Still VERY happy. I can see better than I did with my glasses, but sometimes my vision isn't as good, although still great (especially if I'm due to put the eyedrops in). The doc said that was normal and it would take about 4 weeks to completely stablize. If I go out at night and look at a sign that's lit up, I have a hard time reading that, and that's also normal, along with halos around headlights which will last for a few weeks. Lars, I'm going to be 45 in March (I think your brother and I share the same bday ;). I am starting to see a difference in my nearsightedness, which started about six months ago. I haven't really had to use reading glasses in the past, but before the surgery, I would flip my regular glasses up to read something small. Now I just hold it out at about half an arm's length and I can see it clearly. I tried my dollar store reading glasses this morning and I could see well to read the back of a medicine container. I went into this knowing it wouldn't help me if I needed reading glasses. Yes, I really do feel like it's a miracle!

So, first, let me say thank you for the links, the information, and the support. I had my surgery yesterday morning.........and while the hospital is wonderful, the nurses and staff were caring and amazing.......I Never want to go into a hospital again for anything. I may add "No Hospitals" to my Advance Medical Directive card!! It was like a bad case of claustrophobia for me, almost the whole time. And coming out of the anesthesia was miserable. I am the biggest baby, I know. The cold chills freak me out. He did the lateral release, the removal of the torn meniscus, and some cartilage shaving. Next wk, at my post-op appt, he's going to show me pictures! Yikes. I think I will take pictures of my updated kitchen to show him! Both my DD and DH came with me and it did take two people to get me in and out. She works for a doctor and made everything better by talking me through stuff, explaining procedures, etc. I am in an immobilizer today and not much pain. Taking Darvocet and it seems to do the trick. I've been using a walker today to get around and I seem to do ok. Both DH and DD were worried about leaving me home alone, but Mabel and Sawyer are caring for me. With your prodding, I had asked the Doc about pre-surgery phys.therapy. He seemed surprised that I even mentioned it. And he said we will see if I need PT at the appt next week. He specializes in these surgeries and I hope he did a good job, but he has a perpetually surprised/nonplussed look on his face when I ask questions. I am going to be moving this knee as much as I can when I get to take off the immobilizer. And for those of you who have graced the 'foundations' threads, I want you to know that I fixed my hair this morning, did my foundation, eyeliner, shadow and pulse-perfection mascara. Lined my lips and applied a neutral lipstick. Put on a bit of Bijan perfume and started a load of laundry. It's 11:15 am and I am sick of t.v. and the computer. Now what? Red Here is a link that might be useful:

The ortolani sign means there is hip joint laxity, a predisposing factor to degenerative joint disease associated with hip dysplasia. It is great that your friend has a vet who is familiar with both the test and the TPO surgery. Unfortunately I know that the surgeons here prefer to do the surgery at 6-16 weeks of age (sometimes they push it back a little bit, but not to 18 months for sure), because they feel there is limited benefit after that time. The surgery consists of breaking the bones in the pelvis in such as way that the head of the femur fits better into the hip socket. Well, that's the short version anyway. But if the bones are not growing the conformation of the hip is not changed drastically enough to prevent signs of DJD and hip dysplasia. Also dogs that already have any radiographic signs of DJD are not good candidates for the surgery, which is why they are usually very young dogs. The radiographic signs of hip dysplasia, including DJD, are usually apparent much earlier than physical/clinical signs such as pain or altered gait. It is very possible that since last year they have discovered that doing the surgery later is still beneficial, but I haven't heard that yet. Hopefully for your friend's dog is a candidate for the TPO because it seems to be the best option, and the only one (besides breeding non-genetically affected dogs) that is a preventative measure.

Thanks for asking Socks .... Had the surgery one week ago today. Got out of the hospital the next afternoon. I'm now home wearing a hard collar, bone stimulator machine and trying to stay off the computer. I'm only allowed on for 20 mins at a time. I was totally bed-ridden until yesterday... sleeping most of the day and night, so that helped keep me off the computer. So far the only real pain is my throat and left shoulder. Loss of voice is typical with this surgery. Mine finally came back yesterday afternoon. I was warned my shoulders might hurt after the surgery but was never told why. I might call the doctor and ask what causes the shoulder pain. Surgery ended up not quite what I expected. Instead of removing the bottom two fused vertebrae, the doctor cleaned the bone spurs off the fused verts and removed C5 instead. He cleaned up and realigned C3 and C4 and fused C4-C5-C6 with what's called a PEEK cage. From what I can tell, my range of motion is better than before and very little pain when I move. But I'm not going to be able to fully test it for a couple months. Because my throat is still sore from them moving the esophagus and other stuff aside to access the spine from the front, it's difficult to tell if my cough and breathing issues are gone. But I think they are. Just won't know until I'm fully healed. Jodi-