Ella update...

I haven't done much shopping lately. In fact, the last three purchases I made were for wee-wee pads, a high-tech doggie stroller, and a custom-made canine harness.

We were one week into giving a dog who has had a very hard life, a new home, when Jason and I got thrown for a loop. As a result, many people have been inquiring about her and sending their well wishes... so this post is an attempt to tell her story, and bring everyone up-to-date.

We learned about the injured dog in late March immediately following her rescue by Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals. She was left on the steps of the Brooklyn ACC with two fractured elbows and a broken tail. Had it not been for the remarkable Siobhan Healy with Mayor's Alliance, she wouldn't even be here right now because she would have been put down that day.

We met her for the first time in early April as she was recovering post-op at a vet's office in Murray Hill. We prepared all month for her arrival home and decided to name her Ella, after her broken elbows, and after Eleanor, the woman J and I know one another because of. But we knew when she came home that Ella was only halfway there. She would need aggressive physical therapy, and because Ella was born with a severe heart murmur, she would need more surgery for that, too.

Ella came home the first weekend in May. We learned right away that she wasn't all that house broken. After all, she had spent the majority of her life in a cage at vet's offices around NYC. But she hobbled around some and delighted J and I with her voracious appetite and snorts and grunts and groans. Despite her injuries she was a happy dog, and an instant celebrity in the big, dog-friendly building that we live in.

We noticed that one of Ella's elbows looked funny - she had excess skin and tissue that extended beyond the point of an elbow - but we assumed it was just how she healed from the surgery. Feeling good and feeling proud to have such a determined and beautiful dog, we took El to her first hydro therapy and acupuncture appointment in the neighborhood. X-rays were taken, the first set since the surgery, and they showed that the pin holding the plate to her bone had come loose and could protrude through the skin at any moment. That was last Sunday.

The following morning on the way to 5th Avenue Vet Hospital, while J was driving alone with Ella in the backseat, the pin came through. They whisked her away from J, and what ensued were back-to-back, three hour surgeries on her elbows. The left elbow on Monday, which went well, and the right elbow on Tuesday, which didn't go as well.

We weren't allowed to visit with Ella until Wednesday night. They needed to monitor her coming off the anesthesia and IV meds without her getting excited or stressed from seeing her people. But the following night, we walked hand-in-hand and got into our car to pick her up. The excitement we felt then was mixed with uncertainty, sort of like the night before Christmas meets a box of chocolates.

So Ella's home now and we're back at square one. This time, she's not recovering at a vets office, but in our small apartment, which is actually ideal since she's not supposed to walk around. And unfortunately, we're also back at square one with the house training, too! On top of all that she's been through, Ella is also in heat! Not fun, I know. She hasn't been spayed up until this point because every time she's been at the hospital, the anesthesia's Ella got were for more important operations.

In order for Ella to get her heart surgery done, and to be spayed, the take-two on the elbow surgery HAS to work. So what this means for J and I is pretty much no life, and to be extra good care-givers, which we are willing to do, because we know this dog wants to be alive.

So many people say Ella is lucky to have us. And she is, we know that. But we also feel we are lucky to have her. Ella is an unfortunate example of animal abuse and a symbol of something for which we are both passionate about, animal rights. She has taught us so much in such a short period of time, and has also brought us closer together in a whole new way.

In the interim, as we plan our lives around a handicapped dog, I find myself saying tiny prayers, something I have not done a lot of in my life. 'I hope she heals. I hope she is at our wedding. I hope she learns to tell us when she has to poop. I hope the stroller arrives in the mail today,' and the list goes on...

Ah, the stroller... how much easier life will be when we don't have to carry around a 45 pound dog. Sure, people will point, and they will snicker, but what matters most is that some people will learn something, too. And for that reason alone, Ella is a gift.