Photos and text copyright Romping and Rolling in the Rockies 2009-2017.

All photographs and text within this blog are copyrighted.

You may not copy or repost any photos or text without specific permission from the author of this blog. When in doubt, please ask.

Friday, February 28, 2014

R can Run!!!!

With the craziness of this week, I forgot to tell you the most important piece of news. R finally went for his first run since his surgery. He and the Runner have run together for 5 minutes each day since getting permission from the surgeon earlier this week. Yipee!!!!
R is not yet doing any off-leash running so I probably won't have new photos of him running for a while. His surgery was very serious, and we are proceeding very slowly with his return to running. He was born with elbow dysplasia and had his first surgery as a pup. Then, as usually happens with elbow dysplasia, his elbow steadily degenerated over the past five years. Even early surgical intervention is no cure for elbow dysplasia.
For anyone who knows about elbow dysplasia, this will probably make sense to you. His ulna's coronoid process was fractured into three pieces and detached from the rest of the bone. Moreover, multiple other bone chips were floating around in the elbow joint space. He had no cartilage remaining on the end of his humerus (the upper forelimb bone). Needless to say, the surgeon labeled R's elbow dysplasia "Grade 5", which is as bad as it can get.

We are hopeful that the recent surgery that removed all the bone pieces and attempted to stimulate cartilage growth will give R more active years. If it doesn't, there is a completely new surgery, called "CUE" surgery, that essentially takes the pressure off of R's cartilage and puts it onto surgically implanted surfaces. We hope not to need this surgery because it has been done on relatively few dogs so far. There is no long-term data about how dogs fare with this surgery.

But, for the moment, things are looking good!!! And, in the spirit of a dog, I will smile about that and rejoice that R has begun to run again!
Happy Friday to all of you!

30 comments:

  1. he has such a soulful face! glad he's getting to run again - even in small amounts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is such good news! Congratulations, R...and the Runner, too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Were so happy about this!
    Baby steps for R- just like for you!
    We know R must have been very happy with his "5 minute" run!
    yay!
    love
    tweedles

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fantastic!
    Yeah R.
    Happy Friday.

    xo Cinnamon

    ReplyDelete
  5. R is such a handsome guy. I wish him speedy and successful recovery.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hurray for R - hope he enjoys his runs. And may this just be the first of many good news reports from you:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. WOOOOOO HOOOOO! That puts a smile of my face. :)
    Blessings,
    Goose

    ReplyDelete
  8. Terrific R. Bet K's got your back
    Lily & Edward

    ReplyDelete
  9. That is great news! I love looking into R's eyes. He just has that sad hound look which just melts my heart. Baby steps work for R and you too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi R!! I have elbow dysplasia, too. Since I am a rescue, no one really knew it was there until I got older and kinda limpy. I was never a runner like you, but I still really like checking everything out with my nose, even though I don't walk very far. I'm still a cuddly, happy girl - and I love gazing into your big brown eyes!!

    Your pal,

    -Ruby

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wonderful news! Me and Stanley went running today! Congrats R!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy and Stanley

    ReplyDelete
  12. R is one of the most handsome pups around, this last picture really melts my heart! I can only imagine his joy being able to run a bit with his Dad.

    Cheers and hugs all around,

    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  13. And I know he's happy. What a nice picture of him--he looks like he's ready to go!

    ReplyDelete
  14. We once had a Springer who had an ACL repair. I will never forget the look on her face when she was allowed short runs on leash. I'm sure R is just that happy.

    Hope your flu is better and your recovery on track.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh this is FABulous news!!! You guys look just amazin'! It looks like you just wanna get goin' and your Moms just keep takin' pics...I know how you feel! BOL
    I sure hopes your elbow gets better and better every single day til you can run like the wind...or like Shyla!! hehehe
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great news! Here's to hoping that all is well and you won't have to think about the other surgery for R!

    Hope you are feeling better!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I want to fly to Colorado and have you take some pictures of Bert. What I would give to have a artist like you bring out my boys eyes.

    Great news about R. I cant wait to see more pictures of him......

    ReplyDelete
  18. I hope he has many more runs left. Poor fellow! He's such a love.

    ReplyDelete
  19. That is great news!!
    Hug him from us......of course Shyla too.
    M/

    ReplyDelete
  20. What wonderful news to wake up to! Go, R ☺

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

    ReplyDelete
  21. Looking forward to the post that says you've joined them !

    ReplyDelete
  22. YAY for R!!!!!! Hope that 5 minutes evolves into his long runs once again!

    ReplyDelete
  23. So glad he's been able to get out again - I bet he is too. Our Sally also had elbow dysplasia...I had never heard of it (this was back in late 90's. We had made sure her hips were okay, didn't know we needed her elbows checked too! She also had surgery but she recovered pretty well and was able to run with us again...until she blew out her knees. Labs - what are you going to do!

    ReplyDelete
  24. That is SO wonderful! I hope and pray his recovery continues to go well!
    KZK

    ReplyDelete
  25. Pawsome, pawsome news!! R, seriously, you get more and more handsome every day. Don't over-do it now and be sure to take frequent rests inbetween your running adventures.

    Hugs,
    Lily Belle & Muffin

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hip, hip AArrrrooooo, that's such good news that he's able to run even for a little while. Just keep getting better...

    XXXOOO Bella & Roxy

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wonderful news! Praise the Lord!

    That sounds like such a painful condition. Hopefully the other surgery won't be needed! :)

    ReplyDelete

If you are a Blogger registered user, you can skip the step asking you to verify that you are not a spammer. For posts older than 5 days, I have comment moderation turned on.

Thanks for your comments!!!!!