Update-August 19, 2007

Casey is doing fabulous. He was still limping up until about a month ago and I had put in a call to the orthopedic and I was told he was on vacation and would be back in two weeks. Well before the two weeks were up, Casey's limp disappeared! So he has been cleared by us to play and be a "dog"!
Today he played with some other dogs in our neighborhood for the first time off leash and since the surgery 5 months ago! He was so happy and we also were thrilled to see him be free.
We are still walking him 2 times a day and playing outside ball when we can. During the recovery we were able to really work on cleaning up any "loose ended" behaviors. By this I mean that prior to surgery Casey was a great dog and behaved well, but I think he thought he was a bit of a leader in the house! We were able to clear up his role and place in the house and work on his leash walking a bit better with my girls in the jogging stroller. I also have adopted some of Caesar Milan's tactics he uses for discipline and it really seems to be effective for Casey.

Our biggest issue now has always been a silent issue for our boy. Casey seems to have and always had some sort of tummy issue. I have told his primary vet this numerous times and I have been reassured and told that it is nothing serious and since he is not losing weight that he is fine. 1 week post-op Casey had some major tummy issues and we assumed it was due to the nsaid he was on. Looking back it very well could have been the nsaid or maybe been his tummy issue. So tomorrow Casey will go to a vet to have this issue discussed in depth and see what our next step is to try to help him feel better. My husband and I are not happy with our current vet and we want to switch to the vet at the location he had his surgery. Typically they do not take clients that are referred as this is a bit "taboo" to do to a fellow colleague. Regardless we decided we are leaving the current vet. I called the "new" vet and she agreed to see Casey for his tummy issue and any further treatments we could discuss in office. So tomorrow I will learn more about this as well.
When I first called this vets office they immediately said it sounds like IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease) Or IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Not once has this ever been mentioned before. So I went to the computer and began some online research and I must say his symptoms really sound like one of these conditions. Both are hard to diagnose so we will see what they suggest to us tomorrow.

Thanks all for reading and staying caught up on our big boy! I also have to thank all the support and help from the wonderful members at Orthodogs.com! What a great group of people! I have learned so much from them!