Under anesthesia

This is from the first time Duke's elbows were worked on. They induced the anasthesia with a combination of valium and ketamine, but the tech had brought the wrong size of breathing tube. While she went to fetch it, the doctor used this hold, which serves two purposes: It keeps the airway straight, and the tongue out of their throat. This way, they can't choke on anything until the breathing tube is inserted.

Don't worry, Duke is out - COMPLETELY unconscious at this point, even though he blinks at the end!

Autumn Waters

This takes me back to a wonderful time. Duke had just had his elbows fixed for the first time. He could then walk down the stairs on his own, no longer did he need to wait at the top, waiting for me to pass by so that he could catch my eye and silently ask me to carry him down.

The surgery did not make him completely pain-free, but close enough - especially compared to his life before. Malformed coronoid processes, due to poor breeding and extreme malnutrition as a puppy, led to large bone chips coming loose inside of his elbows. We have those chips in two bottles, labeled "R" and "L" to tell us which leg they came from. They are impressive in size, enough that you wonder how they could possibly fit inside of his elbows. The damage that they did to his cartilage was equally impressive.

The surgery took much longer than anticipated, the surgeon mentioned that it took ten to fifteen minutes per bone chip just to work them back out of the joint. Duke spent so much time under the isoflurane that the sickly-sweet ether smell was on his breath for almost three days, small amounts still trapped in and around his alveoli.

Problems walking are nothing new to Duke. When I brought him home as a puppy, he was so starved that you could place your fingers between his ribs. Running was impossible, even walking was only a possibility for short distances. After he could not walk any farther, I would pick him up and carry him for the rest of the walk. When the command "Shoulder up!" was given, he would never refuse the assistance.

We saved money for his surgery in our "Dukie Jar". With the length of the surgery and additional X-rays, we still fell short, and spent a good amount of time paying the credit card bill. But Duke has spent two very happy years enjoying his new elbows.

A few weeks ago, Duke started to stay in the bed longer and longer after we got up each morning. Then, I noticed that the fur on his left elbow was always wet from being licked. I inspected, poked, prodded, squeezed, and searched for something on the surface - a scab, a cut, a sting, anything - to no avail. I lifted his leg and gently flexed his elbow. The motion felt like grinding gravel together in a sock, and he clearly didn't like it. The popping sounds were very loud and clear. His right elbow gave up one or two pops, but nothing like the left. After that, he limped for about half of an hour. The Dukie jar is starting to fill again.