Normally I would title my post as Week ---- and then number the week. This week is different. Baron is still battling corns, but we decided to change treatments. He has become so crippled when walking around the house, yard, etc. that we have to do something. The corn is huge!
4/23/13
4/23/13
2nd Corn-rear left paw - 4/23/13
4/23/13
We ordered Jack's Gel. This is another treatment that is discussed on the facebook site, Greyhounds with Corns. It is a two step treatment. There is a gel that is placed on the corn once daily. The gel is left on for 30 to 60 minutes, then wiped off. The second step is to apply a pad softener once daily. Jack recommends hulling the corn, if possible, then applying the treatment. We have been avoiding hulling, since the process was/is so painful to Baron. However, this original corn is so massive, and is protruding so much, and is as hard as a rock, that we made an appointment with the vet to get that sucker hulled.
Oh man.....trip to the vet and hulling proved to be quite eventful. To prepare the corn for hulling, I soaked a paper towel with water and placed it in a sandwich bag. I then put Baron's paw in the bag and put his Therapaws boot on over it. We drove to the vet and soaked his pad at the same time. Dr. Murrell, our vet, tried to numb his pad first before hulling. In the past, it has helped with the pain. Baron was having none of it! She couldn't even touch his pad or look at it, without him screaming. After much discussion, it was decided that Baron would be given a light - 'twilight'- anesthetic. I did NOT want to do this, but the corn needed to come out, and the alternative was to traumatize the poor boy by proceeding with the numbing. After getting Baron ready with catheter, etc. the corn removal only took a few minutes. Voila! His big, nasty, evil corn was out!
4/26/13
4/26/13
4/26/13
4/26/13
This has been the largest corn so far. So very hard, and look at it---HUGE!!! Here is what was left behind.
4/26/13
An enormous crater!!! We let him recuperate on Friday evening. He was just fine by that evening, but I did not want to mess with his foot so soon after the hulling. Saturday morning I did the first gel treatment. I applied the gel to both sites. I filled in the crater, and painted the gel on the second corn. It stayed on for an hour, then I wiped it off. I will do the pad polish later on in the evening. The gel has a very strong odor. I thought he would put up some resistance because of the smell, but he napped while I applied the gel and while it dried.
We are hopeful with this new treatment. We will not be able to continue to hull these corns because he has to be sedated and we are not going to put Baron through that each time. I realize there are many people out there who had success with Lori's treatment. Believe me when I say I wish we were a part of that crowd. We were diligent in our treatment, even had the treatment tweaked, but we did not see results. If we had continued with the treatment? We were not willing to keep it up after 3 + months and not only one huge corn, but a newly developed one too. I do think Lori's treatment works......too many people have proof it does........just not for Baron. I would still recommend others to give it a try...it might work for their dog.
Many people are reporting good results with Jack's Gel. Keeping paws and fingers crossed this new treatment does the trick.
We are beginning to wonder if Baron really does have THE corn from Hell. We really thought we would see more progress than what we are observing...meaning no new progress.
4/19/13
4/19/13
4/19/13
4/19/13
Here is the second corn - back left paw/pad.
4/19/13
Baron is having such difficulty walking, even with his Therapaws on, he limps badly. We are thinking of trying a different treatment. We have tried to remain optimistic with Lori's treatment, but as the days go by and we still see no results, we are considering Jack's Gel. I realize patience is important to a 'natural' treatment, but how long is long enough? Our baby is HURTING! We've got to find a solution to this corn problem.
My goodness! I am three weeks behind in my postings! I have kept up with my photos documenting Baron's corn, but have not had an opportunity to update this blog. Apologies all around.
So here we are at Week 11.
4/16/13
4/16/13
4/16/13
This is the original corn paw/pad - right front. It just looks so painful! Very, very hard to the touch. Does not MOVE at all. No photos of the newest corn - back left paw/pad, because there were no changes to appearance.
We are quite discouraged as to the progress, or lack thereof.
The good news - Lori's treatment arrived very quickly this time. We received it on Monday and began using it the same day. Once again we have oil and pills. Baron is to get one pill a day for 7 days, then one a week for 7 weeks. I am to again, massage the oil into his corns three times a day, covering them at night after the last application.
The not so good news - The second corn that popped up several weeks ago is getting worse.
second corn - rear left paw - 4/6/13
Very discouraging! This corn popped up after we began Lori's treatment. As this homeopathic treatment is to work from the inside out, I am not sure what the development of another corn means. Was it already 'in the works' and this treatment accelerated its emergence? Or was it already 'in the works' and this treatment is not helping Baron at all?
I realize we have just begun this second formula, but both my husband and I are not nearly so positive about seeing success. I feel Baron is worse. His pad where the corn is, is so dry and inflamed looking.
4/7/13
It looks like you could just pull it out! But one side is still embedded. I have tried soaking it and then working on it............I can't get it to budge. I can't even wiggle it at all. In the past I have been able to wiggle it just a bit. Not to mention Baron is/has become VERY sensitive to me messing with it. He has become even more crippled by this corn. The last few days, to just barely touch it to put the oil on it, causes him pain. He has barked and/or growled at me on two separate occasions as I have attempted to put the oil on it. I believe he has just had enough of the whole thing. We will have to muzzle him to work on it at all. I certainly don't blame him. He has been such a good boy throughout all of our attempts at eradicating the corn. Considering we have been fighting this since 2011, he has been a terrific patient.
4/7/13
Even though this photo is a bit blurry, you can see how the one side is still flush with his pad.
It is all very deflating to me. I don't even want to imagine what his life will be like with two permanent and extremely painful corns. Or worse, as he gets more and more corns in addition to the two he has!
We shall continue for a while longer, then move on to something else, I guess. We are frustrated, beyond frustrated, beyond frustrated.
So we are waiting on our 'revised' treatment from Lori. It is on its way. I am continuing with the oil massages and weekly pill from Baron's original treatment until the new stuff arrives.
The corn is really protruding and looks like it should just come right out, but of course remains firmly in place. I wanted to work on it a bit - just wiggle it, loosen it, and try to get that one side that is so firmly attached, so I decided to soak Baron's paw to make it easier to work on. To do this, I wetted a couple of paper towels-drippy wet (as we say in Texas - soppin' wet), then put them in a sandwich bag. I then put Baron's paw into the bag and loosely fastened the bag with a velcro tie. I left that on for about 20 minutes. Early afternoon works well for this, because I know Baron will nap until dinner time.
So after the pad was good and soaked, I then began working my way around the edges of the corn with just my fingernail. Baron does NOT like me to spend much time on his corn, so I worked a few seconds, then paused, worked a few seconds, paused, etc. I was able to make some progress I think. I did manage to get the top of the corn off. This of course, gives him zero relief, but I am hoping that by massaging oil into the corn right after removing the top, maybe it will speed up the process? Who knows..........
I got to thinking about the FIRST time we had his corn hulled. We had the best results from that hulling. He probably got about 4 weeks relief - the most he's ever gotten from a hulling. It also yielded the largest amount removed.
First Hulled Corn
First Hulled Corn v Later Hullings
First Hulled Corn v Little Chip
Here is what his corn looks like now. I also took a couple of pictures of his new corn. It looks like nothing but a dot, but my goodness does it ever cripple Baron. I absolutely HATE these corns!!!
3/30/13
3/30/13
3/30/13
New Corn-back left paw
New Corn-back left paw
Watching the mail for Lori's treatment.................
Well here we are at Week 8. The corn is still with us. Ugh! So very frustrating. It looks about the same as it has for the last couple of weeks. This was taken 3/23/13.
I have also added footage of the new corn - oh boy! Since I am treating this new corn, I might as well document it from the very beginning.
I corresponded with Lori Rose this week. She has decided to make an adjustment to his treatment. It seems Baron has a really stubborn corn and it will just take a while longer to get rid of it. We shall be receiving this new treatment in the next couple of weeks. There will be a change in both the pills and the oil. In the meantime, we will continue with what we have until the new pills and oil arrive. I am hopeful that the newly developed corn will not be as difficult as his first, since we started treatment on it in its' early stage.
So many things going on with our cornboy this week.........
Unfortunately, Baron still has his corn. I don't think we are losing ground, but rather we seemed to have stalled - hopefully only briefly. It is still protruding from the pad, but is also still firmly attached at one end.
I did try filing it just a bit, then massaging the oil into the corn/pad - don't really know if that helped - we shall see.
Another thing going on with the boy - it looks like he may be developing a second corn. Good grief! About two weeks ago, I noticed him favoring his back left paw. Baron's original corn is on his front right paw. He walks with two boots on his front paws to even him out. We could not see anything on his rear paw pads, but when we went on our daily walks, he was definitely favoring that back left leg/paw. I put a third boot on him and ........no limping. Fast forward to last night - 3/13/13, and my husband and I both noticed a tiny black spot on his pad-looking very similar to the way the original corn started out. Below is a very short video showing how crippled he is when walking on a hard surface without his boots.
Poor fella! The addition of another corn really feels like a punch in the gut. I am so down about it all right now. He is so silly and goofy. He wakes up happy, silly, and goofy - rolling around in his bed, roaching - just so ready to start his day. He still very much wants to go on his walks, happily enduring three boots. My husband and I don't want him to lose his zest for life, and yet with the pain of the corn (and now corns) it is a legitimate concern.
We are NOT giving up. I guess maybe we expected too much too soon? I really have no idea the timetable on this corn treatment. I know each dog is different, so the amount of time will be different also. I am frustrated and impatient - just so ready to have a corn-free dog. We will continue with Lori's treatment. I have an email in to her to see what to do about this second corn and also to see if there need to be any changes to the treatment plan. I keep telling myself he has a really nasty corn and it is just going to take a little more time.
Lastly, unrelated to the corns, Baron hurt his right eye this week. A trip to the vet revealed a superficial scratch on his cornea. He was given an antibiotic for infection, but it will have to heal on its own. So now he is hobbling around with only one eye open! My goodness what a week. So relieved it was nothing more than a minor scratch. It doesn't keep him down. He is still bouncing around for a cookie, and anxiously waiting for a walk with Amber.
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