Seamus' test results are in

[L.M.]

Earlier this week, Seamus had fluid taken from his leg and tested for bacterial infections, cancerous cells, etc.  Well, everything has come up negative!  Soooo....we're thrilled of course that it's not cancer, but now we are back to square one.  This week, he has been walking much better and acting more like his old self again...granted he is still on his meds.  The doctor said the next step could be arthroscopic surgery simply to see what the issue is.  That surgery could run about 3 thousand dollars, which is absolutely not an option for us for exploratory surgery.  So, at this point, we are continuing his meds and rest for 2 weeks.  We will then probably meet with the vet again to see if he's improved and hopefully get the okay to start going for some easy, short walks again.  Unfortunately, we still don't know what caused this.  I'm starting to think his "injured" leg has some type of weakness in it...maybe from a previous injury, maybe because he's 96 pounds, or maybe he was just born with a weakness here...I don't know.  But I do know that we can't do "exploratory surgery" on Seamus and THEN more surgery to potentially "fix" whatever problem they find.  Just out of curiosity, has anyone on DK experienced arthroscopic surgery...or any type of shoulder surgery for that matter?  When I research it, it seems like it's not performed all that often...probably because of the extreme cost.  But anyway, I'm happy to report that big Seamus is slowly but surely improving, and I'm hoping that he continues to do so  =)  

  Seamus thanks all of you for your well wishes!!  

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

I am so happy for all of you and Seamus that the tests were all negative.  Hopefully with rest and continued watching over the shoulder he will improve.  He certainly looks happy in the picture and do I see a little one in the background?  How cute:) 

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I am glad the tests are neg. I am so sorry y'all have been goign through this and I agree I wouldn't do the surgery now.  I hope he just gets better and better!

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

glad for the good news!  hoping he continues to improve

[Adrienne]

So glad that Seamus' tests were negative for cancer.  I am praying for a full recovery without meds or surgery.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

Glad to hear all has come back negative..best of luck with recovery and finding an answer!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Yep, I have had arthroscopic surgery on my knee and it worked well.  I had a knee dislocation skiing many years ago (in Europe) and never followed up on it.  The medial miniscus (sp?) was gone and the lateral miniscus half gone.  So they scraped and cleaned up my knee and now it is bone on bone.  But no problems.  Can't say I would recommend it, but it was necessary for me since I was limping and had a lot of knee pain. My husband just had fluids removed from his elbow and sent for testing.  He was in a bike accident about two months ago and broke his scapula and ribs.  His elbow started swelling with fluids but the doctor said it was brocitus (sp?) and will probably reoccur.  He DOES NOT take it easy after an accident and was back on his bike in three weeks.  He is out in the shop cutting and sanding wood now.  I don't think his shoulder and elbow had a chance to mend.  So, decide what you are willing to do and don't get pushed to go any further.  Vets and MDs always have lots of expensive suggestions.

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Glad the tests were negative and hope he continues to improve!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am very happy to hear that the tests were negative and hoping that Seamus continues to improve.