Bad News at 6 Months Post-op

Well, it has been 6 months since Heidi's knee surgery.  All was smooth sailing until a couple of weeks ago.  I took Heidi to visit her "grandparents" (my mom and dad) and she was just hanging out with us on the porch, then all of the sudden she got a whiff of something and took off around the side of the house.  I ran after her and as I turned the corner, I saw her circling the bottom of a tree staring up at Callie, my parents' cat, who was perched on a branch up high.  I was terrified because we still didn't want Heidi running all wild and crazy, and at first I thought all was fine, but later that night Heidi was limping.

 I literally could not sleep for 2 nights... all I could do at night was think about her leg, the cost of another surgery, and just the overall emotional strain another surgery would put on all 3 of us.  I prayed it was something else... just a sprain or something, and actually the limping did subside, so we had hope.  But we're now thinking it was false hope.  Heidi is once again limping and it's getting worse.  This is exactly what happened with her first ACL tear.  She would limp and we'd force her to rest a couple of days.  Then it'd seem a to get better for a day or so but come back worse than before.  So, here we are.  I called the vet school today and made an appointment for July 11th.  I'm really dreading this whole process, but I just want her leg better.  Maybe we're crazy for forking out another HUGE chunk of money on her, but I can't imagine not doing it.  My birthday is in a week and I cannot think of a single present I want.  It seems so stupid to ask for material things when this is looming in our future.  I want my baby girl to be able to run and play again.  Can someone grant me that birthday wish?  Maybe the vets at NC State?  Sure they can... for a price!  The good news is that she only has 2 of these ligaments, so if we fix both, we're good, right?  One can only hope!

You know, it seems these types of things happen at the most inopportune times.  Don't get me wrong, things are going pretty perfectly in our lives (minus this little hiccup), but the scary part is that I'm about to start nursing school in August.  Which means I'm dropping down to working only 20 hours a week.  Which in turn means I'll only be bringing home half of my usual paycheck.  I will say though, we are still lucky. We have no debt and we have managed to save a little, so someone has been looking out for us.  I really just feel fortunate that we CAN opt to have this surgery.  Many, many people out there cannot make the same choice in these tough economic times.  And of course, I am truly so lucky to have a husband who wants this surgery for our doggie just as much as I do.  He loves his "girls" and would do anything for us, so really Heidi and I are the luckiest girls around!

Well, fortunately for you (maybe), you all can look forward to more blog posts in the near future.  I'll try to keep up with it and keep you up to date as things happen.  And like I have said before, I hope this blog will help someone else get through this situation, if they are ever faced with it!

Heidi and her friend, Levi