2017 has not been great for Maddy.
About two and a half weeks ago, we noticed that Maddy was limping; she did not appear to want to put any weight on her front left paw. We kept an eye on it for a few days and when it did not seem to be getting any better, we took her to Dr. T. on Saturday, November 4 in hopes of getting some answers. After an X-ray and physical exam revealed nothing, we went home with meds and directions for strict bedrest.
We left for our trip to Paris a few days later and while we were gone, my mom ended up taking Maddy back to see Dr. T. again because she was not doing well and essentially refusing to move at all. When I facedtimed from DLP, Maddy looked terrible. As in, my first thought was that we needed to get on a plane and got home because I was so worried. Of course, there's no one on earth who provides better care for her than my mom, and she repeatedly assured us to enjoy our trip, so we just checked in with her throughout each day we were away.
Since she was not improving, we asked my mom to make an appointment with a neurologist at the same practice where Ginny had her spinal surgery back in 2014. The first appointment they had was early on Tuesday morning, about 6 hours after we got home from our trip. I felt terrible about not going to the appointment, but I'd just taken my three personal days for the trip, and I had to go to work. Fortunately, my mom was able to go with C – it is always easier to manage appointments with two people!
At the appointment, the doctor examined Maddy and then decided to do an MRI to figure out what was going on. It was not good news. She has three ruptured disks in her neck that are "concussed" and causing compression on her spinal cord. The nerve for that front left paw is directly affected by this injury.
The result? Maddy needs spinal surgery. The doctor who met with C and my mom explained that it would be a very complicated surgery and that she would want to be the one to do the surgery because she has extensive training and experience, so Maddy's surgery is scheduled for this coming Friday, November 24.
Unlike Ginny, whose ruptured disks were the result of an acute injury, Maddy's appear to be the result of chronic wear-and-tear.
Also unlike Ginny, Maddy is not young. Ginny was five-and-a-half when she had spinal surgery; Maddy is almost twelve-and-a-half. I know she looks like such a happy, young dog, but she is a senior citizen now!
We are obviously worried about this upcoming surgery, given her age, that it's her back/neck, and that she just had surgery only three months ago. This little dog is a gleaming ray of sunshine in our life and we just want her to be well!
I'm not sure if I've ever written about her name, but her full name (i.e., on all official paperwork) is Madison. That's the name she came with from the rescue organization, and we liked it, so we kept it and decided that we would call her Maddy. We do still call her Maddy, but very early on, "Maddy" became "Maddy Magoo," which was shortened to "Magoo." Not sure how that nickname really came about, but I'm not really sure how any of our dogs' nicknames come about! Nonetheless, C and I pretty much only call her Magoo at home.
As I've been communicating with our family this past week about her, each of our parents has referred to her as "my Magoo." This not only is the sweetest thing ever, but it speaks to how special of a dog she is, that everyone thinks of her as "their" Magoo.
Fingers crossed that all goes well on Friday and that she has a smooth and speedy recovery!
Happy Tails to you!
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