Another round

Since I believe hope is as essential to the human spirit and psyche as healthy food is to the body, I'm giving myself a pass on believing Maya was going to bounce back without needing surgery on her leg. It's basically healthier to believe things will work out than not to, just as you can survive on a poor diet but not thrive. So, we lean toward hope.

I hoped she wouldn't need the operation she ended up needing a week and a half ago, which basically fused her ankle into one bone at a 140 degree angle. Our regular vet was never very optimistic about it, noting not too long ago that Maya was "crazy," meaning she is excitable and runs around like a maniac, which is true. He felt she would put too much stress on the weak ankle and easily injure it again. The hospital vet had said maybe Maya would be one of the 5 percent with that type of injury not to need surgery. As it was, two months after the operation she was still in pain when the vet applied a little pressure to the ankle and she was favoring it much more so than when it was supported by a hard plastic splint. The recommendation was to stabilize it by fusing it and let her heal and get over it.

I was partly inclined at first to see how she'd do without the operation, but both vets said she would suffer arthritis in the injured ankle and that could be debilitating for her later. Both said it wasn't if, but a question of how soon. That relates to hope. Somehow hoping that the arthritis wouldn't be too severe or develop too quickly wasn't really hope but resignation.

With the surgery, the chance of arthritis in that ankle is zero—since it's no longer an articulated joint—and she'll be able to walk and run pretty much as she did before because most of the movement in a dog's leg is in the knee and hip. I watched for this as a I walked her the week after her bandage was removed before deciding on surgery.

Were I a younger man, I might not have thought so much about the arthritis, and while I don't have that many aches and pains, I'd be a liar if I wasn't aware of stiffness and soreness in some of my own moving parts. And without Maya forcing me out every day or so, I have to admit I've slacked off badly.

Even after her latest surgery she's doing wonderfully. She needed her cone—the collar that is supposed to keep her from gnawing her leg—for only the first day. Her actively is severely restricted—walks to bathroom and back only for the first week and this week no more than five-minute walks. But the last few days she's started to put her foot on the ground again, and yesterday greeted me by putting both front paws up on my shoulders (very uncharacteristic of her even before her operation and not something I've ever tolerated). I don't want to encourage that yet, though the vet said lifting her front paws would be a good way to help her strengthen her weak leg, but not just yet!

So here's to hoping Maya is back out on the trail by the end of summer—and her lazy bones owner by the end of spring (which is only a week away).