Day 3 Post-Op - Tails are Wagging

This morning we woke up to a happy, alert, tail-wagging Koda. He was in a near-normal good mood and eager to go outside for some fresh air. I don't think you truly appreciate a dog's predictable, easy-going and happy-go-lucky disposition until they lose it.

We spent some time in the afternoon, laying together on the deck, soaking up the abundant sunshine that has come to grace Portland this early spring. Koda was very happy, sniffing the air with his eyes closed. He made no attempt to run amuck. It's almost as if he knows his physical limitations right now. He was content to just lay on the deck. Other than the inconvenience of getting around on three legs, I think he's pretty comfortable.

Koda is "toe touching" with his injured leg, now. Actually, I should stop referring to it as his "injured leg" because it's fixed and in the recovery phase. So I shall call it his Bionic Leg now - since it has a metal reinforcement and screws in it. Koda isn't stepping down completely on it, just touching for balance.

A look at his stitches about 72 hours after the operation. It still looks a bit Frankenstein, but the stitches are laying a little flatter. The blotches of red and purple bruising all over his leg continue. It's especially dark purple around his ankle.

You can see how much fluid is pooling around his ankle joint. It's squishy and he doesn't like me to touch it. You can also see a small "x" where there are a couple stitches. Mr. Munjar explained that they also drilled a hole in this lower part of his leg in order to stabilize it on a rig during the surgery. This is necessary because once he cut the top portion of that tibia, the lower portion needs to stay in proper alignment.

Koda blissfully dozing in the sunshine.