The long road to recovery
April 1, 2009 - Thanks to so many generous donations, Brody was able to have his operation today. He went into the clinic this morning in his usual happy and exuberant spirits, despite the fact that he had been denied his morning swim in the water bowl! Bum hip and all, Brody proceeded to drag Dr. Farr down the hallway on his way to a new and better life. Good thing we've been working with that Gentle Leader!
The surgery went well, although the doctor said it was not a normal FHO. Usually, the head of the femur can be smoothly removed with a bone saw that looks like a shoe-string. Unfortunately, Brody's bone was so deteriorated it looked like "mush" and a saw was not a viable option for removal of what remained. Instead, the doctor was forced to systematically remove the bone small pieces at a time. Upon further examination, the doc decided it was likely that Brody's injury started as a traumatic dislocation that severed the ligament holding the femur in the pelvic pocket. This ligament is the source of the blood supply to the head of 
the femur, so when it was broken, blood could not be delivered to the bone and the bone essentially died. Brody's recovery will likely be long and painful. Luckily, the clinic has donated laser therapy sessions to help speed the recovery and lessen his pain.
A very tired and sore Brody was brought home on three legs. Despite the fact that he is in obvious pain and a little confused about why it's happening, Brody remains as sweet as ever. He allowed me to ice his incision for about 10 minutes and thumped his tail softly. We helped him down the stairs of the porch to go potty and gave him a tasty rawhide to chew. 
It is likely that Brody may never regain complete and normal use of his leg. However, once he has healed from the surgery, we are optimistic that he will now be able to live his life pain-free. Brody recently visited a local high school as an ambassador for BDAR. The students there fell in love with them and he was even able to recruit one to help with his physical therapy. He is such a special, silly, kind hearted dog. We just can't wait until he finds that perfect forever home. If you are interested, you can fill out an application right here on our web-site.