We have some exciting news! Sydney has been selected by the wonderful staff at Theravet to receive a treatment of a new and amazing treatment called i-Therm. Essentially, it is hyperthermia - treating issues and injuries with heat - not just like hot water bottle heat or hot tub heat - I don't fully understand it of course, but here is the general idea: In short, medical professionals have long favored the idea of using heat to treat various issues and injuries, including cancer, but until now, there has not been a safe, effective way of delivering the heat to patients - it would get too hot on the skin, etc. A physicist in Europe (France, I think?) developed a new pad through which the heat can now be delivered safely. The pad is engineered (crazy stuff, I can't even remember the words the rep used in this part of the explanation) to create an electromagnetic field which apparently allows the heat to be transferred deep into the tissue without being too hot on the skin, etc. There are a couple different kinds of waves that the pad produces - if I understood correctly, one has to do with delivering the heat, and another has to do with repolarizing cells, which get the nerves "talking," etc. A link to the medical distributor's website is included on this post for those of you who want to check it out.
Apparently i-Therm has made a huge difference in dogs with injuries like Sydney's. There are videos on the website that show dogs with spinal/nerve injuries before and after iTherm treatment. It's amazing! If I can remember how to post videos on here, I will. They have also had amazing success with i-Therm treating chronic pain, arthritis, and cancerous tumors, just to name a few. Healthy cells can live in higher temperatures than cancerous cells, only by a few degrees, I think, and i-Therm allows this kind of heat to be delivered safely to the affected area, which kills the cancer cells without killing healthy cells. Amazing stuff! I-Therm has not yet been approved by the FDA, but apparently it is in the process of it and they hope to have it approved in the next 2 to 3 months for use on humans. It has been used on humans in Europe with great success, and on people here in the States who chose to get the treatment before it is officially improved. There are some testimonials on their website about the success doctors have had with I-Therm on human patients too, and comments by organizations that have tested I-Therm, like Duke University, etc.
I will keep the blog updated if I see changes in Syd. She had her first treatment today, gets another one on Wednesday, and then 2 more the week after. If she starts really walking, I'm going to cry!!!!
Here is the medical distributor's website about I-therm.
http://kldmedical.net/
And here is one of the videos! If you want to see more, go to "Testimonials" on their website.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Doing Well
It has been over two months since my last post. As I expected, I have been very busy with classes, and frankly, blogging has simply taken a back seat to everything else. I really should be doing work right now, but I am procrastinating, and what better way to use my procrastination time than to give everyone an update on Sydney?
Things have been going well. The recovery/learning curve is slower now than it was during the summer, but Sydney has had some impressive improvements. Last month she stood up outside and took four or five steps completely on her own. It was so exciting! What I have been learning, however, is that one of the battles is getting her to WANT to walk. Sometimes she doesn't want to put in the effort, it seems. But when she wants to, she does so much! The day she stood up and walked a few steps on her own last month, she had incentive - I had put her rear end down so I could pick up her poop, but apparently she was not done. This is what made her stand up and walk - finishing her bowel movement. She even was squatting while she took those steps, which as I am sure you can imagine, is harder than just walking upright. Since then, we have had a number of episodes where Sydney essentially walks down the street without much help at all. It has been amazing! It started one day when I came home from school - I took her outside to go to the bathroom and all of a sudden, it was like she was just "on." She was taking steps and not getting her back legs tangled, and she was supporting herself completely. This has been the general norm since then, which is amazing! The only thing is, we had a small setback recently because she scraped her toes on the pavement. In order to let them heal, I have to give her more support in the back and not let her do too much walking on her own. Otherwise she just opens up the scabs everytime we go outside. But her toes are healed now and we are back to making her work again.
Now the walking routine is less of me holding her up and much more of her doing the work. I usually help get her started - she sometimes needs to warm up a bit - and then I pinch her tail periodically to stimulate the nerves in her back end, while she walks. She falls over regularly, but another really important development is that she can get herself back up now! This is huge! So if you can imagine it, we walk along, sometimes with me hunched over behind her squeezing her tail and looking really ridiculous, I'm sure, and sometimes with me just walking beside her, and she'll take 5 steps or so, sometimes fall over, but then STAND BACK UP and start walking again. It's amazing! People in our neighborhood have stopped and exclaimed over the progress she is making. I imagine it's nice to see her walking like that - most of these people have been sort of watching her progress since July when she was in the wheelchair. Such a difference!
Sydney's bladder and bowel control have gotten so much better too. When I first started classes in early September, I generally tried to be gone for only 4 or 5 hours at a time. But now I can be gone for just about the entire day and she can hold it! This is also a huge improvement. It also will make a big difference for anyone who might adopt her.
Sometimes people ask me how we take care of Sydney and work/go to school at the same time. In the beginning, in July, taking care of Sydney was a lot harder. Her bladder and bowel control were not good, and she had absolutely no muscle in her back legs and hips, which meant I provided 100% of the support for her rear end. But now, Sydney really doesn't require much more than a normal dog. It's so wonderful to be able to say that! She doesn't have accidents during the night anymore and hasn't worn a diaper at night in quite a while. We just take her out in the morning - she pees and poops, sometimes we walk around for a bit if we have time - we come back in, she has breakfast, and then she is set for the day until we get home. I usually come home around 4 or so, at which point I take her out to go to the bathroom again - she usually both pees and poops in the late afternoon/early evening, we work on her walking for 15 to 20 minutes, then we go back in. She eats dinner at 5, and then is happy to hang out for the evening. In the evening she might go out one or two more times, depending on what time we go to bed. I also do some indoor exercises with her for about 15 minutes or so. If I don't get to work on her walking in the morning, I take her out again in the evening and work on her walking again, but really, every time she goes out to go to the bathroom we work on her walking - it just makes sense. She wants to walk around before going to the bathroom, like most dogs, and she wants to smell things, so it's a perfect time to get that work in. So, to give you an idea of the time it takes - let's say we are able to work on walking each time we go out to go to the bathroom (rarely do we not have time to work on walking when out for potty) - that's 15 minutes in the morning, 15 to 20 minutes in the late afternoon, and 15 minutes in the evening, and maybe 10 or 15 minutes before bed. And then another 15 minutes for indoor exercises every day or every other day. See? It's really not much. She has come such a long way.
Our biggest obstacle, frankly, is her motivation. She doesn't really lack motivation in general, but sometimes she seems to just not feel like putting in the effort to walk. But that has been happening less and less. Now she is used to the routine, and she knows that going outside to go to the bathroom means she is going to walk. Sometimes I feel discouraged that she isn't walking completely on her own yet. But then I put everything in perspective and think about how far she has come since July, and about the fact that she keeps improving, slowly but surely, and I feel more positive. Walking inside seems to be harder for her - wood and tile floors are slippery. But that also might be out of habit that she does less walking inside than outside. She does stand up periodically on her own while inside, and sometimes takes a few steps if I'm bribing her with a treat.
When I think about her prospects for adoption, I worry that people are more intimidated by her disability than they need to or should be. I hope that my descriptions of our routine in today's blog post help get the idea out there that it really isn't hard to care for her. I have considered all kinds of possibilities re: her recovery - if she never gets any better than she is now (and I really believe she is going to keep improving as she gets stronger), the wheelchair will be a great "fall-back" for her. Let's say her adopters don't want to have to go outside with her at night in the winter. All you have to do is put her in her wheelchair and let her out (as long as there aren't steps she has to go down- she can handle one step down in the chair on her own, but needs help with more than that). She gets around well in the chair and can go to the bathroom in it just fine. If she is never able to go for long walks without any help, you can put her in the wheelchair for those longer walks. She loves it. But again, I think she is going to keep improving. She is able to support herself on longer and longer walks every week. She doesn't need much. Just a loving home and the chance to enjoy her life. She's a happy girl and she is definitely enjoying her life right now, I can tell you that much. :)
In all honestly, my fiance and I would love to adopt her. She is the first foster dog we have had that my fiance has seriously considered adopting. She is such a happy, mellow, loving dog. But there are two big reasons why we have not: 1) we may be living in Italy next year. My fiance is applying for a fellowship which would have us living there from September through June. And 2) we hope to have kids within the next 3 to 5 years, and we think it might be a bit too much to take care of a baby and then a baby and young children, as well as a disabled dog, even though she doesn't require that much. For that reason, I think Sydney's best fit would be a family with teenage (or older) children, or a couple whose children are out of the house or who don't have children, or a single adult looking for a companion. Sydney makes a WONDERFUL companion. The bond you develop with an animal that needs extra help is something truly special. It is difficult to articulate the nature of my relationship with Sydney, as her main "caretaker." Working with Sydney on her rehabilitation is a very special experience. I took her to the vet not too long ago for a check up on a bladder infection, and the vet asked whether anyone was interested in adopting her yet. I told her there had been interest but that people seem to be intimidated by her disability and would rather wait until she is fully rehabbed. The vet looked at me and said something like, "That's really too bad, because her rehab is such a bonding experience." Frankly, I was a bit taken aback by her intuitiveness. Perhaps she has experienced something like this with an animal as well? But she got it, she understood how special my relationship with this dog is, and how special the relationship would be between Sydney and anyone who adopted her. And that is something that I can't seem to explain to anyone. I guess I don't know where to begin. Recently someone asked me how I could handle all the work it took to take care of her (even though like I said, it's really not much work now at all) and work on my PhD at the same time. I tried to explain to them that aside from the fact that she doesn't take much work now at all since she has gotten so much stronger and her bladder and bowel control have gotten so much better, it just doesn't feel like work. Taking her out, helping her learn to walk....these things don't feel like work, and I guess the best way to explain WHY they don't feel like work is because of that bond I have with her. The feeling you get from working with this dog, being there every step of the way as she heals, giving her the love and the life she deserves, is really just indescribable. Some people might think I'm strange - some people think something like, an animal is an animal and should be put down if they need extra care. But I couldn't disagree more. Why shouldn't Sydney be able to live out her natural life? She's not suffering. In fact, she's much happier than you might expect. She does not appear to be phased by her disability at all. Animals can adapt to their circumstances in amazing ways, and she has done that. And there is honestly nothing more fulfilling, and gratifying, really, than being the one to help her heal and learn to walk again, and to give her the chance to live a happy life. And I really believe Sydney is grateful for it. She is so sweet and loving, and even lifts up her nose to me when I put food in her bowl, as if to say "thank you." She is happy to just be part of the family. It's all she wants and needs.
Things have been going well. The recovery/learning curve is slower now than it was during the summer, but Sydney has had some impressive improvements. Last month she stood up outside and took four or five steps completely on her own. It was so exciting! What I have been learning, however, is that one of the battles is getting her to WANT to walk. Sometimes she doesn't want to put in the effort, it seems. But when she wants to, she does so much! The day she stood up and walked a few steps on her own last month, she had incentive - I had put her rear end down so I could pick up her poop, but apparently she was not done. This is what made her stand up and walk - finishing her bowel movement. She even was squatting while she took those steps, which as I am sure you can imagine, is harder than just walking upright. Since then, we have had a number of episodes where Sydney essentially walks down the street without much help at all. It has been amazing! It started one day when I came home from school - I took her outside to go to the bathroom and all of a sudden, it was like she was just "on." She was taking steps and not getting her back legs tangled, and she was supporting herself completely. This has been the general norm since then, which is amazing! The only thing is, we had a small setback recently because she scraped her toes on the pavement. In order to let them heal, I have to give her more support in the back and not let her do too much walking on her own. Otherwise she just opens up the scabs everytime we go outside. But her toes are healed now and we are back to making her work again.
Now the walking routine is less of me holding her up and much more of her doing the work. I usually help get her started - she sometimes needs to warm up a bit - and then I pinch her tail periodically to stimulate the nerves in her back end, while she walks. She falls over regularly, but another really important development is that she can get herself back up now! This is huge! So if you can imagine it, we walk along, sometimes with me hunched over behind her squeezing her tail and looking really ridiculous, I'm sure, and sometimes with me just walking beside her, and she'll take 5 steps or so, sometimes fall over, but then STAND BACK UP and start walking again. It's amazing! People in our neighborhood have stopped and exclaimed over the progress she is making. I imagine it's nice to see her walking like that - most of these people have been sort of watching her progress since July when she was in the wheelchair. Such a difference!
Sydney's bladder and bowel control have gotten so much better too. When I first started classes in early September, I generally tried to be gone for only 4 or 5 hours at a time. But now I can be gone for just about the entire day and she can hold it! This is also a huge improvement. It also will make a big difference for anyone who might adopt her.
Sometimes people ask me how we take care of Sydney and work/go to school at the same time. In the beginning, in July, taking care of Sydney was a lot harder. Her bladder and bowel control were not good, and she had absolutely no muscle in her back legs and hips, which meant I provided 100% of the support for her rear end. But now, Sydney really doesn't require much more than a normal dog. It's so wonderful to be able to say that! She doesn't have accidents during the night anymore and hasn't worn a diaper at night in quite a while. We just take her out in the morning - she pees and poops, sometimes we walk around for a bit if we have time - we come back in, she has breakfast, and then she is set for the day until we get home. I usually come home around 4 or so, at which point I take her out to go to the bathroom again - she usually both pees and poops in the late afternoon/early evening, we work on her walking for 15 to 20 minutes, then we go back in. She eats dinner at 5, and then is happy to hang out for the evening. In the evening she might go out one or two more times, depending on what time we go to bed. I also do some indoor exercises with her for about 15 minutes or so. If I don't get to work on her walking in the morning, I take her out again in the evening and work on her walking again, but really, every time she goes out to go to the bathroom we work on her walking - it just makes sense. She wants to walk around before going to the bathroom, like most dogs, and she wants to smell things, so it's a perfect time to get that work in. So, to give you an idea of the time it takes - let's say we are able to work on walking each time we go out to go to the bathroom (rarely do we not have time to work on walking when out for potty) - that's 15 minutes in the morning, 15 to 20 minutes in the late afternoon, and 15 minutes in the evening, and maybe 10 or 15 minutes before bed. And then another 15 minutes for indoor exercises every day or every other day. See? It's really not much. She has come such a long way.
Our biggest obstacle, frankly, is her motivation. She doesn't really lack motivation in general, but sometimes she seems to just not feel like putting in the effort to walk. But that has been happening less and less. Now she is used to the routine, and she knows that going outside to go to the bathroom means she is going to walk. Sometimes I feel discouraged that she isn't walking completely on her own yet. But then I put everything in perspective and think about how far she has come since July, and about the fact that she keeps improving, slowly but surely, and I feel more positive. Walking inside seems to be harder for her - wood and tile floors are slippery. But that also might be out of habit that she does less walking inside than outside. She does stand up periodically on her own while inside, and sometimes takes a few steps if I'm bribing her with a treat.
When I think about her prospects for adoption, I worry that people are more intimidated by her disability than they need to or should be. I hope that my descriptions of our routine in today's blog post help get the idea out there that it really isn't hard to care for her. I have considered all kinds of possibilities re: her recovery - if she never gets any better than she is now (and I really believe she is going to keep improving as she gets stronger), the wheelchair will be a great "fall-back" for her. Let's say her adopters don't want to have to go outside with her at night in the winter. All you have to do is put her in her wheelchair and let her out (as long as there aren't steps she has to go down- she can handle one step down in the chair on her own, but needs help with more than that). She gets around well in the chair and can go to the bathroom in it just fine. If she is never able to go for long walks without any help, you can put her in the wheelchair for those longer walks. She loves it. But again, I think she is going to keep improving. She is able to support herself on longer and longer walks every week. She doesn't need much. Just a loving home and the chance to enjoy her life. She's a happy girl and she is definitely enjoying her life right now, I can tell you that much. :)
In all honestly, my fiance and I would love to adopt her. She is the first foster dog we have had that my fiance has seriously considered adopting. She is such a happy, mellow, loving dog. But there are two big reasons why we have not: 1) we may be living in Italy next year. My fiance is applying for a fellowship which would have us living there from September through June. And 2) we hope to have kids within the next 3 to 5 years, and we think it might be a bit too much to take care of a baby and then a baby and young children, as well as a disabled dog, even though she doesn't require that much. For that reason, I think Sydney's best fit would be a family with teenage (or older) children, or a couple whose children are out of the house or who don't have children, or a single adult looking for a companion. Sydney makes a WONDERFUL companion. The bond you develop with an animal that needs extra help is something truly special. It is difficult to articulate the nature of my relationship with Sydney, as her main "caretaker." Working with Sydney on her rehabilitation is a very special experience. I took her to the vet not too long ago for a check up on a bladder infection, and the vet asked whether anyone was interested in adopting her yet. I told her there had been interest but that people seem to be intimidated by her disability and would rather wait until she is fully rehabbed. The vet looked at me and said something like, "That's really too bad, because her rehab is such a bonding experience." Frankly, I was a bit taken aback by her intuitiveness. Perhaps she has experienced something like this with an animal as well? But she got it, she understood how special my relationship with this dog is, and how special the relationship would be between Sydney and anyone who adopted her. And that is something that I can't seem to explain to anyone. I guess I don't know where to begin. Recently someone asked me how I could handle all the work it took to take care of her (even though like I said, it's really not much work now at all) and work on my PhD at the same time. I tried to explain to them that aside from the fact that she doesn't take much work now at all since she has gotten so much stronger and her bladder and bowel control have gotten so much better, it just doesn't feel like work. Taking her out, helping her learn to walk....these things don't feel like work, and I guess the best way to explain WHY they don't feel like work is because of that bond I have with her. The feeling you get from working with this dog, being there every step of the way as she heals, giving her the love and the life she deserves, is really just indescribable. Some people might think I'm strange - some people think something like, an animal is an animal and should be put down if they need extra care. But I couldn't disagree more. Why shouldn't Sydney be able to live out her natural life? She's not suffering. In fact, she's much happier than you might expect. She does not appear to be phased by her disability at all. Animals can adapt to their circumstances in amazing ways, and she has done that. And there is honestly nothing more fulfilling, and gratifying, really, than being the one to help her heal and learn to walk again, and to give her the chance to live a happy life. And I really believe Sydney is grateful for it. She is so sweet and loving, and even lifts up her nose to me when I put food in her bowl, as if to say "thank you." She is happy to just be part of the family. It's all she wants and needs.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
A Two-Month Reflection
As of a few days ago, we have had Sydney in our lives for two months. What a two months it has been! It is amazing how much she has changed and how much we have acclimated to her needs. It was tough in the beginning, taking care of Sydney and learning how to make it work for her and for us. In the beginning she had accidents relatively frequently during the night, which made for many nights of much disturbed sleep and many tired days. For those of you who know me, you know I do not do well without my sleep.
As the days and nights passed, we learned Sydney's needs and patterns, which allowed us to tweak our patterns so as to align with hers. Diapers made a big difference at night. They allowed us to sleep through the night. We learned what time in the morning Sydney needed to go out in order to avoid a morning accident. We learned how to take her down the stairs quickly while putting the least pressure possible on her bladder with the hip harness. This reduced the number of all-the-way-down-the-stairs accidents. We also learned the different times of the day that she generally needs to move her bowels. A visit to the vet and a round of antibiotics also helped her #1 accidents.
The most exciting changes, of course, have to do with her recovery. As I have said in previous posts, Sydney's rear end was extremely atrophied when she came to us in early July. She really could not do anything with her back legs. Now she stands completely unassisted for several minutes at a time. She takes a few slow steps unassisted. She walks down the street with slight support - mostly for balance and a little for weight-support. She can stand up on her own when encouraged to do so (she is still reluctant to do it of her own accord). The other day she stood up entirely on her own, entirely of her own accord (although I did tell her to "stand" and her right leg was crossed behind her left leg, so not a perfect stand), while playing with Shiloh. I was nowhere nearby. She frequently makes small attempts at standing when moving throughout the apartment. And a few days ago she walked - with assistance - the furthest she has ever walked when not on the underwater treadmill. Her walking is certainly not perfect, even with assistance, but it continues to get stronger. We are pushing her harder now, to get her past a slight plateau in her recovery that she seems to have reached; it seems to be working. :)
Perhaps most importantly, Sydney is happy. She is lively and sweet, a typical loving lab. She follows us around, especially when she hears us open the pantry door where her food and treats are stored, perks up her ears and gives us that wide-eyed labby look that just melts your heart. She is independent in the sense that she doesn't mind being in a different room than you if she is happily stretched out on her bed when you get up to go to another room, but she seems to always keep tabs on us and after a while will appear in the doorway, where she pauses, as if surveying the scene, before she scoots over to the bed in that room. She loves attention and cuddles and does her best to roll over and show her belly - she either doesn't try to or still can't lift her back leg up for that - when you pet her. When we pour food into her bowl from a measuring cup, she lifts her face up to ours as if to give us a kiss and say "thank you!" before she eats. She gets overly excited for treats and smacks her lips for 5 minutes after getting one. She is calm and sweet, but also playful. She loves stuffed toys (they don't stay stuffed for long!), and sometimes will suddenly get up from her bed where she has been resting peacefully, to scoot over to her toy basket, grab a (de-) stuffed toy, and excitedly scoot back to her bed to play with it. In short, she is a wonderful dog, a joy to have around.
She has made such amazing progress, but she still has more work to do. Classes have started for the year, which means our routine is a bit different, but we are as focused as ever on pushing her to new levels of strength and coordination. For a while, when we first got Sydney in July, I set the end of the summer as a hopeful goal by which I hoped to have her walking. We did not make that goal (it was a bit overly ambitious!) but I could not be happier with how much progress she has made this summer. She WILL walk. It's still just a matter of time. :)
As the days and nights passed, we learned Sydney's needs and patterns, which allowed us to tweak our patterns so as to align with hers. Diapers made a big difference at night. They allowed us to sleep through the night. We learned what time in the morning Sydney needed to go out in order to avoid a morning accident. We learned how to take her down the stairs quickly while putting the least pressure possible on her bladder with the hip harness. This reduced the number of all-the-way-down-the-stairs accidents. We also learned the different times of the day that she generally needs to move her bowels. A visit to the vet and a round of antibiotics also helped her #1 accidents.
The most exciting changes, of course, have to do with her recovery. As I have said in previous posts, Sydney's rear end was extremely atrophied when she came to us in early July. She really could not do anything with her back legs. Now she stands completely unassisted for several minutes at a time. She takes a few slow steps unassisted. She walks down the street with slight support - mostly for balance and a little for weight-support. She can stand up on her own when encouraged to do so (she is still reluctant to do it of her own accord). The other day she stood up entirely on her own, entirely of her own accord (although I did tell her to "stand" and her right leg was crossed behind her left leg, so not a perfect stand), while playing with Shiloh. I was nowhere nearby. She frequently makes small attempts at standing when moving throughout the apartment. And a few days ago she walked - with assistance - the furthest she has ever walked when not on the underwater treadmill. Her walking is certainly not perfect, even with assistance, but it continues to get stronger. We are pushing her harder now, to get her past a slight plateau in her recovery that she seems to have reached; it seems to be working. :)
Perhaps most importantly, Sydney is happy. She is lively and sweet, a typical loving lab. She follows us around, especially when she hears us open the pantry door where her food and treats are stored, perks up her ears and gives us that wide-eyed labby look that just melts your heart. She is independent in the sense that she doesn't mind being in a different room than you if she is happily stretched out on her bed when you get up to go to another room, but she seems to always keep tabs on us and after a while will appear in the doorway, where she pauses, as if surveying the scene, before she scoots over to the bed in that room. She loves attention and cuddles and does her best to roll over and show her belly - she either doesn't try to or still can't lift her back leg up for that - when you pet her. When we pour food into her bowl from a measuring cup, she lifts her face up to ours as if to give us a kiss and say "thank you!" before she eats. She gets overly excited for treats and smacks her lips for 5 minutes after getting one. She is calm and sweet, but also playful. She loves stuffed toys (they don't stay stuffed for long!), and sometimes will suddenly get up from her bed where she has been resting peacefully, to scoot over to her toy basket, grab a (de-) stuffed toy, and excitedly scoot back to her bed to play with it. In short, she is a wonderful dog, a joy to have around.
She has made such amazing progress, but she still has more work to do. Classes have started for the year, which means our routine is a bit different, but we are as focused as ever on pushing her to new levels of strength and coordination. For a while, when we first got Sydney in July, I set the end of the summer as a hopeful goal by which I hoped to have her walking. We did not make that goal (it was a bit overly ambitious!) but I could not be happier with how much progress she has made this summer. She WILL walk. It's still just a matter of time. :)
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Sydney Photo Chronicles
Some photos of Sydney from the last month or so. Enjoy!
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| Sydney and Shiloh playing at my parents' house. Shi kept running away with the toy, but when she realized Syd couldn't move as fast, she brought it back. Sydney can move pretty quickly when she wants to, however, so she gave Shi a run for her money. |
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| This was a serious play session! Sydney was having a blast. |
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| A little break in the action. Syd is chewing the (de-) stuffed cow toy, savoring her small victory. |
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| De-squeaking and de-stuffing a new toy. Doggie heaven! |
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| Very intent on her prey. |
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| Please note the stuffing hanging out of her mouth. |
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| Sydney standing at her food and water bowls. Not a great picture of her standing - she was actually starting to sit down. But you get the idea. Standing! So exciting! |
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| A cuddle break during play time. :) |
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| Trying out her new life jacket. There isn't much time left in the summer, but there still are swimming adventures to be had! |
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| "Ok Mom, can I take it off now please?" |
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| Playing with a big stuffed hedgehog toy she picked off the shelf at Petsaver (Thanks Amy!). She LOVED this toy! Look at all that stuffing and that smile! |
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| Hard at work. Please note the hedgehog's severed nose in the foreground. The nose was the first casualty. Sydney went directly for the nose, methodically sawed at it with her teeth, yanked it off, and then went to town de-stuffing the hedgehog. |
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| The severed nose. (Many thanks to Katie Stoller!) |
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Getting Stronger
Alas, too much time has passed yet again since my last blog update. Let's get right to it.
Sydney has been making some great progress. I see her everyday, so it seems gradual to me, but when I stop and think about the fact that we have only had her for one month and a few days, I am impressed at how much she has changed. When she came to us her hind legs and entire rear end were seriously atrophied; her legs and hips were tiny! As the weeks have gone by, her legs and hips have filled out with muscle - this makes her heavier when I walk around with her holding her hip harness, but that's ok! I'll take it! - and you can feel the muscle when you touch her. I mentioned this in my last post, but the muscle growth has continued and is still very much worth a mention.
Sydney and I now take small "walks" without her wheelchair/cart. I hold her back end up in her hip harness and we walk down the street with Syd moving her back legs in a walking motion and making contact with the bottom of her feet on the ground. It was so exciting to start doing this! When she first came to us she really didn't move her hind legs at all when we took her out to go to the bathroom with the hip harness. Now it is like she is walking, just not with all her weight on her back legs yet. Her back legs get tangled when she is trying to "walk" this way, and sometimes she does bunny-hops and is just generally uncoordinated, but she also has stretches of good walking movements - no tangles and no bunny hops! She has also started to put more weight on her legs when doing these walking movements. I support her but I play around very gently with how much I hold her up, and if she is having one of her good walking moments, I try giving slightly less support to give her the idea and reintroduce her hind legs to walking with some weight. It seems to be working! I also make her stand as much as possible when we are outside. Sometimes she doesn't feel like walking, so I help place her feet in a good position if she hasn't found it already herself, and let her hold herself up. She is getting better and better at this, and can do it for much longer periods of time now. She is much more balanced too. She now stands completely on her own (I place her in the standing position - still working on going from sitting to standing herself) while eating meals. It seems like a great exercise in balance, to stand when she is eating, since her head is down a bit (I have the bowls up on a little shelf so they aren't all the way down to the ground) and she is moving her head around and focusing on the food. She does it quite well now. And yesterday, while outside for one of our short "walks," Sydney was standing on her own - she wanted to hang out and sniff the air instead of walk for a moment - and she actually took two steps with her back legs, very slowly, without any support at all! It is very exciting when something new like this happens.
The techs at TheraVet have also noticed how well she is doing. They used to squeeze her tail to stimulate the nerves in her back end when she walked on the underwater treadmill, but they don't have to anymore! They can tell how much stronger she is, and they comment on how happy she seems :). She does seem happy. She plays with toys, gets VERY excited to play with our dog Shiloh, and is always so happy to meet new people or say hello to those she already knows. In fact, people we meet when out for walks often comment on how happy she is. Again, it's that lesson Sydney gives us - to enjoy life, to be happy with and grateful for the blessings we have in our lives. Not being able to walk certainly has not depressed her, at least not while she has been staying with us.
Potty accidents still happen, but it is not as hard as it was in the beginning. We use a diaper at night (I wrote that last time, right?), and it has made a big difference for us. She often doesn't use it during the night, but it is a great backup plan for us, so that we can still get a full night's sleep (except if she poops - the diaper doesn't get that - and assuming she wakes us up when she goes). We have had a few more accidents with urination. Those are definitely the worst. But - cross your fingers - it hasn't been bad. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow for a bit of a check-up, and one of the things they are going to check out is whether she might have a slight UTI or something that might be affecting her ability to hold her bladder. It may just be the temporary paralysis and nerve regeneration/muscle strengthening, but it could also be something more. Either way, it will be good to get everything checked out and make sure there is nothing else going on. The poor girl doesn't need any other health issues! Learning to walk again and make it outside to go to the bathroom is quite enough!
I said in a much earlier post that I planned to take videos of her therapy. I finally did it today! I had never used the video option on my camera, but somehow I managed to figure it out. Now that I know how, I will try to catch Sydney and Shiloh on video when they are playing. It's so cute!
So, at her therapy session today, I got some video clips of Syd at various points. The first video is of the techs loading her into the tank with her life jacket, filling it up, and starting the treadmill. When she is getting into the tank you can see a black thing wrapped around her rear end. That's a washable diaper they put on her in order to keep the tank water clean if she has an accident. You'll see the water level rise slowly, and toward the end of the water rising, Sydney starts hopping in the water with her front legs. I wish I had recorded her last therapy session - she hopped so much! It's very entertaining to watch. When she starts walking, the tech that is in the tank with her is helping to keep Sydney's legs from getting tangled, but otherwise Sydney is doing it all on her own.
I'm not sure if this video will play in this format or not, so if it doesn't, you can see it on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2FvFk8xv_g&feature=mh_lolz&list=HL1312926771
The next clip is a 1 min 30 second recording in the middle of Sydney's walk on the underwater treadmill. In the beginning her back legs were a bit erratic, but by the middle of the walk, she was walking a bit better. She walked for a total of 15 minutes.
"Just walking, no big deal." :)
If the video above does not play, you can access it on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5olIdeJs5I
After walking for 15 minutes, the techs increased the water level in the tank in order to make Sydney swim:
If the video above does not play, you can access it on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzWM5g96lQ4
See her back legs kicking when she is swimming? :) You can also see the tech holding the end of Sydney's tail while she is swimming. As I have mentioned before, this helps her legs move - something to do with stimulating the nerves. They don't need to squeeze her tail while walking underwater, but looks like it was still useful for swimming. In the middle she got her legs tangled for a bit.
So, all in all, things are going very well! We are so impressed by the progress Sydney has made so far, and are excited to see her continue to get stronger. It is such a relief to see all this progress after the fear we had early on that she may not recover much more than she already had. With all this progress, I really think she is going to walk again, and hopefully in the near future.
Sydney has been making some great progress. I see her everyday, so it seems gradual to me, but when I stop and think about the fact that we have only had her for one month and a few days, I am impressed at how much she has changed. When she came to us her hind legs and entire rear end were seriously atrophied; her legs and hips were tiny! As the weeks have gone by, her legs and hips have filled out with muscle - this makes her heavier when I walk around with her holding her hip harness, but that's ok! I'll take it! - and you can feel the muscle when you touch her. I mentioned this in my last post, but the muscle growth has continued and is still very much worth a mention.
Sydney and I now take small "walks" without her wheelchair/cart. I hold her back end up in her hip harness and we walk down the street with Syd moving her back legs in a walking motion and making contact with the bottom of her feet on the ground. It was so exciting to start doing this! When she first came to us she really didn't move her hind legs at all when we took her out to go to the bathroom with the hip harness. Now it is like she is walking, just not with all her weight on her back legs yet. Her back legs get tangled when she is trying to "walk" this way, and sometimes she does bunny-hops and is just generally uncoordinated, but she also has stretches of good walking movements - no tangles and no bunny hops! She has also started to put more weight on her legs when doing these walking movements. I support her but I play around very gently with how much I hold her up, and if she is having one of her good walking moments, I try giving slightly less support to give her the idea and reintroduce her hind legs to walking with some weight. It seems to be working! I also make her stand as much as possible when we are outside. Sometimes she doesn't feel like walking, so I help place her feet in a good position if she hasn't found it already herself, and let her hold herself up. She is getting better and better at this, and can do it for much longer periods of time now. She is much more balanced too. She now stands completely on her own (I place her in the standing position - still working on going from sitting to standing herself) while eating meals. It seems like a great exercise in balance, to stand when she is eating, since her head is down a bit (I have the bowls up on a little shelf so they aren't all the way down to the ground) and she is moving her head around and focusing on the food. She does it quite well now. And yesterday, while outside for one of our short "walks," Sydney was standing on her own - she wanted to hang out and sniff the air instead of walk for a moment - and she actually took two steps with her back legs, very slowly, without any support at all! It is very exciting when something new like this happens.
The techs at TheraVet have also noticed how well she is doing. They used to squeeze her tail to stimulate the nerves in her back end when she walked on the underwater treadmill, but they don't have to anymore! They can tell how much stronger she is, and they comment on how happy she seems :). She does seem happy. She plays with toys, gets VERY excited to play with our dog Shiloh, and is always so happy to meet new people or say hello to those she already knows. In fact, people we meet when out for walks often comment on how happy she is. Again, it's that lesson Sydney gives us - to enjoy life, to be happy with and grateful for the blessings we have in our lives. Not being able to walk certainly has not depressed her, at least not while she has been staying with us.
Potty accidents still happen, but it is not as hard as it was in the beginning. We use a diaper at night (I wrote that last time, right?), and it has made a big difference for us. She often doesn't use it during the night, but it is a great backup plan for us, so that we can still get a full night's sleep (except if she poops - the diaper doesn't get that - and assuming she wakes us up when she goes). We have had a few more accidents with urination. Those are definitely the worst. But - cross your fingers - it hasn't been bad. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow for a bit of a check-up, and one of the things they are going to check out is whether she might have a slight UTI or something that might be affecting her ability to hold her bladder. It may just be the temporary paralysis and nerve regeneration/muscle strengthening, but it could also be something more. Either way, it will be good to get everything checked out and make sure there is nothing else going on. The poor girl doesn't need any other health issues! Learning to walk again and make it outside to go to the bathroom is quite enough!
I said in a much earlier post that I planned to take videos of her therapy. I finally did it today! I had never used the video option on my camera, but somehow I managed to figure it out. Now that I know how, I will try to catch Sydney and Shiloh on video when they are playing. It's so cute!
So, at her therapy session today, I got some video clips of Syd at various points. The first video is of the techs loading her into the tank with her life jacket, filling it up, and starting the treadmill. When she is getting into the tank you can see a black thing wrapped around her rear end. That's a washable diaper they put on her in order to keep the tank water clean if she has an accident. You'll see the water level rise slowly, and toward the end of the water rising, Sydney starts hopping in the water with her front legs. I wish I had recorded her last therapy session - she hopped so much! It's very entertaining to watch. When she starts walking, the tech that is in the tank with her is helping to keep Sydney's legs from getting tangled, but otherwise Sydney is doing it all on her own.
I'm not sure if this video will play in this format or not, so if it doesn't, you can see it on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2FvFk8xv_g&feature=mh_lolz&list=HL1312926771
The next clip is a 1 min 30 second recording in the middle of Sydney's walk on the underwater treadmill. In the beginning her back legs were a bit erratic, but by the middle of the walk, she was walking a bit better. She walked for a total of 15 minutes.
"Just walking, no big deal." :)
If the video above does not play, you can access it on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5olIdeJs5I
After walking for 15 minutes, the techs increased the water level in the tank in order to make Sydney swim:
If the video above does not play, you can access it on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzWM5g96lQ4
See her back legs kicking when she is swimming? :) You can also see the tech holding the end of Sydney's tail while she is swimming. As I have mentioned before, this helps her legs move - something to do with stimulating the nerves. They don't need to squeeze her tail while walking underwater, but looks like it was still useful for swimming. In the middle she got her legs tangled for a bit.
So, all in all, things are going very well! We are so impressed by the progress Sydney has made so far, and are excited to see her continue to get stronger. It is such a relief to see all this progress after the fear we had early on that she may not recover much more than she already had. With all this progress, I really think she is going to walk again, and hopefully in the near future.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Update
It has been much too long since I last wrote. As you may have guessed, things have been very VERY busy lately. Daily events have included continuing the move (my fiance and I just moved into an apartment a couple days before we got Sydney), the normal routine with Sydney and my dog Shiloh, attending obligatory social events, and a whirlwind trip to the emergency room (and two days and nights in the hospital) with a family member last week. On top of that, we have been suffering in the oppressive Rochester heat and had many nights of interrupted sleep due to potty accidents.
But on to the important things - Sydney is doing well! As I hinted above, we have had some difficulty with Sydney's potty accidents. Usually she has bowel movements inside if she does anything inside, but lately she has also started urinating. I think some of it is the fact that she is drinking more water because it is hot out, and I think she also sometimes urinates a bit when she is having a bowel movement. Maybe she is trying to push things along and accidently urinates as well. Most of the accidents are during the night or early in the morning, but there are also some during the day. We also experienced the first potty accident on the stairs (we live in a second floor apartment). I figured this was bound to happen at some point, and indeed, that point came last week. We got her all strapped into her hip harness and as soon as we started down the stairs, she started going. Pee and poop all the way down the stairs! My saint-of-a-fiance cleaned up the mess while I stayed outside with Sydney. Since then there have been a few accidents on the stairs - not a full out urination like that one, but sometimes she leaks on the way down the stairs and sometimes she poops. She has also started asking to go inside after peeing outside, and then as soon as we get upstairs, she poops. We can't quite figure that one out. But we are doing our best to set her up for success - we take her out regularly and often. Hopefully the potty situation will get better again.
On a more positive note, Sydney is getting stronger! The techs as Theravet said she appears to be back where she was when she was sent home in April (if you remember, she has been boarded at Theravet to receive extensive rehab treatment, and then she was sent home when she was deemed strong enough, but her owners were unable to do enough therapy with her at home to keep her progressing due to their busy schedules - they have two young children too!). This was wonderful news! I was so happy to hear that she was able to gain that much strength back that quickly. You can see her legs look less atrophied and when I massage her legs, they feel meatier, more muscley. She is trying more and more often to stand up, and she has had more and more success holding herself up on her back legs when we lift her up and place her in the position. That being said, there is still quite a ways to go. The techs at Theravet do "sit-stands" with her, and we are doing them here at home too. This requires two people and entails coaxing her forward with treats while encouraging/guiding her to stand up. We are still trying to master it here at home, but at Theravet they know how to get her to do it, and yesterday she was really doing a great job standing up from a sitting position and then sitting back down. She also got a good rhythm going when walking on the underwater treadmill yesterday as well, and didn't need as much stimulation (they squeeze different places on her tail - this stimulates her walking somehow).
Syd also got a new wheelchair/cart! I will post a picture of it in the next couple days. It is lighter, the wheels are not as wide, her hips sit better, and it allows her to move her back legs in a walking motion in a way that she could not in her old chair. It's so great to see! On Sunday we playing around with gently squeezing her tail to mimic what the techs were doing and stimulate the use of her back legs, and boy did it work! It was amazing! We mostly focused on the far end of her tail, and the difference was amazing. She was lifting her feet up and placing them down on the ground in definitive walking movements. The placing the pads of her feet on the ground was fantastic to see - this deliberate movement is great. She often times has dragged her feet behind her in the chair, especially the right one, even if her knees and hips were moving. My fiance, my parents, and I all watched and marveled at this development in my parents' backyard on Sunday. I also showed my dad how Sydney can support herself on her back legs (she mostly just needs help with balance). His reaction was great! He was impressed and seemed very excited about the improvement. My mom has taken to giving Sydney full body massages. Sydney LOVES this. She lifts her little nose in the air, looks at my mom and around the room with this heavenly look on her face. Her front legs are so strong and do so much work - she seems to really enjoy getting them massaged.
Shiloh and Sydney have also started to really play with each other. It is ADORABLE. They pull at stuffed toys together and mouth and paw at each other. It's very cute and great to see! Sydney seems to really like having a dog to play with. We are also hoping it provides some motivation to keep trying to stand.
I am planning to get Sydney a life jacket and take her swimming at a local pond (don't worry, very clean water) on some of the days that she does not have therapy. I need to check on her flea/tick medicine status first. Not sure what her history is with that and heartworm stuff either. Must get on that. All in all, things are going well! It is not easy - especially the accidents and disturbed sleep - but Sydney is worth it. We are going to keep working hard and pray for more progress.
Stay tuned for some pictures!
But on to the important things - Sydney is doing well! As I hinted above, we have had some difficulty with Sydney's potty accidents. Usually she has bowel movements inside if she does anything inside, but lately she has also started urinating. I think some of it is the fact that she is drinking more water because it is hot out, and I think she also sometimes urinates a bit when she is having a bowel movement. Maybe she is trying to push things along and accidently urinates as well. Most of the accidents are during the night or early in the morning, but there are also some during the day. We also experienced the first potty accident on the stairs (we live in a second floor apartment). I figured this was bound to happen at some point, and indeed, that point came last week. We got her all strapped into her hip harness and as soon as we started down the stairs, she started going. Pee and poop all the way down the stairs! My saint-of-a-fiance cleaned up the mess while I stayed outside with Sydney. Since then there have been a few accidents on the stairs - not a full out urination like that one, but sometimes she leaks on the way down the stairs and sometimes she poops. She has also started asking to go inside after peeing outside, and then as soon as we get upstairs, she poops. We can't quite figure that one out. But we are doing our best to set her up for success - we take her out regularly and often. Hopefully the potty situation will get better again.
On a more positive note, Sydney is getting stronger! The techs as Theravet said she appears to be back where she was when she was sent home in April (if you remember, she has been boarded at Theravet to receive extensive rehab treatment, and then she was sent home when she was deemed strong enough, but her owners were unable to do enough therapy with her at home to keep her progressing due to their busy schedules - they have two young children too!). This was wonderful news! I was so happy to hear that she was able to gain that much strength back that quickly. You can see her legs look less atrophied and when I massage her legs, they feel meatier, more muscley. She is trying more and more often to stand up, and she has had more and more success holding herself up on her back legs when we lift her up and place her in the position. That being said, there is still quite a ways to go. The techs at Theravet do "sit-stands" with her, and we are doing them here at home too. This requires two people and entails coaxing her forward with treats while encouraging/guiding her to stand up. We are still trying to master it here at home, but at Theravet they know how to get her to do it, and yesterday she was really doing a great job standing up from a sitting position and then sitting back down. She also got a good rhythm going when walking on the underwater treadmill yesterday as well, and didn't need as much stimulation (they squeeze different places on her tail - this stimulates her walking somehow).
Syd also got a new wheelchair/cart! I will post a picture of it in the next couple days. It is lighter, the wheels are not as wide, her hips sit better, and it allows her to move her back legs in a walking motion in a way that she could not in her old chair. It's so great to see! On Sunday we playing around with gently squeezing her tail to mimic what the techs were doing and stimulate the use of her back legs, and boy did it work! It was amazing! We mostly focused on the far end of her tail, and the difference was amazing. She was lifting her feet up and placing them down on the ground in definitive walking movements. The placing the pads of her feet on the ground was fantastic to see - this deliberate movement is great. She often times has dragged her feet behind her in the chair, especially the right one, even if her knees and hips were moving. My fiance, my parents, and I all watched and marveled at this development in my parents' backyard on Sunday. I also showed my dad how Sydney can support herself on her back legs (she mostly just needs help with balance). His reaction was great! He was impressed and seemed very excited about the improvement. My mom has taken to giving Sydney full body massages. Sydney LOVES this. She lifts her little nose in the air, looks at my mom and around the room with this heavenly look on her face. Her front legs are so strong and do so much work - she seems to really enjoy getting them massaged.
Shiloh and Sydney have also started to really play with each other. It is ADORABLE. They pull at stuffed toys together and mouth and paw at each other. It's very cute and great to see! Sydney seems to really like having a dog to play with. We are also hoping it provides some motivation to keep trying to stand.
I am planning to get Sydney a life jacket and take her swimming at a local pond (don't worry, very clean water) on some of the days that she does not have therapy. I need to check on her flea/tick medicine status first. Not sure what her history is with that and heartworm stuff either. Must get on that. All in all, things are going well! It is not easy - especially the accidents and disturbed sleep - but Sydney is worth it. We are going to keep working hard and pray for more progress.
Stay tuned for some pictures!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Therapy Day with Sydney
Sydney had her first therapy session yesterday since coming home to us last week. I got to sit in on the whole thing, and it was amazing! I loved being able to be part of it.
As I have mentioned previously, Sydney does her therapy at TheraVet in Webster, NY. What an amazing facility! It's like a little piece of heaven here on earth. It's not too far from where we live downtown - it takes about 25 minutes to get there, and the closer you get to the place, the more and more open fields you see. I LOVE open fields and farm land, so for me, this drive is so nice. TheraVet's full title is TheraVet Acres: Rehabilitation and Fitness. (http://www.thera-vet.com/) They have a few buidings and several fenced-in paddocks where horses roam and other patients (like Sydney) get to run around sometimes. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to meet any of the horses yet (I LOVE horses!), but just being on the premises is refreshing.
Sydney was so excited when we got to TheraVet. She loves it there! One of the staff members, Theresa, said it's because Sydney associates it with cookies (it's the cookie place!), but it's clear she loves it for much more than the cookies, as I'm sure Theresa knows. :) The staff there is absolutely wonderful, as I have mentioned before. They take such great care of their patients. They all seemed happy to see Sydney, and Sydney was ecstatic to see them!
We were a little early, so Sydney and I walked around the grounds a little bit before her appointment started. Once they were ready for her, we went into a back room in what appears to be their main building, where they had some pads down for their patients to sit on while they did some therapy. The technicians started with a laser treatment (I have no idea what this is or how it works, but they said it was a laser thing), for her back knees. They said she has some arthritis in her knees and that the laser treatment helps decrease inflamation. They then did a similar treatment (at least it looked similar) to her feet. I think it was still a laser thing...I'll check on that. This was to stimulate the nerves in her feet. They said could tell how much Sydney could feel by her reaction to the laser thing on her feet.
I am sure I am forgetting some things they did - I was talking to them a lot and taking pictures - but I think they did some massaging or some manipulations with her legs and feet after the laser treatments, and then it was time for the coolest part - water therapy! They strapped a life jacket on her and led her into a tank with a treadmill built into the floor - such cool equipment! The tank had a door on it that Sydney and one of the techs walked through, and then they closed and sealed it. The tank then fills with water from the bottom up. The techs filled it just enough so that the buoyancy of the water and Sydney's life jacket lifted a good amount of weight off her back legs. With this weight off, Sydney can stand and even walk! The tech that was in the tank with her provided some stimulation to encourage Sydney to walk on the treadmill by squeezing her tail a little. And Sydney's little back legs were walking! I'm going to have to get a video of her walking on the treadmill to post on here - the pictures just don't do it justice. The tech explained that Sydney naturally tries to do what is easiest, so on the underwater treadmill she'll sometimes do a little bunny-hop with both legs instead of walking with one leg at a time. The tech has to try to prevent her from taking the easy way out and keep her walking, one leg at a time. Sydney was so darn cute in that tank!
I think they did about 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill....I'm not sure. Next time I'll keep better track. After walking, they filled the tank up with more water until her feet couldn't touch the bottom, and had her swim a bit. Her back legs didn't move as much when swimming, from what I could tell. I would guess that is because the treadmill makes her little feet actually move, so if she doesn't walk, she's just going to go backwards.
After water therapy, the techs dried Sydney off and took her back to the other room for some standing and balance exercises. They had her stand on an upside-down dome (best way I know how to describe it - you can see it in the picture), and had her put weight on both back legs. This helps with balance I think, and with general strengthening. On the floor, they also had her stand on each back leg separately, putting weight on each one. It was great to see her actually support herself a bit on each back leg.
By the end of the session, she was tired and hungry. She got a few treats from the techs (undoubtedly her favorite part!), and then we loaded into the car for the ride home. She started bugging me for her dinner as soon as we got home, but it was only 3:30 and she does not eat until 5, so I made her wait. But boy was she cute! She came over to the kitchen door and looked up at me with those big puppy eyes, her ears perked up, and made noises and huffed at me. I said sorry lady, no dinner for you yet! :)
Overall, her therapy session was a great experience. She was an old-hand at it, but it was all new for me! The techs gave me a few more things to do with her - namely working on having her periodically put weight on her back legs - and Peter and I are making sure to do all of her exercises multiple times a day. She does still get annoyed with me when I make her stay in her wheelchair and just stand there so I can do her stretches, passive movements, and massages on both backlegs, but oh well!!
We have two more therapy sessions scheduled so far - tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, and Monday afternoon. So Sydney is going to therapy every other day at this point. I swear her legs seem a little stronger than when she first came home last Friday (today is one week!). The therapist and the techs said they are very hopeful that she will walk again, and we are too.
In other news, Shiloh finally came home from my parents' house last night! Sydney and Shiloh are still getting used to each other, but they seem to like each other. Shiloh picked up one of Sydney's fluffy squeaky toys and started trotting away with it, I think hoping Sydney would come with her, but poor Syd couldn't! I called Shiloh to come back, so she came and laid down near Sydney with the toy so they could play with it together. :) :) Then Shi deferred to Sydney (Sydney is the elder in this house), and let her have the toy all for herself. Sydney has had a couple accidents the last couple days - she doesn't seem to have as much control over her bowels as she does her bladder, the techs confirmed this - and Shiloh gets a little confused when these accidents happen. She gets this concerned look on her face and looks questioningly at Peter and I, as if saying, "Mom, Dad, she's not supposed to do that!" Right now Shi and Syd are passed out on the floor in our office. Not quite lying together, but not too far away from each other. I think Shiloh is still getting used to the ways in which Sydney is different than other dogs, but she definitely wants to play with her. I'm sure they will be great friends. :)
As I have mentioned previously, Sydney does her therapy at TheraVet in Webster, NY. What an amazing facility! It's like a little piece of heaven here on earth. It's not too far from where we live downtown - it takes about 25 minutes to get there, and the closer you get to the place, the more and more open fields you see. I LOVE open fields and farm land, so for me, this drive is so nice. TheraVet's full title is TheraVet Acres: Rehabilitation and Fitness. (http://www.thera-vet.com/) They have a few buidings and several fenced-in paddocks where horses roam and other patients (like Sydney) get to run around sometimes. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to meet any of the horses yet (I LOVE horses!), but just being on the premises is refreshing.
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| TheraVet reception and hydrotherapy building. There are fields to the left, right, and behind. |
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| Sydney at TheraVet! |
Sydney was so excited when we got to TheraVet. She loves it there! One of the staff members, Theresa, said it's because Sydney associates it with cookies (it's the cookie place!), but it's clear she loves it for much more than the cookies, as I'm sure Theresa knows. :) The staff there is absolutely wonderful, as I have mentioned before. They take such great care of their patients. They all seemed happy to see Sydney, and Sydney was ecstatic to see them!
We were a little early, so Sydney and I walked around the grounds a little bit before her appointment started. Once they were ready for her, we went into a back room in what appears to be their main building, where they had some pads down for their patients to sit on while they did some therapy. The technicians started with a laser treatment (I have no idea what this is or how it works, but they said it was a laser thing), for her back knees. They said she has some arthritis in her knees and that the laser treatment helps decrease inflamation. They then did a similar treatment (at least it looked similar) to her feet. I think it was still a laser thing...I'll check on that. This was to stimulate the nerves in her feet. They said could tell how much Sydney could feel by her reaction to the laser thing on her feet.
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| Laser treatments for her back knees. You can see the white cord is hooked up to a little machine on the ground. |
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| Stimulating the nerves in her feet. |
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I am sure I am forgetting some things they did - I was talking to them a lot and taking pictures - but I think they did some massaging or some manipulations with her legs and feet after the laser treatments, and then it was time for the coolest part - water therapy! They strapped a life jacket on her and led her into a tank with a treadmill built into the floor - such cool equipment! The tank had a door on it that Sydney and one of the techs walked through, and then they closed and sealed it. The tank then fills with water from the bottom up. The techs filled it just enough so that the buoyancy of the water and Sydney's life jacket lifted a good amount of weight off her back legs. With this weight off, Sydney can stand and even walk! The tech that was in the tank with her provided some stimulation to encourage Sydney to walk on the treadmill by squeezing her tail a little. And Sydney's little back legs were walking! I'm going to have to get a video of her walking on the treadmill to post on here - the pictures just don't do it justice. The tech explained that Sydney naturally tries to do what is easiest, so on the underwater treadmill she'll sometimes do a little bunny-hop with both legs instead of walking with one leg at a time. The tech has to try to prevent her from taking the easy way out and keep her walking, one leg at a time. Sydney was so darn cute in that tank!
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| Getting strapped in. |
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| All ready! |
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| The tank and built-in treadmill. |
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| Close up. The water is getting high! |
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| Time to walk! |
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| Walking! With some encouragement from the tech. This picture is dark, but you can see her back left foot is on the ground and she is taking a step with her back right. |
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| In this picture you can see she is walking without as much physical encouragement! |
I think they did about 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill....I'm not sure. Next time I'll keep better track. After walking, they filled the tank up with more water until her feet couldn't touch the bottom, and had her swim a bit. Her back legs didn't move as much when swimming, from what I could tell. I would guess that is because the treadmill makes her little feet actually move, so if she doesn't walk, she's just going to go backwards.
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| Swimming! |
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| She's so cute. |
After water therapy, the techs dried Sydney off and took her back to the other room for some standing and balance exercises. They had her stand on an upside-down dome (best way I know how to describe it - you can see it in the picture), and had her put weight on both back legs. This helps with balance I think, and with general strengthening. On the floor, they also had her stand on each back leg separately, putting weight on each one. It was great to see her actually support herself a bit on each back leg.
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| Wet dog! Getting dried off. |
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| "Ok ok, that's enough!" |
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| Standing and balancing on the upside-down dome. It probably has an actual name, I just don't know it. |
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| Practicing putting weight on her back legs. |
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| Putting weight on one leg at a time. |
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| Tired out and ready to go home. |
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| Buckled in for the ride home. |
By the end of the session, she was tired and hungry. She got a few treats from the techs (undoubtedly her favorite part!), and then we loaded into the car for the ride home. She started bugging me for her dinner as soon as we got home, but it was only 3:30 and she does not eat until 5, so I made her wait. But boy was she cute! She came over to the kitchen door and looked up at me with those big puppy eyes, her ears perked up, and made noises and huffed at me. I said sorry lady, no dinner for you yet! :)
Overall, her therapy session was a great experience. She was an old-hand at it, but it was all new for me! The techs gave me a few more things to do with her - namely working on having her periodically put weight on her back legs - and Peter and I are making sure to do all of her exercises multiple times a day. She does still get annoyed with me when I make her stay in her wheelchair and just stand there so I can do her stretches, passive movements, and massages on both backlegs, but oh well!!
We have two more therapy sessions scheduled so far - tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, and Monday afternoon. So Sydney is going to therapy every other day at this point. I swear her legs seem a little stronger than when she first came home last Friday (today is one week!). The therapist and the techs said they are very hopeful that she will walk again, and we are too.
In other news, Shiloh finally came home from my parents' house last night! Sydney and Shiloh are still getting used to each other, but they seem to like each other. Shiloh picked up one of Sydney's fluffy squeaky toys and started trotting away with it, I think hoping Sydney would come with her, but poor Syd couldn't! I called Shiloh to come back, so she came and laid down near Sydney with the toy so they could play with it together. :) :) Then Shi deferred to Sydney (Sydney is the elder in this house), and let her have the toy all for herself. Sydney has had a couple accidents the last couple days - she doesn't seem to have as much control over her bowels as she does her bladder, the techs confirmed this - and Shiloh gets a little confused when these accidents happen. She gets this concerned look on her face and looks questioningly at Peter and I, as if saying, "Mom, Dad, she's not supposed to do that!" Right now Shi and Syd are passed out on the floor in our office. Not quite lying together, but not too far away from each other. I think Shiloh is still getting used to the ways in which Sydney is different than other dogs, but she definitely wants to play with her. I'm sure they will be great friends. :)
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