Off to the Vet today for observation. Odie is still in pain this morning but is able to get around the house. He has a 9:00 AM appointment. We leave around 8:30 by the time we get to the Vet around 8:45 he cannot walk. His back legs are very wobbly. Dr. Thomas places him on an anti-inflammatory to reduce swelling around spine. X-ray’s show a ruptured disk near the 13th lumbar. Dr. Thomas recommends surgery.

We pick up Odie at 4:00 PM to take him over to Veterinary Medical and Surgical Group. We get there about 5:00 PM (takes about 1 hour to drive 20 miles). Fill out forms, wait, wait, waiting is long and very hard.

Dr. Jenkins examines Odie and gives her prognosis: ruptured disk. Odie will need surgery or will be paralyzed. The surgeon is just getting out of surgery and we have to wait for his confirmation. Surgeon confirms results but doesn’t know if one or more ruptured disks are injured. Wants authorization for surgery. Of course, we love Odie too much to put him down.

Surgeon says they’ll wait to see if the anti-inflammatory is reducing the swelling. We go home around 9:00 PM. They call us around 10:00 PM saying Odie is not getting better and they’re going to run a CT (Computed Tomography) to see which disk(s) are injured. We get a call around 12:00 AM to tell us that the 13th disk ruptured on the right side and 50% of the spinal canal is swollen. They’re going to operate within a few hours since they have full surgery staff available and don’t want to call the surgeon back at 3:30 AM when the next staff comes in. Call about 1:00 AM – they’re starting surgery. I fall asleep from exhaustion and get a call around 3:00 AM from the surgeon to tell us everything went great.

See: Ruptured Disk Day 2