Well, we've been to the vets! It went really, really, really, really well
When the bandage was removed, the vet couldn't even find the incisions where her surgery had been done. She looked, we looked, everyone looked, but no trace of them! They've completely healed up - in his report the surgeon said she has two incisions approx 1cm long on the inside of her elbow from the arthroscope, but they didn't require stiches or glue and would heal on their own. And they have - in 4 days! The vet said she's never seen anythng like it. The surgeon was obviously highly skilled, and we've been pumping her full of arnica, which has helped too (and he really only cut through skin, rather than soft tissue). It was quite funny really, this huge padded bandage all the way down her leg, and nothing underneath to show for it! In fact, the sore bit where the bandage has been rubbing her armpit is the only thing she's been licking at since we got home, she's completely ignoring her elbow.
But the best news of all - we walked her up and down in the carpark and she is walking completely normally - no hint of a limp whatsoever She's actually bending her elbow when she walks, which she's never done, she used to swing her leg outwards instead. And when the vet manipulated the elbow, there was no pain reaction at all (normally just extending it would make her yelp). I really can't believe it, it's just an instant transformation! She'd been limping because of the bandage, and we'd expected her to limp for another few weeks before we saw any improvement, but it's like a different dog. She must feel like she's got a new leg - all her life she's been in pain, and now suddenly it's gone! I really don't know how we're going to convince her to stay still for the next few weeks
The vet also says that she doesn't need to be crated during the day anymore, as long as she's confined to a flat space where she can keep calm (i.e. doesn't have free access to the garden to play, and can't run up and down the stairs), she'll be fine. So I think we're going to leave her in the kitchen on Monday with our older dog, and just lock the doggy door up. We'll still have to come home to let her out every couple of hours until she stops drinking as much, but at least she won't be crated. On Monday she's to start having small 5 minute walks round the block to start building up her muscle again. It's completely withered away to nothing so it'll be a long road to get it back to normal, but at least she can walk!
The surgeon's report said that if she heals well over the next month her prognosis is excellent, so it looks like she's ahead of the game - only 4 days in, and already like a different dog! Apparently the loose fragment of bone in her elbow cut off the blood supply to the surrounding bone, causng necrosis. The dead bone then cut off the blood supply to the surrounding bone, causing that to die, and so on and so on. It must have been unbearably painful for her these last few months, I'm suprised she could walk at all. He cut away all the dead bone (like a dentist removing decay from a tooth) so now only healthy stuff is left behind. It also sounds like it was just a freak thing, rather than something that's going to affect her other joints, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that this will be the start of her new normal doggy life.
We also mentioned about the shivering and crying, so the vet checked her temperature and said she was normal. She thinks the shivering is the result of stress from being crated and from having the bandage on, so we've got some Zyklene for her to take. We've also got to give her turkey every day, as the protein will help build her muscles up and it contains tryptophan like the Zylkene, so will enhance it's affects. And because she doesn't seem to be in too much discomfort, we can split her pain killers into two smaller doses morning and evening instead of one big one, which should keep any pain at bay.
She's still feeling a little bit sorry for herself because of her sore armpit and clipper burns on her shoulder (and the fact she's half bald!) but just taking the bandage off has made the world of difference already.
This is my face -->