Willie is now 6 years old, and still has the cutest puppy face ever. He has my heart wrapped around his furry little paws, so even when he is acting like a toddler I cannot help but love him with my whole being. With all that being said, we had a little set back about 6 weeks ago when Dr. Knox from Animal Clinic Northview confirmed that Willie had in fact torn not one, but both ACL's. My heart was broken, and immediately I did some research to find out what was the best course of action to take, and found that most recommended surgery, and some recommended to do conservative management. The Surgeon suggested that we have the surgery done on the right knee, and then play "wait, and see" for the left knee. After much consideration, and the cancellation of the first surgery date; we decided to go forward with the Surgeons recommendation. Surgery was scheduled for April 7th, and I had to drop him off in the morning (that was a very emotional morning for me,...although very relieved that Willie didn't seem to stressed on the ride in). I was also very relieved that the Surgeon met with me before I left to address any questions that I may have. ( I had quite a few!)
After quite a few hours the Surgeon finally called me to let me know that the surgery was successful, and there were no complications! I was so relieved. He advised that most likely we could pick Willie up on Friday at any time, and get started on recovery and physical therapy.
On Friday we headed out to pick up Willie, and we were both excited/nervous to see him. We arrived, and were taken back to a room to wait for him. The tech brought him in, and he was not even slightly happy to see us, and seemed to be ready to go back with the tech. (heart breaking). We broke him, and completely lost any trust that had been gained during the prior 5 years. After the tech gave us our list of instructions we headed out with Willie slowly in tow. He seemed to be walking okay, and made it to the door...with much hesitation he came outside with me. The ride home was pretty good...he was probably pretty doped up, and just ready to rest!
Getting him in and out of the car was a challenge, but manageable. Kevin carried him inside, and set him down. He immediately attempted to break out of his e-collar, and managed to get his paw stuck. This happened about 4 more times before bedtime..(he is stubborn, and will not give up!) He finally settled into his bed, and rested for a few hours.
I fell asleep on the floor next to his bed, and woke up at about 3 a.m. to Willie whining...(he had once again gotten his front paw caught in his e-collar.) He was laying on it, and would not let me help him. After about 10 minutes of him growling, and carrying on I was able to get it out by undoing the velcro...I walked away with a little blood on my finger (mine), and felt so defeated. Today went slightly better...he finally "allowed" me to put an ice pack on the surgery site, and wanted a small amount of chin rubs. Other than that he slept, and went out to potty a handful of times.
Willie has been a tough case since day one...with 5 years of hard work we had finally gained most of his trust and love. This surgery erased all of that, and we now have a lot of work ahead of us. I just hope that getting him to gain our trust again doesn't take too long....Any information on how to gain that trust back would be greatly appreciated. I will continue to chronicle the recovery with weekly updates, and photos of our little fur baby!
