There is never a day that I do not give thanks to all of the wonderful Vets, Surgeons, and Specialists that we work with Daily. I am on the phone or texting with them 24 / 7 staying on top of all these amazing dogs. Clara Belle has had everyone jumping through hoops to get her better. Every Surgeon and Specialists we deal with has been involved in her care. Clara Belle had developed minimal Neurological issues. Her x-rays from when she was first rescued did not show anything remarkable other than she needed an FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy) which we did.
The first two weeks were normal lameness from having the surgery. After that, she should have been improving but did not. We did as much Rehab as we could without causing her more discomfort. Everything we did was very passive and controlled. We finally decided she needed to go back to Carolina Veterinary Specialists in Matthews, NC to see Dr. Bob Bergman, her Neurologist one last time.
My gut was telling me something else was going on. We have done a ton of FHO's, and this was very different. Dr. Bergman looked over her x-rays again and did not see anything unusual but decided we needed to do an MRI since she was cupping her rear foot on a few occasions. During all of this time, sweet Clara Belle never complained once. She has been the perfect Angel from day one.
Dr. Bergman did a long MRI on our sweet girl and was shocked to see that her spine was broken at L7. Her x-rays did not show any indication of this. What we have determined as best we could is that she probably had a hairline fracture that could have only been seen with an MRI. The Radiologists that reads scans for a living did not see anything on the original scans. It was only after we showed him the MRI that everyone went back and could barely see what could be a hairline fracture. Any movement at all would have caused the fracture to open up which is why it is so pronounced now.
Dr. Bergman has just taken Clara Belle into surgery to stabilize her spine where it is broken. He will be fusing L7 to S1 of her spine to stabilize it. Her procedure will be from 2-3 hours long based on how much scar tissue has formed around the break. What would have been an easy procedure five weeks ago is now a very complicated one. Clara Belle has never had issues going to the bathroom. The break in her spine is right in front of her tail. Dogs with this injury, generally are incontinent. This sweet pup has done everything possible to be the best patient and in the process has hidden some of the issues that would have pointed to her spinal injury.
Please DONATE toward her Medical Bills. She has had lots of Rehab and now is having Spinal Surgery after doing an MRI. Clara Belle's bills are thousands of dollars. If you can't donate, please send to your friends so they can help us with this wonderful pup. We will post an update tomorrow after she has recovered from her procedure. Thanks for caring and making her Journey to Heal, possible.
