It’s been 4 days since I got out of the hospital feeling drugged up and uncomfortable in my back. At first, I couldn’t help but wonder, what the heck happened to me?! How could Mum and Dad do such a thing to me?
But as Dad explained, my back needed fixing. I found that a little hard to believe, but once they showed me the MRI pictures, I got the picture… So to speak.
It was a scary experience. I still remember going to the hospital, Mum and Dad looking somber and sad as we waited in the consultation room. My lifelong friend and mother-figure, Laffie, even came to see me off. I was then taken into the hands of some stranger in a white lab coat as I disappeared around a corner, throwing one last desperate glimpse at Mum and Dad beckoning them to come save me…
But they didn’t.
I then woke up in a tiny cage feeling totally out of it, stiff and a bit painful in my back. Something in me had changed, I could tell. I burrowed under my blanket, hiding from the lights and doctors busying about outside my cage. Once in a while they would come check on me, peeking under my blanket to my wide eyes staring back.
Luckily, it was only 24 hours before Mum and Dad finally came to pick me up, and they brought me a new little froggy to help cheer me up.
As much as surgery isn’t a pleasant experience, I would like to thank Dr. Jull and the whole team at The V-Scan in Ottawa who performed the surgery and have been with me and my parents every step of the way in guiding me through my recovery thus far.
But in the car ride home, I just had to ask, “I hope they at least gave me metal bones like Wolverine?”
Dad chuckled for the first time. “Sorry Cru, you’re a celebrity – not a member of the X-Men.”
Normally I’d beg to differ, but I didn’t have the energy to argue.
When I arrived home, I was so happy to see my two best canine friends in the world waiting for me to wish me a good recovery. My brother Oakley, and Laffie, who, now fifteen year’s old, has been there by my side since the day I came home as a puppy.
Oakley had to leave later that day, but the gesture was incredibly sweet. Laffie, who is my Mum’s parent’s dog, is staying with us for a little while right now.
However, the reality of my situation seemed to kick in the next day when the stronger medications wore off and I came to understand that I couldn’t yet walk; that I could barely turn around in my bed; and the embarrassment of wetting my bed. It hit me that this was going to be a long, hard road to recovery.
Normally squeaking cheers me right up, but even here I still felt a little sad…
Now I finally know how my Mum felt, and I guess we have one more thing in common now. You see, my Mum was in a terrible car accident about twelve year’s ago. She broke shattered two vertebrate in her back, and now has metal plates supporting her spine. She spent an entire summer in the hospital, two months of which were in intensive care. She’s gone through everything I’ve gone through so far and worse, including learning how to walk again. And if you think my scar is gnarly, you haven’t seen nothing.
“I hope I can be as strong as you were, Mum…” I said.
“I know you will be”, she reassured. “You’re my baby after all.”
I feel like I’ve been following in her footsteps the past few days though, for everyday I’m feeling a bit stronger and doing a bit better. Here’s a day-by-day video since I came out of surgery.
Mum and Dad were so proud of me when I picked up that stick, they just about cried. They didn’t think it would be this short of a time before I’d start picking up sticks again 🙂
But I had to condemn Dad for his design of my sling. “Dad, what the heck?! I look like I’m wearing a neon-green swimsuit wedgied up a mile high!”
As one fan put it, I looked like Borat in a bathing suit!
Wow, thanks Dad. My fans will likely never be able to wash that image from their minds! (This whole learning to walk thing is really putting my ego in check, I can tell you that…)
Progress is good so far, but there’s still a lot to do. I’ll be getting into more rehabilitation therapies now, like laser, electro-acupuncture, swimming eventually, and some other little at-home stretches and activities that I’ll show you.
Between that though, it’s admittedly pretty boring. I spend me time squeaking and resting.
Sometimes Dad takes me out on the balcony so we enjoy a bit of sunshine together.
It’s not as fun as going on a walk myself, but at least from here I can watch Laffie go on a walk and direct her to the likely squirrel hideouts from my balcony vantage point…
So that’s really about all I have to update at this point. I hope everything continues smoothly from here. Especially because Dad’s back is starting to ache from all the bending over! I know if I ever fall short of inspiration, I can always look to my very own Mum as well as the thousands of my devoted fans who have been so amazing in this time…
Truly, I can’t even express the gratitude I feel towards all my fans who’ve been sending me thoughts, prayers, and more. It’s so touching to see just how many people all across the world are rooting for me.
I won’t let you down.
Thanks for “having my back”, and I’ll keep you updated.
Keep ballin’,
~ Crusoe
P.S. I want to celebrate my fans for being so awesome lately, so I’ll be launching a special t-shirt campaign in the next few days. And a huge thank you to everyone recently who bought me book.
Check out these featured items from my store!
