Surgery was scheduled and Cancelled by the Surgeons

Sorry for not blogging about Hope, but my new son is keeping me busy. Anyway, on Thursday (last week) I was told Hope would be the clinical round focus on Friday for the surgical unit. She was not responding as well to the treatment so they were looking at other options to help her leg. On Friday afternoon, I got a call with my "options" for Hope. These were tough options when you consider the financial and time involved with each option. I was assured with each option that she could still be a breedable alpaca. However, due to the antibiotics she has been on and her premature status she may end up being a small alpaca. The leg will be non-functional and would be used as a peg leg for her entire life. I was told she would still be able to cush and get around well no matter what option we did.

Option #1- Long term antibiotics. Hope would come home in a week or so, but would be on antibiotics for up to one year. I was told that the joint is so far gone that eventually it would fuse together and she would use it as a peg leg. She may still need surgery later.

Option #2 - Surgery. They would go in and scrape the joint to get most of the infection out. They would put in a bone graft from her hip and help the joint to fuse quicker. They would also put in antibiotics directly there while they were in there. This would speed up the joint fusion and she would spend less time on the antibiotics. She would need about 2-3 wks of antibiotics and confinement for 2-3 months.

We decided to talk to our vet about the options. We asked her to talk to the vets there and the surgeons. After talking to her, she assured us either option is do-able and we could even look into herbal remedies if we choose option #1. It was up to us. She said the surgeon is very good and she has confidence in him. On Monday, we talked to the surgeon ourselves and then debated some more. After alot of discussion, we figured we came this far we might as well go all the way and do the surgery. Why spend all this money and stop here. Plus, a year's worth of antibiotics seemed excessive to me. I talked to the vet and gave permission to do the surgery.

I got a call on Monday afternoon saying she would be operated on Tuesday morning and they would call Tuesday afternoon with updates. Tuesday mid-morning comes and the phone rings. I figured something went wrong with the surgery. No. They evaluated her that morning and decided it was NOT in her best interest to help the joint fuse at this time. They said she has full range of motion in the joint and is comfortable with it. She is getting around well on 3-legs. So, they recommended waiting 2-3 days and see how she does and they would do some physical therapy on the leg. Okay... now I am confused.

Today, I get a call and am told she is doing well. She tip-toes around on the leg, but gets around well. She is gaining weight, nursing well, everything looks good. They said today they would move her off the IV antibiotics onto a sub-Q injectable and if she looks well tomorrow then she would be able to come home Friday afternoon.

Needless to say, I am happy that she is doing well and doesn't need surgery. However, I am confused about what changed between Mon and Tues. Also, today they said they think they are on top of the infection, which is contrary to what they have said on Friday. When I asked about her care when she came home, I was told 2 wks of antibiotics (every 3 days for the injection) and then to come back or have our vet do x-rays in 4 weeks for them to see how the leg looks.

As you can see, we have been busy with decisions and then trying to figure out why opinions changed there. I guess new vets came on or clinically something got better. I am not sure, but happy to hopefully have them home soon. Tomorrow, I need to get a stall space ready since she will need to be confined for a few weeks to a month.