The Long Road Back to the Beach; Together we WILL make it

This blog is a diarised account of the 72 days of spinal surgery rehabilitation of one very special French Bulldog who has been left paralysed in his back legs following a diagnosis of IVDD (Intervertebral Disc Disease) Grade 5.  

Will he walk again?

Following his journey you could say 3yr old Lloris the French Bulldog has been the unluckiest puppy dog to grace the earth but I’m sure there are a million more tear jerking stories to challenge this one.  All I will say, is life has not come easy to this pooch and I can only believe it to be the shear volume of love and positivity around him that keeps his journey going when at times it really has seemed as if it is the end. 

When Lloris first came home from the regions ‘super vet’ hospital on 9th February 2022,  I searched the internet for stories of success and tips and advice on what to expect and how to handle the slow road of recovery but I found very little out there other than the stark facts that a grade 5 IVDD (spinal injury) patient had a mere 50/60 % chance of being able to walk again and could take 9months… and that has given me nothing to gauge any kind of level of hope. I am just heart broken and numb with disbelief. 

Friends and family ask me daily how it’s all going.  Some really wanting to know the answer and others playing lip service to a situation they believe I could decide to ‘resolve’ myself if only I would see some sense.  But I’m in too deep with this little boy.  I made a commitment to him so here we go, I’m all in, we’re both all in …. 

It’s just the two of us and together we are embarking on the long and very slow Road to Recovery or what I prefer to tell Lloris… “We’re on our journey back to those woods and bouncing on those beaches. You will see those days again and this is day 1 of getting there- chin up”. 

I hope for anyone else facing this journey with their furry friend who they cannot even give thought to life without them … that our story brings some reality to the hardest of stages, but offers at least some tips in getting through the darkest of nights, some amusement in the daily frustrations, shares the guilt and the contemplation of decisions we can’t bear to say we thought of.  You are not alone, take what you can from our story and I have everything crossed this journey will end as a story of hope to others - I really do! But this is early days and I would certainly not wish to temp fate! There really is nothing more scary than the unknown.

All I can promise is that I will keep going unless he tells me otherwise.