Hi all, new here as this Saturday my 2.5 year old German Shepherd Ginger and I were planning a hike and later the same day had an amputation surgery scheduled for tomorrow thanks to an accident, what kind I don't know for sure, I'm guessing hit by a car.  I was on a 5k run, left with her in the house, got a call from a neighbor while I was on my way back to find her on side of our little dirt road, and life changed shortly after as I sat in bathroom in vets office sniffling and imagining my dog without her leg.  Already know I am struggling harder with it than she is. Alternating between those positive coping thoughts like "it could have been worse, death, spine, etc - she's young, strong, will live a fairly normal life", to "forget that I want to be anxious, sad, cling to my dog, find that miracle cure for a shattered front leg, shell out the thousands of dollars for plates, screws, etc that will still ultimately probably not work", I imagine this is a typical reaction.

I am generally confident in my vet, who has also identified herself as a tripawd owner.  We live in a small town so second opinions not that easy to come by and they make it sound pretty cut and dried (no pun intended).  Looking at the xrays, though not a veterinarian I can see why it probably needs to be done.  Vet did the orthopedic surgeon consult which resulted in "5,000 to start and no guarantees", nasty words like splintering, crushed, etc. Part of me wonders if I should call the surgeon myself, the other says "trust your vet it's not like they're out to take a leg just for the heck of it".

Anyway a brief intro as I know I will be spending lots of time here as I try to get my head wrapped around the path ahead.  So much confusion and anxiety still, I stumbled across the post of keeping partial leg vs the full removal, I want weeks to research this not less than 24 hours with a work day sandwiched in, but my quick read was that this is more geared towards if you might want to consider a prosthesis.  Just hard to combat that thought of why do they have to take the whole leg when it's just the lower part?  Obviously I will know more about what a vet should do than the entire profession.  But the little voice in my head that keeps pushing me to try other things I suspect is just desperate.  First order of business I suppose is getting that bed ordered today so it can be here when she returns home Friday.

So anyway hello all from Ginger and I, that's her in my profile pic.