dogs with three legs have affectionately become known as “tripawds”. there is a helpful website for people with tripawd dogs http://tripawds.com. the site is chock full of helpful information on adaptive equipment, videos, photo galleries, blogs and support to assist the owners of three-legged dogs.
sullivan has returned to life as usual at home. when he’s not camping in the car – he’s likely either chasing his brothers in the yard, napping, praying for some chicken for dinner instead of plain old kibble or sitting on his special bed with the family enjoying quiet nights at home. life is good.
sully heard, “let’s go for a ride” and that’s all it took for him to take off into the car!
on saturday, november 10th at 10:00 am, nearly 40 of sullivan’s closest friends (both two and four legged) will be coming together to participate in angell’s “run fur fun”. the run fur fun is a 5k (3.1 mile) race around artesani park in brighton, ma (along the charles river).
we have created “team sullivan” t-shirts with a more creative flair than a few months back at the walk for animals. should you like to participate, please follow the link above for race/volunteer information.
“team sullivan” wristbands have hit the market and are on the wrists of many!
an inscription of “our tripawd inspiration” is etched in the inside of the band.
inspired by sullivan’s courage, kelleymarie barrows has decided to train for the “run fur fun” 5k, something that has been on her bucket list for many years.
kelleymarie has been training for six weeks and will be running her first 5k in sullivan’s honor on november 10th. she says, “if sully can run 3 miles on three legs, i can certainly run 3 miles on my two fully-functioning legs.” see you on the course, kelleymarie!
spoiler alert: sully will be in attendance at the “run fur fun” and will be RUNNING the whole 3.1 mile course.
the weston reservoir, located on ash street is a 2.75 trail walk around a glorious body of water. “the boys” love walking the reservoir – it’s certainly their most favorite place on earth.
prior to sullivan’s terrible summer, we would go to the reservoir every weekend. sully would sprint three quarters of the trail, dart in and out from the natural woods, play with other dogs, drink from the natural streams and bask in the gloriousness that is the pasturale scape.
needless to say, we were unable to bring sully to the reservoir this summer as his front leg lameness was too debilitating.
on sunday, october 21, a gorgeous fall day in new england, we ventured to the reservoir to see if sullivan might have enough stamina to go just 1/10 of the way around.
he did amazingly well. not wanting to push him too far, we stopped 1/4 of the way in and walked back. sully walked .5 miles.
on tuesday, october 23rd i took sullivan to the reservoir again. he whimpered the second we turned onto ash street, and was so excited to get out of the car to run! we started walking, walked some more, and before i knew it we were nearly 2/3 of the way around. i panicked and thought – what if he can’t make it all the way around? he ran the whole 2.75 mile reservoir, played with dogs, romped in the streams, and explored off trail as he used to before going lame.
we returned to the reservoir twice more during the same week, only this time with young brown. the two played beautifully and had a great time!!! sullivan completed the 2.5 mile romp on back to back days (thursday and friday) which showed great stamina. sure, sullivan is tired after his long 2.5 mile jaunt rests a good portion of the day – his heart is full and he is so happy to be doing something he hasn’t been able to do in months!
sullivan has been a walking testimony of courage to the fellow reservoir walkers. some people stare and once you pass them you hear, “did you see – that dog had three legs”. some don’t even notice because of sully’s ability to keep up, run ahead and play with the other dogs. some pause and tenderly ask what happened and say “wow — this dog is such an inspiration. really makes you think about personal limits and what you can really accomplish.” and others shout “you’re amazing… what an inspiration…you’re an unbelievable dog…i never thought dogs could do that on three legs.” sullivan’s courage and bravery has touched the hearts of hundreds of reservoir walkers…
perhaps my favorite moment came during a rather unfortunate, annoying discourse. one passer by said: “oh my – how dare you bring him here with stitches?” i responded: his stitches have been out for a week and his incision is 100% healed. “ew – he is shaved and his hair hasn’t grown in.” i responded: he had surgery three weeks ago and his fur won’t totally grow back for many months. there was then a pregnant pause as she gave sully another once over. in that moment, he heard the chains of a dog coming up the hill and sully took off at top speed, darting over tree roots in a mad dash to see who was coming. the woman looked at me, paused and said, “i guess he showed me”. WAY TO GO SULLY!!!!
friends and family came out in droves to support sullivan on his return home. sullivan is blessed to be so loved.
scott spent a week at the house monitoring sully to ensure he stayed safe. he supervised bathroom jaunts and offered a watchful eye for incision licking so sullivan could live a “cone-free” life.
kraig, linda and lulah brought lunch and some treats. sue farrington owen brought coffeecake. sue scully-rose gave an amazing smelling candle. aunt susan sent halloween-inspired treats and her patented perfume-scented slippers. kelleymarie made special dinners, attended medical appointments and spent time caring for the other boys. faye, donna and my abundant table family sent emails of support and encouragement. sarah roazen sent a lamb stuffed animal. old classmates from rivers and boston college sent well wishes through cards, care packages and email check ins. students and faculty at the meadowbrook school made cards and sent care packages to sullivan. my facebook page was all abuzz with messages of well wishes for sullivan throughout his four-month journey. many opened their check books and gave donations to mspca/angell or sponsored us in the “run fur fun”. countless people prayed for healing, peace of mind and calm.
life started to get back to normal and the “brothers” settled into their regular routine. the outpouring of love, care and support – coupled with tlc from murphy and brown was the icing on the cake for sully’s speedy recovery.
many cards and texts were sent. biscuits and bones were “ghosted” and left for sully with sweet messages of healing and hope.
sullivan is loved.
trying to ensure a comfortable and speedy recovery, we purchased a few things to assist in sullivan’s return home.
like all other angell physicians, dr. casale gave sullivan a very thorough examination.
she spent a good amount of time feeling around his braccial plexus and tricep areas.
dr. casale asked whether sullivan had incurred any trauma to the body. believing trauma to be defined as something major and blunt (car accident, fall down the stairs, etc.) i quickly answered no; but dr. casale informed me that trauma can even be a slight tweak of the body perhaps manifested through a quick pivot turn while running, a leap over something that clipped the foot and other such more minor situations. given sullivan’s high activity level prior to july 31, any of these more minor “traumas” could have happened…we just don’t know.
dr. casale shared that even if sullivan’s malady was to be trauma-related in the tricep, the inevitable outcome, amputation, would still be necessary given the intense, irreversible nature of the muscle atrophy. this dialogue was one of great hope as it offered a counter to the cancerous nerve sheath tumor diagnosis.
we asked dr. casale to carefully examine sully’s three legs to make sure they appeared healthy, strong and able to bear additional weight.
while doing manipulations of his hips, sullivan showed discomfort. dr. casale ordered an x-ray of the hips to make sure there was nothing serious creating pain in that area. the x-ray showed mild hip dysplasia – but nothing all to debilitating or concerning given the impending procedure.
after the x-ray, dr. casale took us into the imaging review room and showed us sullivan’s hip x-ray and pointed out the deterioration and other such parts. she then said, have you seen sully’s mri? no, she took nearly 45 minutes to carefully show us the mri stating, “this is sully’s spinal cord, this is his skull, here is his heart…”. we were also able to see in the image the possible tricep issue.
she then took the time to field our questions and gave us the validation needed to confirm that amputation was in fact in sullivan’s best interest. sullivan’s surgery was scheduled for wednesday, october 3rd.
our appointment with dr. casale was at 6:30pm. we didn’t walk out of angell until 9:15. her care was unprecedented.
surgery day had arrived. wednesday, october 3. before putting sullivan in the car, we took a minute to take a few photos – remembering the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one.
i broke out my “feeling lucky” t-shirt for the occasion. my regular attire for medical appointments or anxiety provoking days! served us well today.
in my head i knew amputation was necessary to rid sullivan from his pain, offer him a great quality of life, and extend his life expectancy but i was having a very difficult time wrapping my head around the reality of it all.
in the days between our dr. casale appointment (september 27th) and sullivan’s survery (october 3) we did a lot of soul searching and yet again, sought the council and wisdom of doctors and friends. we took sully on his favorite activities, lots of car rides and spent a lot of time loving on him.
sully enjoyed a trip to castle island in south boston to visit his namesake, “sullivan’s”, and gobbled up a hot dog while watching the air planes land at logan.
he continued to keep a watchful eye on the neighborhood and spent hours on end sitting on the top step watching the leaves fall, kids bike around the subdivision and tried to catch the unassuming squirrel off guard with a growl and quick chase.
i struggled with the notion that despite having some of the top veterinary minds look at sullivan, a clear diagnosis was still not achieved. sure, it was thought to be trauma to the tricep or a nerve sheath tumor but we didn’t know for sure. amputating a dog’s leg when you “don’t know for sure” seems harsh and of questionable judgement. why couldn’t a color gradation have shown up on the mri? why were the x-rays of sully’s humerus normal when he is 95% lame? i knew in my head that amputation was the best decision, but i just couldn’t get my heart to support the conclusion.
my mom struggled with an ethical dilema wondering how it was okay to have this surgery performed “without sullivan’s permission”. what if he didn’t want to fight this? what if he didn’t want to live three-legged for the rest of his life? what if he didn’t want to endure an invasive surgery? who are we to force him into this changed state of life? conversations with dr. a, suzy starr and friends helped reify the reality that we are indeed the advocates and custodians of our furry friends and thus, need to make well-informed, compassionate, thoughtful decisions on their behalf.
many questioned the depths we went to to figure out the root of sully’s problem. many of those individuals are of the mindset that dogs are pets. we believe that dogs are family, and deserve respect, humanity, compassion and love. i love sullivan more than i love many of the people in my life. his unconditional love for me and unsurpassed enthusiasm for life is beyond inspirational. he’s given me his best each and every day, and in turn, i owe him the same. despite medical bills, trips back and forth to angell, rearranging work schedules – you find a way to do what you have to do to do right by your family.
others who found out about sullivan’s condition peripherally said, “you can’t have a three legged dog. he won’t be able to move around. he’ll be handicapped. that’s cruel.” i realized that this journey afforded a wonderful opportunity. from here on forward i would be able to educate people about the abilities of three-legged dogs, allow people to see how happy they are, and use sullivan as a witness for spirit, courage and bravery.
re-referencing the dialogue with dr. holmes: how can i send my dog to pain management when i don’t know what the problem is? how can we talk about gauging the quality of life signs when i don’t know what the problem is? though not sure of the exact diagnosis, we were given a treatment plan that would improve and enhance sully’s quality of life for one, two, five or ten years. is there any other option? no.
the night before surgery sullivan again indulged in his favorite delicacies, and spent hours gnawing on a himalayan dog chew. calm and happy, he had no idea what was to happen to him in the morning. he was living in the moment, loving life free of worry – a lesson we should all heed.
in the quiet, tender moments with sully leading up to the surgery, i believe sullivan “gave us his permission” and accepted what was to happen. his eyes told a story – and reflected an appreciation for the impending release of pain and discomfort.
despite the moments of incredible pain early on in this journey, sullivan displayed unsurpassed courage and fight. unable to move around with ease, he entertained his brothers in play, jumped in the car for rides, and tried to go on business as usual. despite his valiant efforts, i knew he wasn’t at peace or comfortable. perhaps this surgery would offer that relief and provide him a new lease on life unencumbered? in that moment my heart caught up to my head and despite continued emotional turbulence, knew that this was for the best.
encouraged to get a second neurological opinion before scheduling sullivan’s amputation, we booked an appointment with angell’s other board certified neurologist dr. allen sisson on tuesday, september 25.
