Update: Sam's Injury

After spending hours on the phone trying to find a reputable, board certified orthopedic surgeon to do Sam's surgery, we found our hero - Dr. Fick. Not only does she charge $1000 less than the next guy for her services, she's done hundreds of these specific types of surgeries, and put us all at ease when Sam warmed up to her before our first visit ended (for those of you who don't know Sam, it usually takes our little 'Scaredy Cat' several days to trust a stranger). 

Unfortunately we had to postpone our initial surgery appointment because some pre surgery blood work showed an elevated level of white blood cells and kidney function. I believe my initial response to this news was to laugh. Seriously? What else could go wrong!? Kory and I joked about having to take out loans to pay for Sam's dialysis, both fully aware that if necessary, we would. Luckily, this would not be necessary -yet. A follow up visit revealed that our poor gimpy dog has a bladder infection, unfortunate, but a far better outcome than renal failure. So on top of her anti inflammatory and pain meds, Dr. Fick prescribed a strong antibiotic and asked us to reschedule the surgery for the following Tuesday - February 16th.

This, initially, seemed like it would be no big deal. But reflecting on our first meeting with Sam's surgeon, we recalled her desire to do the surgery as soon as possible to avoid worsening the injury. Walking around with her bones disjointed has the potential to destroy the cartilage... which there is no simple fix for. So the sooner she gets the surgery, the less likely it is that further damage will result. All we can do is hope and pray that the infection goes quickly and we can keep Sam from jumping around like the maniac that she is! So far, I think we have done a moderately good job. Instead of walks, we take her on drives. Instead of playing with her peers at the dog park, we work on her obedience commands and tricks in our living room and do everything possible to stimulate her mind and not her body. We even took the mattress and box springs off of the bed frame and headboard to lower the bed's height - I don't know how we would sleep without our big black fur ball wedged between us! :)

Here's to  minimal ongoing complications and a speedy recovery for our little doll. Cheers!