sammybeans Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 So today is supposed to be an awesome day, not a horrible one...today I had orientation at my new program for school and it's Champ's first adoption anniversary so I had some awesome plans laid out for us when I was done at school. We were going to go to the dog park and whatnot. Well to start my day I had a flat tire, apparently a pot hole I hit yesterday had a screw in it and that's embedded in my tread now. So we fought with it for half an hour, took four of us to get the dang thing off and the stupid little donut tire on. Started heading out to school after I should have and then had to drive super slow. With the hills around here it freaked out my traction control so the car was totally spazzing while I was trying to drive. I stumble into my orientation twenty minutes late and highly apologetic, explaining what had happened...not the first impression I wanted to make on the people I'll be working with for the next two years. Orientation went fine, chatted with my peers and the faculty and made some new friends. On my way home I get a phone call from my partner and the first thing I hear is "Champ got off his leash." and then all I hear is running and frantic yelling for Champ to come back and then I hear him screaming for Champ to stop and the panic in his voice stops my heart and I'm terrified that he's going to tell me that Champ just got hit by a car. Mind you I'm driving down the road at this point, one hand clamped onto the wheel like a vice, the other holding the phone to my ear and my eyes staring at the road in front of me, I probably looked like I was going to murder the road or burst into tears at any moment...anyway Champ was almost hit by a truck and since he's scared of them he managed to veer away and throw himself into a ditch nearby where he laid cowering until my partner got him. Now I've just been listening, he hasn't been talking to me because the phone is in his hand as he's trying to get a hold of my dog. He finally gets back on the phone and assures me that he's got him and that they're both okay. So I breathe a sigh of relief but only get to be relieved for a few minutes before I get a text from him saying that Champ is limping heavily on his front left leg. I don't get home until after the partner has left for work (about twenty minutes after it happened) and the moment I lay eyes on my baby I know something is terribly wrong. He puts all his weight on his front right leg to sit up in his crate and when I set my stuff down so I can let him out he comes limping out to greet me. I can tell by looking at him that he's in a lot of pain and I become increasingly concerned as I watch him trying to move around, barely allowing his foot to touch the ground as he limps along. He's panting heavily and I can see in his eyes that he's hurting. So I go to work finding a vet because I haven't done any research on those that are in the area, I just know that there's one I won't go to because it's one of those franchise ones that I've heard horrible things about. Even though it's the closest I refuse to take him there so I turn to Google to see if I can find a place that will fit him in and that has decent ratings. Lucky for me there was one 10 minutes away that had a 5 star rating so I gave them a call and they were able to fit me in within the hour. I laid on the floor with him for a few minutes before getting the harness I use for running and a different leash as I wasn't sure what had failed earlier, if it was the leash or his collar and even though he wouldn't go far with his injury I wasn't risking it happening again. That and with the harness I could help him get in and out of the car. Load him into the car and get us down to the vet driving on this stupid donut adds ten minutes to the trip, arriving at the vet he won't even put the paw on the ground anymore and hops his way into the clinic. They put us in the exam room closest to the door so that he doesn't have to go far and we're immediately seen by a vet tech who just fell in love with him. Not even five minutes later the vet comes in while I'm still filling out his paperwork and another vet tech is making copies of the medical records I had brought with me. After joking about how good he looks for a dog that loves food she expresses a lot of concern over the way he's holding his leg and has the tech that had made friends with him hold him while I pet his face and talked to him while she examined his leg. He didn't like that much and went after her with a warning nip and growl. She decided it wasn't a good idea to examine him in the room because it didn't provide enough room and she didn't want to pick him up to put him on the table because that would cause him more pain. So we got him back to the area where they do xrays and put him on a lift table so that he could just get raised up to examination level. Muzzle in place and two vet techs later he lets everyone nearby know that he's hurting by growling until I tell him its okay. The vet stops her examination not wanting to hurt him more but she tells me that she thinks it's broken. She gives me a few options and we give him morphine, which he screamed about. I'm struggling to keep myself in one piece because I'm distraught at how much pain he's in and we go back to the exam room where he lies against me panting in pain. He proceeds to puke up the last of his breakfast and I can tell he's just miserable. After the vomit is cleaned up he goes back to resting against me for comfort and as the meds kick in he finally dozes off for a little while. Then we go ahead and decide to try again with examining the leg after his bloodwork comes back normal so it doesn't appear that the truck hit him at all, that was good news. Getting him up onto the table the muzzle is put back on and he's held by the friendly tech again. She pets him and stuff and has mentioned that her sister has a husky that did the same thing and the vet has said a thing or two about husky behavior when they're hurt so I feel comfortable knowing that they expect his responses and his behavior. He is much more willing to be examined now (after all he's pretty high on the morphine at this point) he gives us growls when he's hurting from her examine but he still allows her to examine him without any fuss. She shows me that he has full range of motion in his shoulder though there's some tension and elbow, that his digits feel fine, but his wrist is the most painful and since she can't feel all of the small bones he may have a fracture there. I tell her to go ahead and do the xrays of the wrist just to be sure and they take him back for it. His xrays come back fine aside from showing a little unique quirk in his outermost toes there's nothing showing a break or fracture. The vet says that she thinks he either pulled the muscle pretty good and probably damaged the soft tissue or the nerve. So I have a couple of meds to give him for a while and he's got some exercise restrictions until the meds are done. Which means no dog park today nor Sunday for an H2M2 meet. I spent about an hour freaking out about how I was going to pay for his leg to be operated on and worrying about his health while trying to calm my partner via text as he was upset that it had happened while they were together and he felt responsible. I'm just happy that he didn't have a broken leg, the vet was sure that he had broken it when she saw him come in. On top of that we now have a new vet...hopefully we don't have to see her again until his lepto shot is due though, they were an awesome vet clinic though and I'm happy to have found them on the fly like I did. My poor boy has been through a lot of jabs today and has been in a lot of pain, he's laying on the floor sleeping now and his limp is a little less pronounced although I had to persuade him to go out and potty about an hour ago because of the two steps to go down. He's using his paw and leg properly as well so things are looking up. I think he more than deserves the meatloaf and mashed potato cake I'm going to make for him later, maybe perk him up a bit too. But I'm just so exhausted...today has been rough and I had been hoping it wouldn't be. My partner is going to take my tire in to be fixed tomorrow when he goes to work so that I don't have to drive on the stupid donut anymore as well. I'm just hoping this is the last hugely stressful Champ situation for a little while, my health and my bank account can only take so much... Here's a pic of Champ trying to sleep on me at the vet's office after the morphine kicked in, it's nice to know that he found comfort in my being there (and yeah I ignored the chairs, I usually do, it's more comfortable for him if I'm sitting on the floor with him, clothes can be washed the comfort of my pup is more important): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Well done for survivng a gruelling day. for Champ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Thought you might like a hug, sounds like you've all had a pretty rubbish day. Glad to hear champ's leg isn't broken, I hope he picks up soon. Fingers crossed for you all that tommorrow is a brighter day. Xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazz Posted August 22, 2014 Report Share Posted August 22, 2014 Tomorrow will be better. Hope your pup gets better fast. Huskies in the Heartland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Sorry to hear about the day you had At least it sounds like Champ is going to be OK, and that's the important part. I know how hard it is to see our babies hurt! Hopefully tomorrow will be better for you ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia Doyle Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 hope things look up for you and that Champ gets better soon xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Whoa Sam hope Champ recovers soon x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob & Juno Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 side note about your car, when you have a spare tire on, press the switch for trac off, this will prevent the traction control from going off all the time. it will reset to on each time you restart the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Oh wow, what a day - wishing Champ a speedy recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammybeans Posted August 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 He's doing much better now, tired from the whole ordeal and the meds but he'll put weight on it on and gobbled down his meatloaf cake after he realized he was being given it to eat. I have no idea where my traction button is or that I even had the option to turn it off lol. Luckily I won't have to drive anywhere until after it's replaced but I'll look through the manual and figure out where it's at so that I know for next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Oh wow crazy day so glad champ is doing better and didn't get hit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goingsolo Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Poor Champ a hug for you and your partner, and a big one for the brave pup. Hopefully the 2nd anniversary of adoption day is quieter xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob & Juno Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 He's doing much better now, tired from the whole ordeal and the meds but he'll put weight on it on and gobbled down his meatloaf cake after he realized he was being given it to eat. I have no idea where my traction button is or that I even had the option to turn it off lol. Luckily I won't have to drive anywhere until after it's replaced but I'll look through the manual and figure out where it's at so that I know for next time. what year, make n model of car, most are on the shifter or on left side of dash with a T/C on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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