This next set of pix is from Joe's surgery today. I got some awesome pix of the bone in his leg and getting it set for the pin and plate. If blood and stuff bothers you, don't look at these pix, they are the actual surgery today, Dec 14,04.



Lauren on the left holding Joe so Cyndi, awesome RVT! can administer the propofol into the catheter in his leg



Lauren and Cyndi - Joe's great surgical prep team!



Joe getting a bit woozy



Joe under anesthesia
The wrap around his neck has the pain patch under it
The clip on his tongue monitors heart rate and pulse



Cyndi shaving and prepping the leg for Dr. Turner



Meet the man with the magic hands, Dr. Bruce Turner, gifted surgeon extrodinaire!



Initial cut being irrigated with saline to flush it out. Notice the tin foil on his hock and foot. That is to cover that area and to keep any debris out of the incision and sterile area. The foil was sterilzed too.



This white strip in the middle of the incision is the upper portion of bone that is broken. You can see the jagged edge where it actually broke. The big retractor is at the top of Joe's leg.



Upper bone portion to the right, lower bone portion to the left. You can see them beginning to be lined up.



Drilling the thread holes into the bone for the plate. That is the actual stainless steel plate but it isn't in place yet. Dr. Turner drilled a pin into the upper bone to use to line up the two pieces to get the plate into place. Once the plate was screwed into place the pin came out.



This is the plate up close and personal, lol.



Setting screws and adjusting bones



Notice the bone just under the edge of the plate. Perfectly lined up and interdigitated (seated end to end) in a straight line, YEA!!!!!!!!!



When Dr. Turner released all of the bone holding devices and retractors the muscle met together like it had never been disturbed! Very impressive to say the least! The skin did the same thing when he sewed it together!



Voila! 2 hours later, here is the plate in place holding the bones where they should be, woooo hoooooo!!



Before and after exrays side by side....quite a difference! Dr. T said the bone fragments will reabsorb and become part of the new bone growth in the leg. He also said that all the living tissue in there will help regenerate the new growth as it is living material. That was interesting and makes sense when you think about it. he said some surgeons will remove all of the loose material even though it is still alive. This helps cut healing time down considerably.

Giant THANK YOU to Dr. Turner and Cindy for taking such good care of my rescue boy and for letting me watch and learn from the best!

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