Break a Leg Laughing

One year ago this week, I sat with tears in my eyes listening to my vet tell me that "one day you will look back and laugh about this".  I thought to myself, 'this guy is crazy'.  Lucca had run into another dog at the park and fractured his leg. It was going to require a cast up to his armpit for weeks. He was 6 months old, 70lbs and growing. Lucca had just survived Parvo a couple months before and this was a huge blow emotionally, physically & financially.

The first day, it took my husband and I  probably 20 minutes to simply get Lucca from the vet's door into the car. The next 5-6 weeks would be filled with tears, frustration, sleepless nights and sleepy days.  Living on the second floor, we had to carry him up and down the stairs so he could go out, which took a lot of mental preparation when I was home alone.  Evenings were spent blow drying & sprinkling baby powder between his toes that slightly stuck out from the bottom of his cast, to keep them dry. The remainder of the day usually included trying to get him to take pain medication & sedatives or making sure he wasn't moving or trying to walk- very difficult for the active puppy & social butterfly that he is.

It seemed like every other dog was outside, playing, making friends and then there was Lucca, giving me sad puppy eyes swinging this 'bat' around and practically saying to me "why did you put this thing on me?!?"

Thanks to his doctors from Fido's Surgeon- especially Rainy who kept me sane- and to our vet clinic, Market Street Vet, who always takes good care of us, we are all still standing one year later.  We often talk about how trying that time was or recall small things like how we'd put him in the car and drive him to the beach just so he could look out the window and smell - and yes, once in a while, we even look back and laugh.

**Be sure to follow mimi&lu on twitter for regular Lucca updates! (#luccadog)