Today our dog Opal had her surgery to remove her right hind leg. About a year ago we found out our one-year-old Boxer had some knee issues which we were initially told could be fixed with a total knee replacement. After consulting with a vet college and opting to do an MRI, we found her knee trouble was much more complicated than our vet thought. It turns out not only did she have structural problems with the knee, but her tibia and fibula had grown with a slight spiral. We were told that to fix her leg would take multiple painful surgeries that may not guarantee a fix or alleviate her pain. Unsure of what to do and not yet ready to make a decision about surgery, we decided to focus on maintenance of her pain.
A year later, after being on daily pain medication we couldn’t keep our head in the sand anymore about the level of pain she was in. The pain medications no longer seemed to help, and how do you keep a two-year-old Boxer calm? You don’t. We decided it was time to schedule her surgery.
Today was surgery day, easily the worst day of our lives. We’ve been told the surgery is the worst of it, and that before we know it she’ll be running around causing all kinds of trouble again. Her surgery went well, but we haven’t been able to see her yet, but thankfully the vet hospital we take her to is phenomenal and tolerates our constant phone calls for updates. I can’t wait to see my wigglebutt tomorrow. 