Tyler's Checkup

I took Tyler back to the Akron clinic today for his post-surgery checkup. Things are looking good. The small lesion that was beginning in his left eye has healed completely. The graft in the right eye has fully adhered to the eye, is basically 'sealed' in place all around the perimeter of the graft, as it should have done. The doctor said the hole underneath still has some filling in to do, but over all it's healing well and right on schedule.

The doctor took the two stitches out of Tyler's eyelid. Those stitches, if I didn't mention, were two stitches to hold his eyelid partially closed just at the outside corner, which covered the section of his eye where they cut a flap and folded it over for the graft, and initially even covered a part of the graft, until he began opening his eyes wider. It was done to help keep the cut-and-fold covered, and the graft partially covered, to aid in healing and protect it.

So he can now open his eye all the way. What a sight that was! After having to see him with his eyes squinted closed for so long, seeing him with them wide open is really amazing. They look huge. I'd almost say that he's holding them open extra wide - maybe he is, because maybe it feels so good after all those weeks of pain.

His medicine was changed slightly. He no longer needs the uber-strong antibiotics in his eyes, and instead has been switched to a drop which is partially antibiotic and partially steroid, which will really help them get back in good form quickly.

While his eyes have started producing some tears of their own, they're still not up to full speed. So he is still getting a second medication, an ointment in the eyes that helps them produce their own tears. It still remains to be seen whether they will eventually be fully tear-functional again, or whether he'll always need a boost of some medication to keep them producing tears and remaining moist. He's also still getting three daily doses of artificial tears to keep things lubed up really good.

Oh, and really good news - we can start weaning him off the cone collar. The doctor said by the end of the week we could probably stop using it entirely, unless I feel Tyler's bothering his eye too much and I'm really uncomfortable about it.

So far he hasn't really tried to mess with his eye much at all, except for on a few occasions when he's tried to rub his face on the side of a piece of furniture or something like that. I didn't tell the doc, but I've been giving Tyler some periods free of the cone on occasion already, when I'm right there with him to stop him immediately if he began pawing at his eye. But he never did - he usually just stayed quiet, enjoying the freedom. Now I can give him more extended periods without it, without being so paranoid.

I think I'll still leave it on him at night and when I'm not home, for awhile. I'm still a little nervous about him doing some kind of damage to his eye.

I should be able to stop using the crate soon, too, which ought to make Tyler ecstatic. He's been giving me a lot of grief about going in it at night, and starts banging and scraping the cone around the walls of the crate, which is ungodly loud, and makes it impossible to sleep.

I haven't used the crate during the day these past two days, when I went back to work. I just couldn't accept him being in the crate all night, then out for only a couple hours, then back in the crate for another 8 1/2 hours during the day. Too cruel. So instead I blocked him up in the dining room (with the cone on, of course), removed everything he could possibly hurt himself on by walking into it, and basically left him in an almost empty room in his dog bed. It worked out great, no problems. So I know I can continue that. If I can safely stop using it at night, then he's done with that contraption.

So ... things are going well for Tyler, which is awesome. He sure deserves it, after the weeks of torture he endured because the stupid local vets couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.