[RedFawnRising]

Hi everyone, just popping in for a quick update for all Whip's supporters and fans.

We got her new (correct this time, from a good company who knows what they're doing) orthotic a few days ago, and it's wonderful to have her out of that horrid splint/bandage system.

Hai DT! This is me trying my new bionic leg out for the first time, at a friend's house:

Hmm, not sure I have a license to drive this thing...

Couple days later and smart WhippyGirl has it pretty much all figured out:

I can walk in this thing.

I can sniff all the good smells in this thing.

I can watch butterflies fly, and stand up just fine.

I can guard the yard and bark at the bad guys (okay maybe just the garbage truck, but it's a drill, practicing for the real deal someday).

Hey! Hot Dammm! I can even run in this thing! (Oops, durn it, Mom says not yet, on the running, but a girl can try to get by with a bit of nonsense and naughtiness, still yet.)

Closer shot of Whip's bionic leg, thank you again, to everyone who helped make this possible--she is doing so much better now:

[For those tuning in late, Whisper's other thread, explaining her injury and such, here: http://www.dobermantalk.com/doberman-related-chat/57169-redfawnrising-dobe-whisper-hurt-bad.html ]

 

[RedFawnRising]

Aw, Em, so sorry to have worried you. I feel like such a bad friend to so many people right now...I really don't mean to be so out of touch. I'm just finding the energy level running low lately, and hard to get everything done--only managed one session of PT so far today for Whisper, and got to get another one in before bedtime.

It just kinda never ends, and I'm sure not whining or complaining (well, maybe a tiny bit, but not intentionally) as I'm still beyond grateful my girl is still here with me.

PT is going to be a long hard road and her orthotic will need some adjustments--one spot is wearing on a bony protuberance right above her metatarsals now, but I have such confidence in this new company to get it taken care of and get it right--was on the phone with them 40 minutes today, getting a bunch of information, and questions answered--SUCH a night-and-day difference from that lousy incompetent orthotist, Derrick Campana, ( Animal Orthocare LLC - Orthotics, Prosthetics and other Mobilit Devices for Dogs and other Pets ) who always had off-site answering services and never returned calls, once he had his money.

Anyway, I get discouraged at times, but Whisper never seems to, and all I have to do is look at her happy can-do attitude, and it keeps me going, and raises my hopes.

 

[RedFawnRising]

That is frickin' awesome! Do we get to call her Lt. Dan now?

Absolutely! I'm just mad I didn't think of it first!

I'm a little late, and am still wading through the other thread, but just want to let you know that you are both in my thoughts. What an ordeal.

Props to Whisper for making bionic look good.

Ah, it;s a long thread--feel free to skim, rather than wade :1newwink:

Late or not, just good to have you here--your opinion and support always mean a lot to me.

Snazzy pink flowers! I think PINK is her color!!

She does rock in the pink--but you have no idea. I found a whole "wardrobe" of kids' stickers in the clearance aisle at WallyWorld and Miracle Whip now will have a selection to rock with her already fairly extensive bandanna wardrobe

It is so totally gratifying to see such great progress toward a best case outcome in a situation like this, where survival at all is a miracle.

Miracle Whip looks fine in her new gear!

Yes, when I get worried over each new bump in the path, I try to remember, and focus on that.

Everything she does is so precious to me, now. (At the risk of gorking out on sappy.)

The formerly-slightly-annoying blanket suckage:

She's good company at work, just hates it when I get out of her sight for a bit, always looking for her Mama:

 

[RedFawnRising]

Karen, I am so very proud of YOU! Whip has nothing without you. You have gone the extra thousand miles and devoted every waking moment to either looking after her or getting extra work to pay for stuff, and you are my hero. You are epitomizing that it takes what it takes to look after our guys.

You make me cry and wish I was a better person...

Yay for Whip!, but really, YAY FOR KAREN!! We love you.

Well hell, Viv, you also know how horrible I am at taking compliments/the gushymushy stuff, but...thank you. Means even more, coming from someone with your integrity and heart.

I love you guys, too.

Yay! Go Go Whisper! That garbage truck sure knew better than to mess with the likes of Miracle Whip, Bionic Doberman!


She's totally rocking the flower stickers too. :butfly:

Thanks for the update!

Yeah, we're thinking of taking up Garbage Truck SchH, handicapped division, of course.

Awww, Miracle Whip has a little Terminator leg now--if the Terminator was awesome and totally in touch with his feminine side. (Do robots from the future have feminine sides?)

Anyway, I'm so happy to see this update on her.

It *is* kinda a cyborg/terminator leg, now that you mention it.

Yeah, well, when SkyNet takes over the planet again in a few years, you'll know which blue Doberman to blame...

thank you sooo much for the Whisper updates and pictures.....she has come so far already....it's just incredible!

You're welcome, and thank you once more, to you and everyone else supporting Whisper's recovery.

I feel bad I haven't been able to post more about her, or help as much around the forum lately--just really not enough hours in the day, but now that things are moving along again, I'll try to check in with updates more often--was kinda silly for a while there to write each day: Whip still alive, no orthotic yet, Whip still alive, no orthotic yet, Whip...

 

[RedFawnRising]

She looks AWESOME! So glad to hear she is making strides. Deacon the chihuahua saw her pictures and made me type a message from him..

"DANG whip, bionic legs r HAWT! i had one fer awhile wit steel pins and the vet ladeez kissed me and carried me around! it's not all bad! hang in there and no even if u don't feel gud you look GRATE!"

Ladies man.

Hahaha, Deacon!

I don't think Whisper is going to get carried around by any vet techs, though, somehow

How is his leg doing now? Was just thinking about the small dude the other day.

We are getting mixed reactions from the general public--most are simply curious, some think it's cool as all get out they can do this for dogs now--some are, predictably, stupid and ignorant about the orthotic, because they were ALREADY stupid and ignorant about Dobermans. They have been happy to inform me how scary and repulsive she looks in her brace.

I'm really tired and off my game, because the best I've come up with so far is: "Oh, everybody knows if you put this special brace on their right hind leg--it has to be the right hind leg--then their brains never swell and they never turn on you."

That is an amazing little gadget you got there, Whip. Is it like a Go-Go-Gadget arm so you can sneak food and other tasty snacks? Oh, wait, nevermind, you probably wouldn't want anyone to know that, would you...

So glad you have a competent Ortho, RFR/! Its nice when they actually care.

Amazing, isn't it? No idea how much I wish I could hit "rewind" and just have started with the good company to begin with.

That Campana dude has zero remorse for the harm he's caused Whisper, or for all those extra hours I've slaved trying to keep her going, paying for extra bandage changes, extra drives to the vet, etc, etc.

Just staggering to think someone with such complete lack of character and compassion is purporting themselves to be some "hero" to animals.

 

[RedFawnRising]

AWESOME update!!! And loving the pinky flowery stuff too.

You may have said it already... how long does she wear the orthotic thingamajigy?

Don't really know--every case is individual, and a lot depends on Whisp and how her body heals.

At minimum, six to eight months 'til evaluation for possible arthrodesis surgery (which I'm hoping we can avoid.)

Right now, she has to wear the device 24/7, with short breaks of a few minutes in which she's lying down and we do her PROM/PT stuff.

Eventually, if her body can form enough fibrous tissue in the joint, she may only need to wear her orthotic when she is very active.

But for now, the safe assumption is she will be some kinda incarnation of Lt. Dan, rest of her life.

Thanks for the update. Whisper's rockin' the boot, and it doesn't look as if it's slowing her down any, either. Glad things are working out...



Just ignore the asinine people/comments. Unfortunately, there's no vaccine for stupidity.

However, I do like this response I heard once: "I don't know what your problem is, but I'm sure it's hard to pronounce."

I really, really like this one, and am totally gonna use it.

She is actually fairly uncomfortable in the brace right now, unfortunately--this is pretty much a given with the custom molding of any orthotic (been thru this myself as a human, and it can be a bear, and we humans can tell the orthotists, in English, you know, where the pressure points are).

She will need at least a couple adjustments, which are included in the purchase price of the device, but the shipping, which will run about eighty bucks a whack, is not, nor is--of course, the trip to the vet for a new cast/bandage for her to wear while her Bionic Leg is at Cyberdine for servicing.

Geez, she's a spendy little diva now, is she not? :1newwink:

And worth every bit of it--at some point, once we get all the tweaks fixed on the orthotic, I'll make sure I have enough saved to purchase a second one for her so her leg will be safe and protected even while one Terminator leg is off for revamping.

 

[RedFawnRising]

As a hand therapist/rehab person I have to dork out on the orthotic and PT-type stuff. So are they able to modify that to tweak it for her with a heat gun? Or do they just pad any areas that are rubbing? Or...?

And then once she gets used to it, would you ever see a doggie PT here and there to check out how her gait in the orthotic has changed and things/exercises you might need to do to balance that out?

Dork out all you want--it may help me know which questions to ask, as this process goes along.

Yes, they are going to heat-flare it, to accommodate the bony protuberance. It is already padded--not helping, nor is the whole moleskin and gator sleeve routine, much. The frame itself really needs a modification, hence the plan to heat shape it.

And yes, she will be seeing a PT/rehab doc as she adjusts to the brace and ongoing, plus we do PT here at home.

That is awesome. I may have missed this somewhere - but is this brace permanent to part of the healing process?

Yes.

 

[RedFawnRising]

that look super !!! did her collar get to you yet ??? x

No! It hasn't and we've been so anxious to see it--it looks absolutely gorgeous.

I'll be sure to post pics of her wearing her new bling, soon as it gets here--any idea when I should be looking for it?

 

[RedFawnRising]

ummm.. track and track says its in america... but no details.. one i posted on the same day to america got there a few days ago.. ill keep checking daily !! xx

Yay! Sounds like it won't be long, then

 

[RedFawnRising]

Don't really know--every case is individual, and a lot depends on Whisp and how her body heals.

At minimum, six to eight months 'til evaluation for possible arthrodesis surgery (which I'm hoping we can avoid.)

Right now, she has to wear the device 24/7, with short breaks of a few minutes in which she's lying down and we do her PROM/PT stuff.

Eventually, if her body can form enough fibrous tissue in the joint, she may only need to wear her orthotic when she is very active.

But for now, the safe assumption is she will be some kinda incarnation of Lt. Dan, rest of her life...

Alrighty, I have a HUGE Whisper update, and the news is all kinds of fabulous.

I wanted to quote my above answer, as a reminder of what we've been told all along by all the docs and orthotist, as to what to expect in Whisper's prognosis.

We traveled out of state and had her evaluation with a different orthopedic specialist and with the certified rehabilitation vet and staff.

<drum roll please>

Whisper has managed to stabilize her joint already!

Yep, you heard right--instead of six to eight months after surgery, she's done it in just over that many weeks--the ortho surgeon couldn't believe it and thought we were at least six months out from the injury instead of just over ten weeks.

So, yes, because the MCL is absent, she will have some subluxation, and will need to wear her bionic leg for risky/heavy activity, but she is ALREADY cleared to do an extensive PT/Rehab program...without wearing the orthotic during her exercises!

All the HillBilly Homemade PT I've been doing with her at home, plus super nutrition, and tons of supplements, it's all paid off bigtime and I am over-the-moon about my girl's progress.

I kept hearing phrases like "pretty normal life," and "normal activity level" and "really good use of that leg with proper care," and all sorts of music-to-my-ears things like that.

She will go back into the hospital Sunday evening, for a few days, so she can get an intensive "jumpstart" on her rehab. They will be continuing the cold laser therapy, underwater treadmill, electrostim, etc--things I don't have access to in my state and too far to drive daily there.

So, while I'm gonna miss hell outta her, it's best for her, so we're doing it.

After that short stay in the hospital, I'll drive her up there one to two times a week for the next ten weeks, and kill time for the day while she gets several treatments.

Right now, she's got some rub sores and inflammation and infection from the orthotic, but it's since been modified, and she will need to wear it so much less that the docs think that will all get sorted soon, as well.

I'll admit, at some low points in all this, I couldn't help pondering if I did the right thing, listening to the vets who all said no amputation...but omg am I glad we gave her this fighting chance to save her leg--she's going to be whole again and have good use of it!

 

[RedFawnRising]

I am incredibly impressed with the both of you!!
:score:
So much so that I am speechless (which takes a heck of a lot of doing!)

Absolutely fantastic news!

You? Speechless?

Aw, and here I was, counting on you for the perfect little-used adjective!

I keep coming up with "fabulous" and "fantastic" and "wonderful" and not one of 'em is even close to how I feel about Whippy

 

[RedFawnRising]

OMFG Karen - I tried to spice up the acronym for you

This is just the best news I have heard in forever - you are the team and so dedicated. You make me envious or your incredible bond with the Whip. SHe is worth everything, everything I tell, you, everything.

Hehe. <nods to the spicing up>

She is, she absolutely is worth everything.

I'm telling you, these folks at this place were wonderful.

One of the sad things about all this is--well, I always, always work hard to make sure my dogs *enjoy* going to the vet and that it's an overall positive experience.

While we've regained some of that joyous attitude with my own vet, walking into that big unknown medical center must've just triggered all those painful memories of her weeks in ICU, and she was heading into meltdown mode.

Immediately, the rehab tech was whipping out aroma therapy/essential oils, letting Whip "choose" which ones she liked.

Turns out, Frankincense and Peppermint, which is not a combination I'd have put together, but was surprisingly pleasant. (I may have huffed the aromatherapy a bit when I found out Whip and I needed to be separated again for a while.)

By the end of our visit, she was on her back, legs spread (Whip, not the rehab tech), flirting with the staff and begging belly rubs.

Absolutely, positively prodigious, monumental, stupendous, serendipitous news! Miracle Whip indeed!

T'ain't nuthun' necessarily wrong with hillbilly. I like mountains a lot, matter of fact. And Steve Martin plays the bango, you know. Just sayin'...

And, FTW, Shirley, the walking thesaurus, comes thru with the feel-good adjective list

I am so happy for you and the Whipster RFR!

That first week, couldn't have done it all without you, Deb, thank you so much.

 

[RedFawnRising]

WOO HOOO!!!!! That is fabulous news!!! I'm cabbage patching over here for Whip's magical healing powers!!!

I'm glad you're the one cabbage patching--never could pull that off, myself

She goes back in the hospital this evening, and I'm sad, and dreading the long drive, esp. the one back, without her. Snif.

She's also pretty sore right now--the combination of having the orthotic off so much, plus the amped up PT routine has her a bit uncomfy, but the cold laser will help with that, plus the hydrotherapy.

I wish I could move up there, so she could be near the cold laser. Is that a bit too weird? :1newwink: