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Madison Hildebrand from Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles is no stranger to dealing with adversity. The charismatic broker has had his share of challenges, from having to flee from the horrific fires in Malibu to sharing his life and career on television for 10 years. Hildebrand’s sunny disposition has certainly been tested.

And while he’s fielded a number of challenges with grace and optimism, he’s facing some new hurdles. Anyone who follows Hildebrand on social media knows he recently endured a painful surgery. Plus, during the process, Hildebrand suffered a tragic loss.

Madison Hildebrand |Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images

He sensed something was wrong

Hildebrand and his beloved Doberman rescues Maya and Prince have been through considerable stress. The fires in Malibu were so severe, Hildebrand and his dogs had to flee their home. Although Hildebrand says his home was not destroyed, it still needs significant repairs. Which means that months later he is still displaced.

He says the stress from the fires and being displaced weighed heavily on his constant companions. “I could tell something was off for a while [with his dog Maya],” Hildebrand tells The Cheat Sheet. She didn’t seem sick and instead, Hildebrand thought she was experiencing the same stress the rest of the family was enduring.

At the same time, Hildebrand was dealing with physical trauma

Hildebrand fractured his hand while cooking. Most dog owners know that injuries in the kitchen can be commonplace. Dogs love food and will often park as close to the stove or human cooking the food as possible. “I was cooking and chopping in the kitchen,” he recalls. “I went to turn, but didn’t see that my dog Prince was laying right under my feet.” The dog caught Hildebrand off balance so he fell, knife in hand. “Of course I didn’t want my dog to get cut with the knife so I fell down hard on my left hand.”

He had X-rays and visited doctors because his hand continued to hurt, despite being told he may have just torn some ligaments. “And I kept visiting doctors because I could tell something was wrong,” he says. “They kept taking X-rays but no one gave me a CT or MRI.”

Ultimately, after a significant amount of time passed, Hildebrand finally got a CT scan, which revealed the bone had actually died inside his hand. The only way to resolve the injury was a complex surgery performed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The surgery is designed for a scaphoid non-union fracture, which is a wrist fracture that fails to heal, according to American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

‘Complex’ is putting it simply

Hildebrand flew to Minnesota for hand surgery in March. He said he didn’t realize how intense the procedure would be until he got there. Because Hildebrand’s bone was no longer functioning in his hand, surgeons had to remove bone from his hip to replace the dead bone in his hand.

Although he came through the surgery with flying colors, he was still in significant pain. A friend traveled with him and even shot some funny post-op videos of Hildebrand being pretty hilarious while in the recovery room.

But as well as he did, he developed an infection and had to return to the Mayo Clinic where he was prescribed antibiotics.

Tragedy struck while he was away

While Hildebrand was at the Mayo Clinic, friends alerted him to some trouble happening with his sweet Maya. “They called and said she wouldn’t stop panting and didn’t seem like she could get comfortable,” he said. The friends who were staying with Maya rushed her to the ER vet where she was put on oxygen and evaluated.

The diagnosis was devastating. “She had a heart problem and the fluid from the heart was filling her lungs,” he says. Hildebrand scrambled to return home to be by her side. He says several friends, family, and loved ones remained with Maya while she was hospitalized too.

Thankfully, Hildebrand was able to get to the vet and spend some tender moments with his beloved girl. He rescued her when she was only two years old. “She was scared,” he recalls when he first met her. “She didn’t know what a dog bed was or toys.” But he worked diligently with her and she became a sweet dog.

Saying goodbye is never easy

Hildebrand says he knew Maya could not go on any longer. She was in pain and her heart issues were worsening. “I finally had to tell the vet to go ahead,” he says. Maya was eight years old when she passed away.

Anyone who knows Hildebrand understands that he is all about his pups. When his beloved Rex passed away, viewers could see the anguish and true loss in his eyes. “It took me a while before I could do this [adopt] again too,” he said. Thankfully he adopted both Maya and Prince, Hildebrand says. And now Prince is feeling the heartbreaking loss too.

Like any good dog daddy, Hildebrand says he’s giving Prince plenty of attention and snuggles. He’s still combating his painful recovery from hand surgery, which may take several months. He is also walking with a cane because his hip is still healing.

But through all of this Hildebrand is still staying sunny. “What other choice do you have?” he said. “Of course I get sad and I’m in pain, but you have to rise above it and you have to find laughter in your life.”

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