It was a Saturday morning in September of 2020 and "Bodie," a Frenchton, had just been posted on Rescue Me when I saw him and fell in love. I showed Jeff, and he also fell in love. We called the number for the private adoption and told Bodie's owner we were very interested. She gave us the reason he was being rehomed - he had severe seizures and, as their family was growing, they wanted to find someone who could give him the attention he needed. After a couple agonizing weeks while the owners made a decision on who they wanted Bodie to go to, we were chosen! A few days later, Bodie was brought to us in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, from Madison. All four dogs got along well, so his family left him with us. We promptly changed his name to Bucky, which he learned right away.

Oh, Bucky was so wonderful, so sweet, and so cute! He was 4-years-old when we became his family, and he seemed healthy for awhile until he had his first "cluster seizures" with us and we rushed him to the emergency vet in Green Bay. We got through that until the next ones about a month later. Our local vet worked with us to figure out how to control the seizures without constant trips to the ER. For example, I was given a rescue medicine to inject in Bucky's nose when he began having more than one or two seizures.

So, we were making everything work - until January 2021 when Bucky woke up with his back legs paralyzed one morning. Back we went to the ER, and the vets there sent him home on crate rest, saying he had a spinal disc problem, the first we had heard of it. A few nights later, he woke up in such distress he could hardly breathe. We rushed him back to the Green Bay clinic, where we left him overnight so we could get back to our other dogs. The emergency vet called the next morning and told us we had to get Bucky and take him to their partner clinic in Appleton, which had the necessary testing equipment. We did so and went home again.

A few hours later, Appleton called and said Bucky's only chance was to see a neurologist in Madison. Jeff took off again to pick him up in Appleton and deliver him to Madison Veterinary Services, where the neuro-surgeon would be waiting for Bucky. Although he came through the surgery fine, he had to stay in intensive care for six days because he kept having seizures. We picked him up, brought him home, and for six weeks he stayed in a playpen except to go outside for potty breaks. This was our introduction to intervertebral disc disease, a degenerative spinal disease common in French Bulldogs.

After surgery Bucky was better for awhile, but because of his IVDD and his seizures, we had to be extra careful. We had a ramp built for him to get down our seven steps into the yard for walks, and we added carpet runners all over the house so he wouldn't slip. We always used a harness and lifted him on and off the bed and the couches so he wouldn't put stress on his spine. We also became more vigilant about his seizures; I always had my phone with me with the six alarms each day that alerted me of his medication times, as did my smart watch always on my arm. We set up an online monitoring system so we could watch Bucky when we were gone, which was only between the hours of 10 and 3 when he got his last medicines of the morning and the first of the afternoon. If we had to go somewhere between those hours, we would take him with us in his stroller so he wouldn't miss his life-saving treatment.

Bucky loved being in his stroller, going places, riding in the car, going to the farmers market, Tractor Supply, the library, and visiting family. Everywhere we went, everyone loved Bucky. He wasn't just so adorable, he was sweet, friendly, and excited to see people. His personality exuded happiness, even though he was very ill.

He still had cluster seizures, which we could sometimes get through at home; but we often had to take him to either the Green Bay or Appleton emergency clinics to "bust" the clusters with strong intravenous drugs.

In the summer of 2022, we moved from our big house in Egg Harbor to our new small house in Sturgeon Bay. It's one level, which we did for Jeff and myself, but it was also good for Bucky. Only two steps down made it easy for him to go outside. All the dogs love the cozy new home, but Bucky didn't get to enjoy it for very long. In August, his IVDD flared up again and we tried crate rest at home. He got worse rapidly, and we rushed him to the emergency vet in Appleton, with Jeff driving like Mario Andretti all the way.

When we got there, they gave him immediate CPR. We waited and waited, both of us in tears afraid of the diagnosis. The vet came in to tell us Bucky now had a cervical problem and was completely paralyzed. She recommended euthanasia. We weren't ready to give up yet, so we asked for options. She talked to their surgeon on call, who said he would not do surgery because Bucky's condition was so bad.

We had one more option, which was to reach the neuro-surgeon in Madison, who had kept in contact with us via phone and email and, for a year and a half, had helped us and our local vet care for Bucky. Fortunately, she was on call that day and spoke to the Appleton emergency doctor. Unfortunately, the neuro-surgeon recommended euthanasia because, with the cervical issue combined with the spinal problem and the severe seizures, she said Bucky's chances of surviving another surgery were very low. She said we had done everything we could for him and to let him go.