Achille’s Love Story

Mom 2

Without you kind and generous people, we would be looking at a much different situation that I can't bear to consider.  Achilles is getting stronger every day.  He’s starting to be himself again.  We’ve still got a long road ahead of us, but we can travel it thanks to you. Thank you for loving our boy.  Thank you for having our backs.  Thank you for keeping our family together!

~Achilles Mom and Dad

This has been the most stressful 3 weeks of my partner and my lives.

Where do I even begin?

Our 120-pound cane Corso, Achilles (and yes, he's a LAP dog), got into this mess because he was trying to protect us from the neighbor's dog charging into our fence.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you about our boy.

Achilles is our family's protector. We never have to worry about break-ins or safety when he is around. Even though he is a big, strong, naturally protective dog, he is also a big, goofy baby at home.

He is the happiest dog I have ever met. When we enter the room, we get 120 pounds of wiggles! He's also the most empathic. If I'm upset, he brings me a toy, drops it on my lap, and waits for me to smile. If his dad and I are arguing, he stands between us and gives us that look. How can you be upset when he is around?

achilles potrait, use
achilles elf outfit

Which has made Achille's health battles even more of a nightmare. Being apart has been gut-wrenching.

So, I'll try to keep this short, but it's been a long, harrowing journey. Here's what happened.

Three weeks ago, when the neighbor's dog was charging our fence, Achilles charged toward him to scare him away.  Tragically, there was a stick protruding up in his path, which punctured a spot below his eye and, we think, deep in his throat.  He seemed fine for the first few days but limped on his left side.  Our vet checked him out and thought maybe it was muscle pain. The vet didn't see anything in his mouth or throat.  They gave Achilles some meds to help him feel better.

Fast forward a few days:  He was in pain,  and the limping was worse. We returned to the vet for X-rays, another exam, and bloodwork. The vet said he had an infection and something might be embedded in his shoulder.  He needed a CT scan.  Something that was definitely not within our budget.

Were we going to have to put down our young—otherwise healthy—dog over a freak accident?

Santa’s Helper Achilles
achilles pack

That’s when the truly amazing donors of Ellie’s Rainy Day stepped in!  Ellie’s put out the emergency call on Facebook and 27 of you donated $1,847 toward his care.  Plus, 84 of you shared the fundraiser to make that happen.  For the first time, we felt hope!

But the nightmare continued:  before we could have the consult with the surgeon, Achilles' shoulder blew up to the size of a melon! He developed an abscess overnight.

We rushed back to the ER, where he was put on IV antibiotics and pain meds.  The next day, his excellent surgeon spent 3 hours cleaning the pus out of his shoulder but didn’t find the offending piece of stick.

There was another surgery the next day—again, no stick and no new pus (thank goodness).  So the process started to heal the 6-inch hole in our baby’s shoulder, eventually involving a special tissue pump to speed up healing.

After a week in the ICU, 2 trips to the ER, and two surgeries, our boy got to come home!  And it’s all because of you!  The surgeon told us that the reason most dogs don’t survive this kind of trauma is that their families can’t afford to continue the extended treatment.

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Without you kind and generous people, we would be looking at a much different situation that I can't even bear to think about.  Achilles is getting stronger every day.  He’s starting to be himself again.  We’ve still got a long road ahead of us, but we can travel it thanks to you.  Thank you for loving our boy.  Thank you for having our backs.  Thank you for keeping our family together!

--Achilles Mom and Dad