Ella's right elbow...

Finally, there is some news about Ella’s surgeries… after weeks of having a procedure to help stabilize her heart canceled because of a missing part, we are now pushing forward with the surgery to fuse her right elbow. Both surgeries are important for her: one will add years to her life while the other will allow her to soon be able to walk on a leash. Both surgeries are important for us, too: we want Ella to be a permanent member of our family, but we are also at this point where we need to see some progress, and thus need to get this dog walking on all four’s.

The X-rays Ella had at the vet today looked good and any signs of her past infection are gone, so she will be going in for surgery on Wednesday morning!

The plan is to fuse the bones in her right elbow which could take up to three hours. If she responds well to the anesthesia they will go into the left elbow to remove the plates and screws that have helped the bones in that arm heal. The left arm could take up to an hour so if for some reason the right arm takes longer, or she has a reaction to the anesthesia, the surgery to the left arm will have to wait until the heart surgery or until she gets spayed.

Of course we’re hoping it goes well all-around and that she can make it through to let them remove the hardware in the left elbow. That would mean that she would be out of a cast in just a couple of weeks on that arm for which she is dying to walk on, and groom, and for which she desperately needs a manicure, too!

The plan is to pick her up from the hospital on Thursday though she may need to be monitored until Friday. We’re hopeful though that her voracious appetite will prevail and that she’ll be able to come home sooner rather than later. In the short-term we can expect a couple of days of grogginess, bathroom accidents and tons of neediness, but it’s nothing we haven’t been through before. In the long-term we can expect weekly bandage changes, progress in mobility and tons of neediness. Again, it’s nothing we haven’t been through before!

As always we are thankful to all of you for your concern and support, and of course to the Picasso Veterinary Fund of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals who has made all of this possible.

More good news to come...