On a Wednesday night, the first of February, we noticed that Didi wasn't getting around as well as she normally did. I felt all along her body, checking for any signs of soreness or injury, and found nothing. We figured she had pulled a muscle playing with her brother. We went to bed as usual, with her at our feet, sure that she would feel better by morning.
When I woke on Thursday, I went to my closet to get out clothes for the day when I heard a thump and R call "Didi!!" I looked back to see her on the floor, dragging toward me, unable to move her back legs. I rushed over to her, touching and feeling, trying to see what was wrong. R rushed her to the vet immediately, and urged me to go on to class and work.
I was a mess! I had no idea what was wrong with her! Did she have a stroke? Was she paralyzed?
Later on I heard from R. He said that our vet explained that back problems were common with the Daschund breed, and that she probably just had some inflammation in her back. We were told that upon X-ray, nothing "jumped out at them", and that they would keep her overnight and administer steroid injections. We were assured she would be better by morning, and that we could take her home.
We were relieved at the news, but we still worried. How could we have been so ignorant to this commonality? We went over a million things in our minds about what we could've done differently. The couch, the bed, the stairs...how did we not know??
The next morning at work, I received a call from the vet. I was waiting on a call to advise when we could come get her, but unfortunately, that's not what I got.
The vet said she had worsened overnight, and that she had no feeling in her legs. He said that we could consider surgery if we wanted, but even then she would not have much chance of walking again. He spoke of the cost of such measures, and then offered the option of euthanasia. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Euthanasia?
From those words I decided that I wanted a second opinion. I left work and R and I rushed her to Louisville to an orthopedic surgeon. They saw us right away. Dr. G examined her almost immediately. He took what could only be described as blunt edged scissors to her hind parts to administer a "neurological" test. He said that he wanted to gain a reaction such as a yelp or an attempt to bite. I stood there, tears rolling down my face, as he pinched her repeatedly and she gave no sign of feeling any of it. Then, he pinched her toe on the inside of her right foot, and she tried to bite him. I almost squealed with delight!
He said that without any tests, he could say with certainty she had a herniated disc that was impacting her spinal cord. Surgery would give her a 50/50 chance of walking again, and crate rest was an even lower chance. A myleogram would be able to detect the exact injury to the spinal cord. That procedure, plus surgery and a hospital stay would be anywhere between $2000 and $4500. With or without surgery, there was a chance that she may develop myelomalcia, meaning her spine could liquefy, and she would die.
This was a LOT to take in. One day my little doggie was happy, running and playing. Now, she may never walk again. R and I struggle to make ends meet for the most part, and that was a LOT of money. We asked the doctor to give us a moment alone.
I told R that I had prayed the day before that if she wasn't meant to get better right away, that God would give me the means to take care of her. My tax return was direct deposited the same day. I told him that it was only money, and I most certainly wouldn't be taking it with me if I died tomorrow. He agreed. We talked about the time it would take for us to care for her after surgery and beyond, and how hard it would be. We agreed that she deserved a chance, and we weren't the ones to decide about her quality of life. God chose us to care for her, and we would.
They took her into surgery immediately. Dr. G said we could stay if we wanted, but he wouldn't allow us to see her after surgery because she would need to rest and he didn't want her to feel the need to raise up or move in recovery. Reluctantly, we started the drive home. Once we made it back to our hometown, we were restless. We drove around for a while. Took the car through the car wash. Got some ice cream. Anything to entertain our minds for even a moment was warmly welcomed.
We got the call around 6 p.m that she had made it through surgery okay. We could come visit on Sunday, but the attending vet would be calling us prior to then with status updates. We both barely slept those two nights. Didi had become such an integral part of our lives that it was hard to function without her. I woke up suddenly on the couch that night, looking for her at my feet.
To be continued...
