What Now?

Well..it’s been a few days (weeks, maybe?) since I posted an update on Bubba.  Thankfully, Bubba is doing wonderful and I couldn’t be happier with his recovery!  Of all 5 of us in the house,  Bubba is probably doing the best right now!

I am very fortunate to be healthy and have a healthy family. With Bubba being the only ill ‘family member’ I have been able  to tend his extra needs: medications, vet visits, wound cleaning, constant water bowl refilling, hand feeding food, etc, etc. I work close to home and have been able to check on him during my lunch hour.  I am feeling stressed and hoping that I can maintain the extra care he needs as we face some new health and schedule challenges in our family.

In the past 3 weeks, our family has been plagued with some health issues. One mends and another falls!  Cursed!  On Sunday, my oldest (and most responsible) son fell off a bucket in the yard and severely fractured his arm.  It was 8 hours in the ER from 7pm to 4am, a day off of work to recover and weekly follow-up visits to make sure the bones are healing correctly.  The very next morning, I wake up to my middle child screaming that he can’t open his eyes.  Pink eye. Tonight, Bubba is the only one that does not have pink eye!  With baseball games, doctor visits, vet visits, spur-of -the-moment child care arrangements and a pending vacation….did I mention that my youngest is celebrating her 4th birthday today as well and a party is planned for the weekend?  How am I going to keep up?

I know…what does this have to do with my Tripawd?  First, his recovery is a priority to this family.  Second, I need him!  When the schedule is so crazy that I can loose my sanity at any given moment, that crazy face of his brings me back to happy.  He knows it.  For the last 3 crazy days, he has been better than his old self.  He barked Matthew (aka, middle child) into a corner after he had enough of Matthew’s misbehavior!  This is a common exercise for Bubba (pre-amp) when he feels that we are not parenting effectively.  It is hysterical!  Tonight, he pushed aside the baby gate and helped himself upstairs to the second level (first time post-amp).  Joseph and I were struggling upstairs with his cast and feeling anxious about it…I honestly think Bubba sensed it and came to help.  Immediately, all 5 of us went running to catch him before he decided that things were ‘OK’ and he would head back downstairs, as he so often did in the past.  There we stood, jaws dropped, laughing as he stood there on 3 legs, smiling, wagging his stub as if he was saying “Look, idiots, it’s not a big deal. I can go up the stairs. You only have 2 legs and you do it.  You all need to get it together up here, OK?  Woof.”  (I did harness him immediately and assisted him back down the stairs! Overprotective, I know!)

Bubba is an amazing dog.  I will say, Tripawd parents, you are right.  I am learning an awful lot from this dog!  Also, he is helping my son cope with his ‘temporary’ one-arm life!  Bubba and Joseph have a unique bond and it is ironic that they are both going through some life adjustments together right now.  Thank God for my Bubba.

Author: bubbasmom14

Owner of a 9 year old boxer. Left front leg amputation on May 25, 2012 for recurrent soft tissue sarcoma. View all posts by bubbasmom14