Baxter is FINALLY having surgery!

Praise God! Baxter will soon be out of pain and be able to run and play again. We had a long & thorough consult/exam with Dr. Cor today. We've gotten Baxter down to 37.5 as of today on their scales. He decided it was best to go forward because Baxter can't lose any more weight without activity though he had first said we'd have to get to 35. Baxyer has his surgery next Wednesday, the 31st. He will stay two days then be confined at home 3 days. We are not going to have to kennel him. Dr Cpr thought it was great idea just to remove bed frame & box springs with just mattress on floor. It isn't too big of a step for him. Then to go outside, we can use my own wheelchair ramp out the front door as he can't do steps for awhile. I've seldom ever had to use this, but it's great it will be needed now. The name of surgery is very long, and I didn't write it down. But it's drilling into the top & bottom parts of knee. A heavy wire-like suture is threaded into the holes and pulls it together so it doesn't slip out. He showed us models of how things are now and how it should be. Finally, he had me feel Baxter's knee. When he barely moved it, it just slipped right out. This part of knee isn't suppose to move at all. He said we should expect 80 to 95% approval. However, very small chance that he might need another surgery which would lock the knee all together. The surgery he is having is $500. The other one is $5,000. Soooooooooooooo, we really hope this will do the trick. We were also able to get ALL of Baxter's records from Anita out here. Even the notes didn't make sense. "Dog is dragging legs-- possibly spine problem." But we just knew there was something definitely very wrong that she wasn't catching. So very thankful God led us to the right hands. We are sure Anita meant no harm. It is just some Vets are more experienced, and Dr. Cor has been practicing a long time. We have 7 perfect days to prepare home. Don will be home and not out of town. It's just God's perfect timing. And we have insurance on Baxter! So I'm praising God for this. It will take a total of 2 months for full recovery, but then we will be on the other side. Pain Free! Able to run! Thank you, Lord!!!

Baxter to finally have surgery consult

It was a month ago today that we celebrated Baxter losing a whole pound with only 3 1/2 more lbs to lose before approved for his surgery. Yet no matter what we've done, he has now only lost 2/10ths of a pound. We called Dr. Cor to update him. We are so thankful he has agreed on a surgery consult next Tuesday, the 23rd. He sounded like he was going to go ahead with it, explaining that a dog will reach a maintenence weight and can't lose any more without activity. He said he would hope that after surgery, with Baxter being able to move about and exercise, that he could lose the extra weight at that point. This has been our thoughts for awhile. How can he lose anymore if he can't run around to burn calories? We are so excited for Baxter to finally be out of pain and be back to his happy, playful self. Don is calling our contractor friend to build a ramp off our deck right away as Dr. Cor said they can't do steps for awhile after surgery. And we aren't going to keep him in a kennel for recovery. We're just going to lower bed off the frame so he doesn't try to jump on ottoman to jump up with us. (He has slept in our arms since a baby) We'll just join him on his level for awhile. We'll have all the surgery info Tuesday. What perfect timing God has!