It was Oct. 2005 and our dog Chaco, a 9 lbs toy fox terrier was hit by a car. Chaco had serious trauma, collapsed lungs, internal bleeding and a fracture to his leg that looked like a million shattered pieces of glass on the X-ray. We immediately contacted FAH. Because it was after hours, the on call service referred us to a 24 hour ER Animal Hospital in Norwalk. Chaco spent the night in ICU and fortunately made it through that night. The next morning we transferred Chaco (after paying $1800 for a night in ICU) to FAH. Dr. Rocha was very honest as was the ICU in Norwalk and said the fractured leg may not be repairable. We asked for the alternative (surgery) accepting the risks fully explained by Dr. Rocha. Chaco had surgery to remove the pieces of shattered bone and insert a titanium replacement. We expected a 4-5 day inpatient recovery, but Dr. Rocha and his wife noticed Chaco was depressed after my visits and would not eat unless I would visit mid day during my lunch hour and hand feed him. Dr. Rochas wife even made Chaco home made chicken broth hoping to provide some nourishment. In the end, Dr. Rocha encouraged me to take him home after 3 days and provided specific directions on caring for him and a scheduled follow up visit a week after. Chaco is now 11 years old and runs and plays like the car accident never happened. His nickname is The Bionic Dog and we have Dr. Rocha to thank for that. I highly recommend Dr. Rocha, a skilled and professional veterinarian and surgeon
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