The Love Doc

I started this the day we brought Doc home but added in the pictures. Here’s his story:

Hi, I’m new around this site. My name is Doc. I was born on February 14, 2012- yes, I’m extra lovable being born on Valentine’s Day. Sadly though, some mean people owned me first (you’ll find out how mean soon.) When I was 5 months old, I found my home. My mommy, daddy, and sister showed me what love was.

About a year afterwards, my hip started giving me problems, all my parents were told when they got me was that I’d been rolled by dogs leaving me with a hurt hip. They took me to the doctor when they realized I was limping on my leg again. The vet saw what looked like Hip Dysplasia on the x-rays. Looked like I was having an FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy) done. I was scared but I think Mommy and Daddy were more scared. They scheduled the surgery and the doctor said it was very routine. At this point, mommy and daddy found out how harshly abused I had been when I was with my first owners. They had realized themselves by watching me and looking me over that I had had my tail broken, they knew I’d been grabbed on my neck because I was really skittish about them touching me there. Within a couple days, they realized I was deaf (probably from trauma to my head.) I knew they were good people so I followed them everywhere, I was scared to be by myself. They also found out that at one point in time, I pottied on the apartment floor and my owners new boyfriend threw me down the apartment’s concrete stairs outside. They were horrified and mommy cried that night while she was cuddling with me before bed she wanted to make sure I knew what love was.

I went in for surgery on the morning of September 13th. That night- yes, night- The operating vet called my mom from his cell phone. They had had complications with the surgery. Come to find out I didn’t have Hip Dysplasia. When he looked at the x-rays, he saw a completely different disease that only seems to affect smaller dogs (I forgot the name.) Shortly after cutting into me, he also realized that my sciatic nerve was fused to my hip bone. Seems like the abuse had been the primary cause after all. The surgery lasted almost 4 hours instead of the regular 30-45min. They were told that it was likely I might not use my leg ever from nerve damage and that should it come down to the worst- we’d look into amputation.

My mommy and daddy came and picked me up the next day, I’m always so happy to see their faces after being at the doctor’s office that long. I didn’t move around very well, the doctor spoke to us about the surgery and the medicine I needed to take. I couldn’t hardly balance on my good leg so my mommy took me to get in the truck. I wouldn’t jump in it, so she had to lift me up and put me in it. I refused to lay down, my leg hurt so bad. My mommy was so upset she just started crying again. I know she didn’t want to hurt me, she was just trying to make me better. We got home and I wouldn’t even get on the couch by myself. So my mommy picked my 120lb self up and laid me on the couch so I was comfortable. I stayed on the couch for 3 days, only to get up when I absolutely needed to potty. Monday morning my mommy and daddy had to go back to work, Daddy came to check on me on my lunch break and I was standing. He didn’t know how long I’d been standing but he was instantly worried. My leg wasn’t the only thing swollen, my hip and side were all swollen now. He called my mom and had her meet him at the vet. They carried me in on a stretcher, I hated not being able to walk but it just hurt so bad everywhere.

The vet (original vet, not the one that did the surgery) said that they were going to admit me and put me on Lasix to reduce the swelling. I stayed at the vet for an entire week. My mommy came and checked on me every week day, but one day daddy came too. Mommy wasn’t happy with my “progress” and needed my dad’s opinion. Luckily, by that day- Thursday- the swelling finally started going down. I felt better too and was eating well. They picked me up the following Monday. This time I got on the couch myself, I was slow and unsteady but I did it. They were finally able to start therapy on me since the swelling was down and that hurt so bad! I know they didn’t mean to hurt me and were only trying to help me but it was so painful. My mom cried a lot during therapy, I whined a lot.

This continued for a month, but I would never put my foot down. They even tried water therapy.

They finally brought me to Dr. Wilcox for a second opinion about a month later, he said the surgery site looked great, and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t using my leg. He advised mom and dad to keep trying the therapy. So the therapy continued, Mommy found out she was pregnant so she cried more often than she used to. I just kept nuzzling her belly to make her feel better.

I refused to use my leg, the pain was excruciating. My parents finally decided that amputation looked to be the answer, they wanted to give me another chance at a pain-free life. I went in for sugery on December 13- exactly 3 months after the original surgery.

Mommy cried a lot on the way to the doctor this time, I tried to comfort her but I hate riding in vehicles. By then, my leg hurt so bad no position was comfortable so I just stood the whole way. Luckily, Mom had a friend come with us. So she got to sit in the back with me. I put all of my weight on her so I could be a little more comfortable on the way there. She wasn’t comfortable but she just held me anyways. The vet was very optimistic about the surgery, he said everything looked great and I’d be able to come home the following day.

Mommy came to pick me up again. This time as soon as I smelled her I pulled the vet tech everywhere until I found her. I was so happy to see her, my leg didn’t hurt anymore! I jumped up and kissed her right on the mouth!! She just cried, she cries a lot!

I walk better, I feel better, I’m like a new puppy again. The pain isn’t wearing me down anymore. I have three good legs and I have an even better family that loves me unconditionally. I know they were worried about the surgery but it was the best thing they could have ever done for me. I don’t wake Mommy up at night whining anymore, I now only wake her up when I have to potty. I’m not 100% yet and can’t be left unattended with my sisters and brother but I no longer have to worry about needing help sitting and standing. I can do that on my own now and without any pain. Mommy even plays fetch with me now because I want to!

I’ll update soon! Just wanted to get my story out there. I know my parents were worried about amputating one of my legs because of how big I am, but I’m so glad they did!

This entry was posted on December 16, 2013 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Abuse, FHO, Great Dane, surgery with tags amputation, fho surgery, great dane, merlequin, rescue, surgery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.