Sidelined, but NOT out of the Game

If you have been following me for a while, you will know how much I love our dog, Sadie.

She's that adorable dog, fourth picture in on my blog header, and she has been with us now for five years. Mention the word "walk" in front of her, and you had better have your walking shoes on and be ready to go.

She's my best buddy out here on the farm; wherever I go, she follows and makes sure I am ok.

You can get reacquainted with her Here, Here, and Here.

Well Dang!  Here are couple more pictures of her just so you can see her cuteness:

So at the end of October, we came home from one of Tink's volleyball games to find Sadie limping. She wouldn't put any weight on her back right leg.  I gave her a few days to "walk it off," and then I took her to our vet.  She was pretty sure Sadie had blown out her ACL.  Who Knew?!?!?!  She wan't in any pain; she just couldn't put any weight on it.  Dr. Kay said it would be a $1500-$2000 operation to fix the tear, and honestly that's a bit too much for us to spend on any farm animal.  Dr. Kay did say there was a chance she had just sprained it, so she gave me some medications for her, anti-inflammatory and pain meds, and we both hoped she would continue to improve......... But she didn't. She wasn't in any pain, but she would not use her back right leg.

Jump to the second week in December, and I am down at French Lick, Indiana for the Indiana Farm Bureau State Convention.  Anyone out there who knows me knows I like to chat, and this time my gift of gab paid off big time! I was retelling Sadie's story as we waited for a shuttle, and my friends, Marybeth and John Feutz, were behind me and heard Sadie's story. These two, besides being great people, are both veterinarians.  John said he could probably help her for around $400.00!  I turned to Tall Guy, and told him that is what I wanted for Christmas!  Below may be Dr. John's only sort of selfie ever taken!

Sooo......We compared schedules and decided the best time to make this happen would be the upcoming Monday.  Sunday we left the beautiful West Baden and town of French Lick,and headed home so I could turn around the next day and head back to Princeton, where John and Marybeth live and have their veterinary practice, Princeton Veterinary Hospital.  John worked on Sadie, I spent the night with them and had fun getting to know their little guy, Baby Doc, as he is referred to on Marybeth's blog, Alarm Clock Wars.

The next day we headed back home, and Sadie has gotten progressively better!  She is perky, prancy, playful, and just a happier dog.  She still needs to buildup strength in that hurt leg, but I am just so happy to see the positive changes in her.

Thanks so much to John and Marybeth for giving Sadie a second chance.  As soon as it warms up, we are going on a longer walk!