New Harness, New Hope

Sophie has had a rough few days. She has been holding her right rear leg up - way up - which means it is very painful for her. She still has been trying. Let her be a lesson to all of you. She has never stopped trying and trying hard. She holds her leg up high and hops out to the grass for potty breaks, holds the leg up to take care of business, and hops back into the back yard. If she is sick of lying around, she will hop a lap or two around the pool.

Sophie has started physical therapy. I threw my pride out the window and humiliated myself through pure begging to get her an assessment PT appointment on a day they don't normally offer them. We needed this appointment for Sophie to get started - otherwise she would have had to wait until the 14th for the assessment appointment then therapy would start after that. Sophie will do her third (including the assessment) PT session tomorrow. They consist of abdominal work, stretches, laser therapy, balance work and walking on the underwater treadmill (her favorite). She has been doing well.

So based on advice from the PT vet and her techs, we have purchased a "Walk About" harness to better support Sophie's hind end while she walks. We have been out twice with it and she already has tried to put her right leg down. Our hope are again high. We also have been icing her leg and I've been massaging the muscle spasms 'til they stop. We are also giving her pain medication so she can try to put her foot/leg down without pain. So far she is tolerating it well (you may recall a bad reaction to medication after her surgery).

Finally, just because I think this picture is SO CUTE, here is the swim therapy team: