Hi, my name is Willow and I recently became a tripawd. I’m about 13 years old and I’m a female Sheltie/Golden/Chow mix. Everybody always says how cute and sweet I am. Earlier this year I started not feeling so well. And since my daddy is so diligent he noticed right away that I was doing a lot of heavy panting, even when resting. He took me to the local vet, who discovered that I had a heart murmur. The doctor also found that I had a tumor in my right hind leg. It was completely wrapped around my femur bone. Unfortunately, at that time the doctor didn’t think that I was panting because of the cancer, she thought it was because of my heart murmur. The doctor gave me some medicine and recommended that my daddy take me to a cardiologist. Fortunately my daddy decided to get a second opinion. And the second doctor told him that my heart murmur wasn’t a problem. The problem was the cancer, it was causing me pain, which was why I was panting so much. Well, I could have told them that if I could talk. So, the new doctor gave me some medication to try, but it didn’t work very well. I was having more pain and it was becoming difficult to use my bad leg. My daddy loves me a lot and he couldn’t stand to see me in pain. After talking to my doctor again, I could tell my daddy was really worried about me. It seemed like he was trying to make a decision about something. As it turned out, my doctor had recommended that my bad leg be amputated. I know my daddy struggled with this decision, and he wanted to do what was best for me. After a lot of thought, and the fact that the cancer hadn’t spread and I was healthy otherwise, he decided I should have the surgery. Of course I didn’t know what was going to happen. I just remember going to the vet one day and my daddy leaving me there. Then the doctor and nurses took me to a room and gave me a needle. Ouch! The next thing I knew, I woke up feeling really weird, and my bad leg was gone. I felt pretty yucky and I had a lot of pain. I was so happy when I saw my daddy. I had to be transferred to the ER hospital that night since my vet didn’t have overnight care available. And it’s a good thing my daddy made sure that I was being supervised overnight, because my blood pressure dropped so low I almost died. The first week after surgery was really rough. I got to spend 2 nights at home. But all the other nights were spent at the ER because I was having too much pain and the medicine I had at home wasn’t helping enough. My daddy is so dedicated to me that he would take me to the ER each night at 7pm and then pick me up each morning at 8am and take me back to my doctor’s hospital. I know that the first week was really hard on my daddy. It had to be emotionally and physically draining. I know he didn’t get any sleep. Fortunately, my doctor was able to offer me 24 hour care starting at the beginning of my second week. So I stayed there for the next 2 weeks, and my daddy came to see me every day. I was still pretty sick. I had a bad infection, I was anemic, septic and weak. But gradually I regained my strength and got much better. The nurses were really nice and gave me physical therapy every day. At the end of my third week I was able to go home, finally! I was doing great for a few days, and then one morning I couldn’t get up, and I was all disoriented. My daddy rushed me back to my doctor and found out I was having seizures. The next 2 days were really scary for me and my daddy. I had a really bad infection that was causing organ failure and seizures. It looked like I wasn’t going to make it, but I didn’t give up. And my daddy didn’t give up on me. He had a neurologist come to see me and do a lot of tests. After a couple days I was transferred again, this time to the neurologist’s hospital where I continued to get better. And within a few days I had made a miraculous recovery and was able to go home, this time to stay. Like I said, it was a long story. But I hope this story inspires others and teaches them that they should never give up hope. After all, I survived low blood pressure, sepsis, anemia, and seizures. I almost died twice, but I’m still here thanks to my daddy believing in me end never giving up on me.
