Update

Well, I met another person who has seen this blog, so I had better do something about adding a new picture. Here is Bella just the other weekend. We took a trip to Homochitto National Forest with some friends for some camping. Here is Bella after taking a swim and rolling around in the sand.
Many people say they can't tell how wobbly she is. And it is hard to believe she's 13. I can see all her new gray hair though. Most of it happened after the surgery. Plus she is very tippy after laying down for a while. All in all, I'd say she's made a full recovery.
The next step will be to add a ramp to our bed, and a ramp to the three steps to the house. She's still fearless and will run down the steps if she wants to, before you can get a hold of her. Usually she waits to be carried, or she will stop if you say "Wait, I've got you!" She always waits to be carried up the steps, but that is just because her legs aren't as strong and able to pull her body up as they used to. Believe me, she would totally run right up them too if she could.
Thank you to everyone who has read and responded with caring words to this blog. I sincerely hope it will help those of you going through something like this. Please contact me if you are going through this, and would like to talk about it.
Love, Amy

Wow, its been a while!

It has been about a month and a half since the last entry.
I just got a flickr note from someone who has actually read this blog! Wow! I now feel a little like I should have been putting in more posts! She's just been doing better and better. I re-read the entry prior to this one, and realize that she really has come a long way since then.
She is wonky and sounds like "Thing" from the addams family coming down the hallway. This morning my husband said "here comes Thing!" and it cracked me up.
She runs rather than walks. Maybe it has something to do with momentum. She does stand, and can do so for a good bit of time, but walking is an issue. So there is this crazy crooked run with occasional wipe outs all over the house. We have a mostly tile house, so its sad and funny at the same time. We bought a rug for her favorite area. Works better for traction than blankets.
She still favors that left forleg, and I'll often find it curled up under her, but she can actually turn left now. Whe we play catch, I'll try to toss the ball (not too far still) to her left so she is forced to use that leg to turn around.
We completely quit the hydro therapy after only a few times... too scary, and intense for her. Now that she is doing so much better, I may take her to a pond I know of. She can't resist the water, and it really would be good for her to swim. Just have to find somewhere shallow and clear enough for me to get in with her.

I haven't posted anything, because its just been slow. She wants to walk, but can't, and is still under teh "Strict cage rest" order. The only time she goes into her cage is if we have to leave her alone in the house. I don't really even think that is nec. though. she is trying to avoid using her left foreleg. I have to force it out of a curled up position when she is laying or when i am helping her to stand. that leg is getting very stiff. She has enough muscle control to rebel against physical therapy, so it is hard. a few times a day i will manually stratch the leg out, and with little effort at all there is a loud crack in the shoulder joint.
we are into the hydo-therapy part of the p.t. now, and it terrifies her. i get in there with her, and let her rest her had on my leg, or i will cradle her head in my hands, so she knows she won't go under. i fill the bath to just over her legs, just to get weight off of her torso. she won't move around though. i was thinking she would move her legs, like she's swimming but no.
i'm getting a little frustrated. not with her... she can do no wrong. just with myself. i feel there is something i should be doing, or not doing, or changing, to make the process go faster. the vets told me this would be very long road, and i see that now. She is starting to bark when she needs to go outside to the bathroom.

She continues to recover. It is beginning to seem a little much to post everyday. We are really getting into a routine here... comfortably settling into the bathroom stuff, etc. Except for the lack of mobility, she is Bella again. And she is getting really wriggly and frustrated at not being able to move any distance. But she does communicate well. She'll throw her body and roll out of her bed occassionally, but she'll give a few soft whines to let you know. So her neck is very mobile. She really extends it and moves her head all around. This is how she is able to "throw" herself. She gives the head turn a big heave and there she goes... rolley polley.

This morning felt almost normal. Normal bathroom time and activity, meaning #1 and #2 one after the other. Brought her in and she scarfed down her food, as per normal. Then I placed her in her little private hidey hole under a table, where she usually goes after she eats. Then I gave her a sock and a chewy. She moved her right forepaw to touch her chewy! She did it numerous times. Thrilling!
Ok. so here is the picture of the sling contraption. I should call it the concraption, though! It needs work. For starters, without the rubber stoppers, it wants to collapse. Gluing it together would help with that. Secondly, she's too heavy for the velcro I sewed on to hold her up. I had intended it to be adjustable so we could allow a certain amount of weight on her feet. But it just sort of unrolls her to the floor. Straps would be better. Thirdly, does she really need it? I have found that laying her front half on a blanket folded tall enough to let her feet hang down off the back works well for the leg strengthening excercises. Then I can turn her around and have her front feet hanging off the blanket with her back half supported. The blanket is just thick enough so you can place her legs in a standing position. she will then hold that stand until she tires and gradually sink down. Then you can repeat. Here is apic of what NOT to build. Or at least not to build exactly like this. NO pictures of her in the thing... way too humiliating for all involved.

I'm trying to get the hang of expressing her and keeping her accidents to a minimum. In the past couple of days she's had one a day. One in the morning on the 5th and one in the evening on the 6th. I think the one on the fifth was due to me not expressing her fully an hour before. Looks like she's having a bm every other day. Although I suspect that to change. She went last evening, and this morning she's farting and there are lots of gurgling sounds coming from her guts.

I am so excited because yesterday she wagged her tail! Brett and I had gone for about 40 minutes to buy supplies for this sling contraption for her, and when we came back in the house, she was wagging her tail! O.k., not really the full on kind, but more of the afflicted slow motion jerky sort. But it was definately there.

She's showing improvement in p.t. too. There is resistence (a little bit) for a moment in each of her legs. The slightest show of resistence seems to be exhausting, so i guess that's why it is only for a moment.

This morning she rolled, by herself, from lying on her left side to lying on her stomach. She is improving greatly in her ability to raise her head and extend her neck. She doesn't show pain like she used to when her neck is touched, although we still try to avoid touching it.

OK. For the "sling contraption." Brett is a genius at thinking up innovative ideas to make life easier. Maybe he wasn't the first one to think of this... there was at least one other similar to it we found online later, but still.
The point to this thing is not to suspend her in a totally passive upright position. The point is to have a way to hold her safely upright while she excercises her legs. I'm still sewing the harness part, and will finish it today. It will be adjustable so we can vary the amount of pressure on her feet. I'll post a pic as soon as its done. It was a blast to build and cost about $40.00 for the parts, which include casters. We haven't yet determined how to attach the casters since their bases don't quite match up to the diameter of the pvc... is close though. We have two smart casters for the front and two straight casters for the back. Plus the pvc is hollow, of course, and the end caps available that fit are rounded. We bought rubber stoppers instead to plug the holes in the bottoms of the legs... the kind that go on the ends of walkers. We shoved them into the pvc rather than capping them on the outside. Make sense? Pics are coming shortly!

So, after taking off her pain patch, she seems much more facially animated. She didn't eat anything yesterday, but ate like a little pig this morning. I need to find out if I can express her bladder more often than every 8 hours. I'm doing it more like every 5. If I wait too much longer, she pees anyway, on herself. I've found the best way to do it for me. I hold her like a football with my left arm, with her head left, tail right. Then with my right hand I reach under and push. I like this way because i can really see under her and see when I've got the best spot. Fascinating.

We also have two bms. One in the middle of the night on the 3rd. She woke me with panting/little whimpers. So i got her up to pee. She had wet herself, but smartly waited until she was in my arms to poop. all the way down the hall.. plopping.

Last night the smell woke me up around 1 a.m. I found poop under her tail in her bed. like hunting for easter eggs. Gross.

She's been sleeping with her eyes open, I swear, today. I heard her dreaming for the first time since she's been home (because no pain patch?) and her eyes were open.

Slow and steady improvement, just like the doctor said. So far so good these past days.

must find out:

what is the cyst in her cheek, and in her ear flap?

Can I apply heat...gentle and localized, to exta stiff parts, like her left fore shoulder?

Why is she sleeping with her eyes open?