Deja Rubes

A few weeks ago I got home from the pool with the kids and Chris met us in the driveway with a grim look on his face. He then told me that he had been throwing the tennis ball for Ruby in the front yard when he heard her shriek and come back gimpy with the ball, hobbling around and not putting any pressure on her back right leg. And we just looked at each other like, Oh no. Not again.

Right after Taylor was born, Ruby injured her left leg and went into a period where she would hide under the guest beds and refuse to interact with us. At first we thought she was just peeved about the baby coming and knocking her down a notch on our attention totem pole, but then when she started walking on three legs, we took her in to our vet and he diagnosed her with a torn ACL. We were lucky to find a reputable canine surgeon in the area who operated on our four-legged daughter and replaced her knee with a titanium hinge. And after three months of recovery, which included six weeks of extremely limited activity, followed by six weeks of leash walks and no running, Rubes was healed. And back to her previous, hyperactive self.

So after her recent leg injury, we held our breaths and said a few prayers that it was just a sprain. But it didn’t heal. And last week, our fears were confirmed when Dr Crouch once again said that she tore her ACL and needed the exact same surgery she had three years ago. So tomorrow morning we’ll take our eight-year old canine child in to get her second bionic knee put it. We know what to expect this time around, and it’s going to be hard to keep her inactive and confined while her new knee heals, not to mention budget the mind-numbing cost of it into our finances. But we don’t have a choice. She’s a part of our family. And we will do all we can to nurse her back to her normal, spastic self. Wish us luck.