So, here I am, sitting at a coffee shop, a good one that I was happy to find with familiar coffee that I love. I dropped Izzie off at her prolotherapy appointment this morning. It wasn't supposed to be a drop-off though. I made the appointment five weeks ago, so six weeks since her last treatment. I called yesterday to confirm because I didn't get their usual reminder call, and they didn't have me in the system...so they worked us in. I typically don't like these types of situations. I take that back - I really loathe these situations because I am not there to protect my baby and be there when she wakes up. I want to meet with the vet beforehand and ask all my questions and be comfortable with what we're doing and mostly just be there. I didn't sleep last night because of this situation. I'm tired and stressed and anxious - and then I also had to leave her.
So, I found this coffee shop that serves great coffee that I actually love and have bought elsewhere, which was a great piece of familiarity out here in an area that I am not familiar with. A couple of hours until pick-up...
After Izzie's first treatment, she had some pain, which we managed with pain meds for two days, and then she settled down some. Then after about the sixth day, she was perfectly normal again. We had been limiting her and watching her carefully and then one night, about five days after treatment, she ran after a deer in our backyard, and I just knew she had undone everything we had worked towards and probably injured the leg. Instead, I think because she is a big baby, it gave her the confidence she needed to know it was ok to use that leg again. Or maybe it worked out some inflammation - who knows. Regardless, she went from there, doing very well and feeling good, no limping, no pain, putting weight on the leg again. It was great! We're like, "Hey, this really works!" And it does, but don't be fooled that your pet is completely healed.
We decided to take them (Lillie and Izzie) for a ride in the car over to the trail because they love it so much. Where we used to live, the trail was across the street and there was no car ride. Cons of living in a neighborhood? It's a car ride to the nearest trail. So, we put them in the car, and this was about 4 weeks after treatment, and Izzie starts limping again and it just got worse over the past week and a half. It had to be balancing in the car during the ride and some of the getting in and out but she was obviously in pain and limping a lot. Or could it have been the length between treatments? It would be six weeks since she had been. We started limiting her again and could tell she was feeling a bit better so we just did that until we got in today for her appointment. I asked about this when I dropped her off in case I didn't get the chance to see the doc after because we essentially don't have an appointment. They said it was too much activity rather than the length between treatments which makes me feel somewhat better because we can limit her no problem and the treatments are working.
The good thing is that after going through the first treatment, I now know what to expect and how to manage her pain. It is true that knowledge is power. Patience and waiting, however, is a whole different monster.
Update: When I went to pick Izzie up, they told me that they were very impressed with her healing. They said they did some extra lateral work this time and that it "hurts like hell" but it also reduces treatment time so she may only need 3 instead of 5 treatments. That would be great, but apparently it does hurt like hell. I thought I knew how to manage her pain - I was wrong. The night after and the next morning were hard. She was in an enormous amount of pain, would not drink anything and certainly is not eating. I've had to give her extra pain meds this time, which I don't like doing for fear of hurting her liver. She actually perked up a little the next day, but then went back down again on Sunday. I think with the extra work they did, she is in more pain and it may take a little longer for her to bounce back this time. However, when she does, I am sure she will be like new. Can't stand seeing her like this so I hope that happens really soon!
