Reign's Story

How it Began: Reign was staying in a temporary home when she suffered a broken leg. The break appeared minor in x-rays, a crack on her front leg near her wrist. The leg was splinted, then later put in a cast. A month later, I found out Reign's recovery was not going well. When she was returned to me her leg looked like this:

What Happened? Reign's condition is called premature closure of the distal ulnar physis. In plain language, one bone in her leg stopped growing due to the trauma of the break. However, there are two bones in the front leg. One leg bone kept growing and the damaged one didn't, so it caused her foot to turn out and unaffected leg bone to grow curved.

Delicate Surgery. Reign was immediately scheduled for surgery to straighten her leg with a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Mark Engen is the most experienced board certified surgeon in the Seattle area. The operation was tricky and lengthy because Dr. Engen had to put three metal plates on the bowed bone to straighten it.

Success but Complications. Reign's surgery to correct her leg went very well. However, Reign was only 5 months old and was under anesthesia for over two hours. Just as she started to come out of the anesthesia, she went into complete cardiac and respiratory arrest.

A Close Call. Working frantically, the surgical team were able to revive Reign and get her heart and breathing stabilized. However, they soon realized she had lapsed into a coma. We began waiting for the swelling in her brain to go down to see if she would come out of her coma. Amazingly after 24 hours in a coma, and with the help of food being waved under her nose, Reign woke up!

Good News, Bad News. Everyone was delighted Reign was out of her coma. But she was not out of the woods yet. Due to the swelling in her brain, she was now blind. Again, we began waiting, hoping that she would regain her eyesight.

Miracles Do Happen. After another 24 hours in the hospital, Reign could see again. Everyone was overjoyed and relieved. She was ready to go home and begin her recovery from surgery in earnest. What a joyous homecoming, welcomed by her mother and sister and Mr. B who appointed himself her male nurse during her first days of recovery.

Happy Ending. Reign has made a full recovery. The only lasting effect is the injured leg is about 2 inches shorter than the other. However, this doesn't slow Miss Reign down one bit. She runs and plays and has a wonderful life with her owners, and insists on being completely spoiled.