This is so hard.

With a heavy heart, we’re writing to you about our good boy Grady. As some of you may know, Grady tore his left ACL back in October while Sydney and I were on tour (what a stressful thing to deal with from the road!) Once we returned home, Grady saw a specialist, where they see this injury all the time. They confirmed it was a full CCL tear (CCL = dog ACL), as well as a broken meniscus. The treatment is a surgery called the TPLO. It restores the leg back to normal much quicker than the older alternatives. They also told us that usually when a dog tears one ACL, the second follows at some point. We got quotes for the procedure and came home. Our intention was to have the surgery by now, but truthfully we were on the fence about whether or not we should go through with it, as it is very expensive and he has been managing life on 3 legs.

Unfortunately, this past Saturday, I was home giving Grady a bathroom break in the backyard, and he suddenly yelped and fell over. After a few minutes with him, it seemed obvious it was the other ACL. He’s currently unable to stand up or walk without assistance. This makes using the bathroom a two human fully assisted maneuver.

Today we were able to take him for another pre-surgery evaluation. It’s confirmed both ACLs are torn now, and two TPLO surgeries are the only thing we can do to give Grady his quality of life back. The procedures will be spaced out by 4 weeks to give him time to give one leg a head start on recovery. We have to move forward quickly, and the specialist had a cancellation for next week, so Grady will have his first TPLO on Monday.

The reality is that we can’t afford this. Each surgery is estimated at 5k. Every penny we raise will go towards the bill, as well as caring for Grady in recovery, as he’ll need some special items at home over his 16 weeks (!!) of recovery.

We are both so thankful for the friends and community that we have surrounding us, but it is really hard to ask for help. Right now, we are overwhelmed and we've run out of options. Grady is our whole world, and if you’ve ever met him, you know how much love he has to give. He has so much more life to live, and he needs our help. Thank you in advance.

Damon & Syd