as some may know I had a rott girl have a ruptured disc 2 years ago and he underwent spinal surgery....long story but ended well eventually.

Well my luck is just unbelievable as my 8 yr old girl had pain last week and after an ex lap revealed no abnormalities it was determined her pain was spinal (poor girl went through a major op uneccessarily :( )
well her pain increased and I had her referred as an emergency on Saturday to the AHT as she was so painful. long story short she had an mri which revealed a spinal infection!!! This i was told was a surgical emergency and I had to make to choice of surgery or pts.....with no insurance this has been difficult but there was just no way I couldn't give her a chance so we went ahead with surgery. she was in theatre for 6hrs! when they opened her back up he said it was a mess and her nerves were all stuck together...but that the surgery went well with no concerns of damaged during the op itself

amazingly she came through the op and the next 2 days she went out for wee's at the hopstial with no crying at all. so day 3 he sent her home as she would be much happier and relaxed at home. well all was good until we lifted her out of the car.....as we lifted her out she screamed....for ages and lifted up her back right leg. I calmed her and she walked from the car into the house and laid down. well since Tuesday when she came home she is comfortable when lying down but the minute she stands up to go out for wee's she screams and she screams the whole time til she is back indoors laying down, she wont use her back right leg at all. I immediately contact her surgeon as I was terrified damage has been done getting her out the car but he assured me that is very unlikely and that the lifting of the leg and screaming is typical of nerve pain.....the sciatic nerve runs exactly where her surgery was and goes right down the leg to the toe. he felt that all the irritation of the surgery will of aggravated the nerve and that he felt fairly sure it would settle with time but these things can take a while to settle and heal. he said that if her spine had been damaged lifting then her mobility would be affected but it isn't it just like a severe non weight bearing lameness but the screaming is very distressing and I have been in tears all day today as I feel helpless.
she is on ab's for the infection and will be for 3 months. she is also on rimadyl twice a day and gabapentin 3 times a day. the vet advised doubling her gabapentin dose which I have but haven't seen any change in her when she stands though she does seem quite comfy and wagging her tail when laying down. her gabapentin dose is 800mg 3 times daily.

I would really like to hear anyone who may have been though anything similar and any suggestions on meds used etc. I know she may just need time but to hear her in so much pain is breaking my heart and im also so worried that she may need further surgery.....for 2 reasons of course her going through so much at 8 is worrying and needs careful thought but also her bill to date is just over 6K and so surgery again would be the same......something im worried sick about too....but most of all I hate seeing her like this its tearing me up that after all she has been through so far she is still so painful when first signs after surgery were so good.

If I was in your position, I would ask the vet about tramadol.  Gabapentin can be brilliant but it can also take 4-6 weeks to build up in the system to an effective level.  I've tried it twice with one of my girls for her chronic slipped disc, it made no difference whatsoever.  She's now on tramadol three times a day and much, much happier.  She's nowhere near the level of pain you describe but nevertheless, worth investigating I think.  It also made a massive difference to my old boy who had a mild but acute slipped disc, he was lame with his.  Again gabapentin didn't touch him, but the tramadol certainly did and it can be given alongside both gabapentin and rimadyl.

Oh no, you poor person, I feel so sorry for where you are, as we are just getting out of that place - and it sounds like you are right in the middle of it.

When it comes to nerve pain, I really don't think meds can help MUCH.  They can take the edge off, but that's all they're doing.  Our dog (see my other thread) pre-surgery was on gabapentin (300mg, 3x day), robaxin (3x day), metacam (1x day) and tramadol (3x day) and none of it was working really.  She was ok lying down but after about 5mins of standing up, the pain would 'come on' and worsen quickly.  But I did have just enough time to get her out to toilet, feed her, and get her lying down again before it became too bad.  It wasn't happening badly, as soon as she stood up, as for you.

However, like Nikita says, ask about tramadol - it is an opiate, and it does/can have a sedative effect and make them a bit spacey.  Also ask about robaxin.  We saw a big difference when we first started using robaxin - it's a muscle relaxant and stops spasming muscles (which can cause a lot of the pain), and works in conjunction with the gabapentin (I believe) to make it more effective.  The rimidyl and metacam are both anti-inflammatories, so you already have one of those. 

Besides that, I don't know what to say.  This is where having a specialist you can trust is a huge help.  I hope things get better soon :(

> However, like Nikita says, ask about tramadol - it is an opiate, and it does/can have a sedative effect and make them a bit spacey.

That it can, although that very much depends on the dog.  My old dobergirl got a bit spaced when she had it at full dose but River has never shown a hint of it, only pain relief.

Wondering how you're getting on MandyC, and what decisions you made?

Hi, thanks for thinking of us. Im pleased to say Jasmine has made huge improvements in the last 10 days, we have had no crying for 10 days and Saturday she went out into the garden for 5 mins walk, toilet and happily back indoors had her dinner and settled on her bed.....since then she has been in the garden daily for toilets and appears pain free. she is a bit wobbly but didn't walk at all for 2 weeks so is just a little weak and no doubt still a bit sore. her nerves no longer are sensitive to touch and she is happy, eating and wagging her tail. just 20 mins ago she got herself a raw bone I had in a box for one of the other dogs...she decided she would like to have a little chew on that and took it off to her bed lol. she is very happy so just hoping she continues to improve.
we added in tramadol and also steroids and have just started to reduce the steroids now of the course of the next few weeks her drugs will be adjusted to the minimum that she needs but all in all we are hoping for a full recovery and it doesn't matter how long that takes as long as she is happy....then im happy. x