Radiologist Report

I woke this morning to a more normal Vegas. Although the leg situation hasn't changed, at least she felt better and was perky like usual. She had gotten me up several times between midnight and 3 am to go outside as her system worked through the apparent reaction to the Butorphanol she was given. Mostly I was glad to see her perky and cuddly. Last night she was just out of it and had no life in her eyes.

The other thing I woke to was an email from the vet with her other x-ray and the radiologist report. Here are the two x-rays side by side.

  

You can see the big difference between the left and the right and even the inflammation around the one on the left. No wonder why my baby girl is in pain.

So yesterday when I talked with a friend she gave me an idea of what causes bone spurs - more specifically, what they are a sign of. Osteoarthritis. Needless to say, what that would mean to our performance career not to mention the remainder of Vegas' life - and possibly her longevity - scared me to my core and had me imagining all the worst.

Nothing is definitive though, but here is what the radiologist said and we go to the specialist next Saturday.

LEFT CARPUS AND FOOT 12/31/10: Two dorsopalmar views of the left carpus and foot, and a dorsopalmar view of the right carpus and foot are available for review (3 total).
FINDINGS: There is a clearly demarcated well defined pointed bony protuberance from the lateral aspect of the distal ulna. Focal thickened soft tissue is present in this location. The margins of the lesion are well-defined, and there is no evidence of adjacent lysis. The adjacent trabecular pattern of the distal diaphysis is normal. There is no evidence of significant cortical destruction. There is a similar bony protuberance from the lateral aspect of the right distal ulna. This is not as pointed in orientation, and there is no associated soft tissue swelling. The carpus and phalanges are otherwise bilaterally normal.
CONCLUSIONS: The bilateral ulnar protuberance is benign in appearance. An osteoma or osteochondroma is most likely. The lesion on the left has resulted in focal soft tissue irritation which is a likely cause of pain.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Removal of the left ulnar lesion is likely to be necessary.

Of course I did a bunch of Googling after reading this - thank God for the internet - and the osteochondroma sounds most likely. Here is an interesting article and perhaps the most clear to understand that I found. This is the part that makes it scarier:

Following complete surgical excision of the mass, the prognosismay be good. When incompletely excised, osteochondromas may recur. Occasionally osteochondromas may undergo malignanttransformation to chondrosarcomas and osteosarcomas.(12)

Dr. Lozier will be seeing her next weekend. Thankfully he is a Board Certified Surgeon. His interests are closely aligned with the problem she has so I hope that really works in our favor. For now, she seems to be doing okay. Her appetite is good. She got to go with us on a trip to Borders book store today and was loved on by lots of people. Now she's happily chilling on "her" couch.