hip and up her spine,
received a shot of Adequan, and B-12 injections.
I also have her herbal supplements and refilled the Tramadol
(I will be trying to cut the Tramadol back by 1/2 each week if all goes as planned).
Dr. Garrett also showed me three types of massage I can do on Luna at home.
Luna is going to go in for her first water therapy on Thursday.
It is suggested that she do this two times a week for a month,
then we can cut back to once a week for a month
and then once a month if she shows progress.
On the water therapy day, she can get an adjustment
(or acupuncture) and finish with a laser treatment.
Luna was a GREAT patient, didn't fuss a bit,
and the staff thought she was a darling!
A gentleman walked in right before us who has two rescued Airedales himself,
and one of Dr. Margie's family has an Airedale,
so I think we picked a great vet familiar with Airekids!
Luna enjoyed a little game of tag in the snow with the other dogs.
She lags behind when running, and she won't zoom up the stairs,
but she appears to enjoy being part of a pack
so long as she isn't getting bumped.
I don't know what she's doing back there,
but I don't think I know her well enough for her to be doing it!
She's continuing to eat better,
and is cringing less when I go to pet her.
She enjoys immensely having her hips and back scratched.
I cannot entice her to do anything yet for a treat,
but I can get her to come to me if I make a big fuss
over petting Connor & Britta.
She has lost a bit of weight,
probably from eating better and moving around more.
Her skin seems to "fit" better. When I picked her up,
her skin was so tight that you could not move her coat at all;
now it moves when you scratch her, and you can see a bit of a waist.
She is eating two cups of dry and about 1/2 cup of wet food . . .
which almost matches the three cups of dry Britta gets each day
(but Britta also likes fresh veggie treats throughout the day -
Luna, not yet).
On 20 November: Luna gets wet!
HERE she is with the tank filling.
There was an issue with the belt, so it had to be emptied and refilled.
LOOK at how nicely those rear legs are moving.
I'm walking as fast as I can HERE!
A girl can never have too many toys AROUND HER!
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