Physical Therapy

Sophie has now had three PT sessions. Each session they do a little massage (more and more now that her right leg is so bad), the hit her with the laser therapy (in her leg), they do some balance work on the fitball, and sometimes they do abdominal work or other stretching. But the BEST part in Sophie's book is the underwater treadmill.

Don't Mess With Sophie...

Or you'll have ME to deal with.

~ Joey

Joey has always been noble when it comes to Sophie's welfare, but she has really taken it up a notch. She has stepped in at the dog park when she felt other dogs were not showing Sophie her due respect. Now that Sophie is "special needs" Joey has taken it upon herself to "just be nearby". She knows Sophie is not a snuggler, but she stays close by, just so Sophie knows she is loved, AND that someone else could watch the house if she wanted to take a nap.

I love these guys.

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:

More to Worry About

We brought Sophie to VSA in Campbell yesterday so she could be assessed for physical therapy. We even scheduled the appointment at a time that gave us the option to do a therapy session - we were hoping with the underwater treadmill.

The (new) vet did a physical and neurological assessment, reviewed all the chart notes and the x-ray. She said that she didn’t want to start therapy because her exam revealed that Sophie is experiencing pain in multiple spots in her body and wasn’t presenting as she would expect a spinal issue dog to present. She felt we would be better served figuring out what the issues were so that a more appropriate therapy could be prescribed – whether that be physical, acupuncture, medicinal, whatever. So we took some blood and joint fluid samples and more x-rays. All her vets will get the results and talk today before contacting us with information and a plan.

She has her good days and her bad ones. Saturday was awful - very painful for her, but Sunday was the best in a while. "Best" is a relative term. It means that she seemed to suffer only one short bought of bad pain, she ate half of what she would normally eat in a day and she squatted for potty breaks. She still has trouble standing herself up, once standing she would collapse if I didn't have her in a sling though she gets better and more aware of her feet once she is about 10 yards into walking.

We'll see what today brings.

The Back Legs Are Trying

Group Therapy

As usual, Sophie directs all of our activity. She was in the pool with me for her second therapy session (Roy does it in the morning) and Joey just could not stand it anymore. She had to join in.


We both think the swim therapy has helped not only with exercise and neruological issues, but also with emotional issues.


Sophie seems to be improving though at a glacial pace. She has been able to stand herself up a few times, but it isn't a regular occurance. She has the most trouble when she first stands. It takes her a few seconds to figure out her feet. But once she gets going she motors along pretty well - especially if she has a goal (swimming, drink from the hose, potty break).

A Bright Spot

Sophie just finished up with her morning swim therapy and is enjoying a nap outside.

Earlier she surprised us by getting herself out of her bed and walking over to the edge of the pool. I we had finished swimming with her and I put her in her outside hammock bed to rest and dry. I was throwing a stick in the water for Joey, but Joey didn't want to go in after it. I was being animated and trying to get Joey to jump when I looked back and Sophie was steaming towards me. I think if I didn't grab her she would have jumped in after the stick! That was the first time she got herself up!

Day By Day

We don't know what to do. Yesterday Sophie had a pretty good day all things considered. She still can't walk, she still suffers extreme pain at various points in the day, she still can't eat or drink out of a bowl.

So the fact that her excruciating pain lasted only for an hour and 15 horrible minutes was a good thing. The fact that she ate and ate without vomiting was pretty good. She actually ate quite a bit - we were thrilled. She did her swimming therapy and napped in the sun. And by this morning, you could tell she wanted to get up and head outside. But that's the thing - she can't get up. When I get her up, it takes her a few steps or seconds to understand where her feet are and what they are meant to do. Once we get going she can eventually walk on her own, but she can't stand on her own.

We are taking each day one at a time, moment by moment. We were given the OK to do swim therapy for 3 minutes, twice a day and we hope that will not only help physically, but emotionally. Sophie loves to swim.

Fused Disk

When we took Sophie in to have her stitches removed we also spent some time with the surgeon discussing the severe limp Sophie presented the day of surgery. We had some x-rays taken while she was under for her surgery so we had the opportunity to review them.

Sophie has two disks in her spine that have fused together. It is not that uncommon in an older, very athletic dog. We had already seen signs of it in that she had stopped holding her tail up high, had a slight arch in her back and showed some sporadic weakness in her rear legs. The vet said that since she responded so well while on Rimadyl, she felt that was the best coarse of action and did not recommend surgery - though it is a possibility.

Last Tuesday, Sophie couldn't walk. She completely lost the ability to use her hind legs. She could not stand herself up, she couldn't stay standing when we got her up and she couldn't walk. We got her to the vet who did a quick examination and felt that there was significant enough swelling around her fused disk to cause the symptoms we were witnessing. She recommended we treat Sophie aggressively with steroids before talking about MRIs and other options. Sophie stayed with them for two days.

She responded well to the steroids. The next day she was able to hobble around with the assistance of a sling. She was carried outside for bathroom breaks, but once outside she could walk a little. Thursday, she walked herself outside - still using a sling. We visited on Wednesday, hand fed her (she had not been eating) and told her how much we love her. We saw the vet a briefly and she reiterated that she was pleased with Sophie's response.

We were able to bring her home Thursday evening. We were given a new pile of medicines, a pamphlet for Scout's House and the OK for 3 minutes of therapeutic swimming a day.

She has not done as well at home as we would have liked. We hoped that she would continue to improve slowly each day, but she has taken a step backwards and has stayed there. Friday she slept all day and barely ate. Today she has had bad pain and has eaten less. She seems to enjoy her walks out to relieve herself and when we opened the pool she was very interested. As you can see, she paddled around - for ONLY 90 SECONDS (if our vet is watching in on us).

We will see what tomorrow will bring for our little Rock Star Sophie. We are hopeful it involves eating, walking and a wee bit of swimming.

No More, Please.

I have not written anything about Sophie for a few days, because not much has changed. She is eating, she wants desperately to be "cleared" for swimming in her pool, and she has less "goo" coming out of her nose. We'll call her "stable" as we head in to get her stitches taken out tomorrow morning.

So. Why relax?

We took the Labradors with us to run some errands today. We stopped for lunch (read:dogs got snacks) and on the way home we stopped at one of Sophie's favorite parks (all of them are her favorite parks). There was a friendly gang of dogs hanging out so we joined in. Joey was quick to find the 1.5 year old who also likes to play chase. Joy! Lucky! They romped around for a good 15 minutes, then it was time to go. We leashed up and headed for the car - Joey leading the charge. Then she stops short and starts to furiously shake her left front paw and she won't walk on it.

I get down and start to search through her toes and pads and fur for what I expect to be a burr, or splinter of some kind. I search and search but I find nothing. No burr, no glass, no blood, nothing. She is still shaking and shaking her paw. We carry her to the car so I can look at her foot without the other dogs coming up to help. I still can't find anything, but now I see a little red spot.

Oh. Crap. Bee sting.

This bee had incredible accuracy. You know the 2nd to last scene in Star Wars (IV) where Luke has to fly along the surface of the Death Star and at the very last second use The Force to shoot 2 photon torpedoes into a 3 meter wide hole which will eventually destroy the Death Star (but not Darth Vader)? You know that scene? That is what this bee had to do to sting Joey's foot. This red mark was deep in between the "palm" pad and the toe pads. The Force is strong in that young padewan bee.

Off to the vet we go. Poor Joey. She hates the vet.

She was a brave little soldier. The vet AND a tech searched her paw and squeezed it and shot her up with benedryl. She got a cookie for her goodness. She didn't feel that was adequate. She is sleeping happily now.

Good Weekend for Sophie

Sophie is improving everyday. The further we get from her wailing and panting the better - and the more we think it was the medication. He appetite is probably 70% back to normal. She shows a lot of interest in food (and she is getting anything she wants) but will only eat "so much" of any one food. Where she used to eat 1 cup of kibble, now she will eat 1/2, then asks to be hand fed, then loses interest with 15 kibbles to go. She has been really good about taking her remaining medicines (thyroid, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic) too.

She has shown more and more interest in her pre-surgical routine. We took her to the park twice yesterday and twice today. She enjoys the trip and carrying around her pink squeaky ball. She's not doing much more than that (which is fine with me).

She still is producing a good amount of mucous that comes out her nose. I'm hoping that is all normal healing stuff, but don't you worry - I'll ask. She is due to get her stitches out on Thursday.

Chicken for breakfast? Why Not?

Sophie is home from rehab. She spent a few days with the vet being observed, going to group, having one on one time with the doctor (to share feelings) and going cold turkey. She’s home now, starting to eat more and eat more regularly. She is resting, finally. It’s nice to have her back!

Last night we saw her appetite coming back, but this morning it has returned almost completely. She is still fussy (she never was before) but she is eating more at a time. We are up to half a cup of kibble and this morning she ate half a cup of baked chicken. She would have had more but I ran out. The next breast is thawing.

Baah One, Baah Two, Baah Three

Sophie is home. She ate a few cookies, walked around the house and put herself in the second bedroom. She counted a few sheep and that was it.

Zzzzzzzzzz. 'Nuff said.

Well Rested

Heard from the vet earlier this morning that Sophie has been resting well with them. She still has not eaten much, though she is showing interest. They are going to take some blood today, run a CBC and also test her cortico steroid level. They want to rule out the possibility that she is not producing it on her own. She has been on prednisone, a steroid, in a low dose for a year which is why it might be possible her system stopped making it - or is starting to stop.

They are going to keep her today, we will get her at 4:30 unless we hear otherwise. I'm going to spend the day turning the house into a zen sanctuary, removing all stimulus from her home environment. There will be nothing but dim lights, soft music and scented candles - chicken pot pie scented candles. :)

Heard from the Vet

I just heard from the vet. Sophie has been sleeping for the past 6 hours. I asked if they put her on a new medication of did she just give up.

"We think she just gave up." It was about time! Poor thing was exhausted. The doctor said not to bother her since she is resting comfortably, and breathing regularly. They put some food in with her but she was just too tired to deal with it.

They will keep her overnight and call us in the morning with a status report. Hopefully if she has any more strange behavior to get out of her system she will do it there, for them.

Sophie is Back at the Vet

Sophie didn't sleep at all last night. The magic we hoped for Xanax to bring her only lasted about an hour. She panted all night and paced in the small bathroom we had her confined to. I stayed with her and tried to calm her, but she has something else going on. She was trembling (which often means pain) off and on and had a little trouble breathing through her "blow hole".

The vet called this morning to ask how everything was going and got a story she didn't expect. She said to bring her in and she would have the surgeon look at her and get some other opinions from her colleagues. We discussed all the options for poor Sophie Ann Marie Mary Louise Theresa Christine, new pain meds, different sedative, etc. I was willing to try anything, but I was quite nervous about putting her on yet another medication, taking her home and having yet another symptom or behavior pop up. The vet offered to keep her over night, maybe two, to try to get her in a better place. As much as I miss her right now, I'm glad she is with her medical team. They can run an IV and give her fluids and nourishment as she still have eaten next to nothing.

I am very grateful for Joey.

Trip to the Vet

Veterinary Medical Specialist opens their doors at 8am for emergency drop offs and is open for business at 8:30. Roy had the phone dialing at 7:59am. We were getting an appointment for Sophie to see her vet. Today.

We had a bit of a trying morning just because Sophie is on the move. I want to say she is agitated, which she is, but I think she is also just Sophie and she is aggravated about all this sitting around. It is not a coincidence that it is the pool she continues to circle around. She could just as easily go out to the grass on the side yard.

It should be mentioned here that Sophie has been in the habit of walking in VMS and immediately demanding a cookie from Geoff who is usually at the desk there. Today was the same. He smiled and gave her a cookie, which she ate, and in unison Roy and I said "She hasn't eaten in 5 days Geoff, don't stop feeding her."

We told her story to the vet and said "Fix her" and "Help us" and "Feed her". They are all so nice there. They took Sophie in the back, the cooked up some chicken for her they looked at her stitches, they cleaned her wounds. They noticed that when they tried to feed her she would take the food, chew it and spit it out and concluded that part of the problem may be that her throat was irritated from the anti fungal medication. They mixed up a concoction of a pepto bismol-like medicine and dash of lidocaine to coat and soothe her throat. She ate a little after that, not much really.

We talked with them about the screaming and wailing, stating we really didn't want to give her those meds anymore. We were told yesterday that benedryl was an option, but I know from experience that it does nothing for or to Sophie. But today we were sent home with the magic pill: Xanax. Sophie is on a very low dose and it seems to be just what she needed. She is in and out of naps, but mostly just hanging out on her bed.

Quick funny story... You can imagine Roy and I talking with (well at, really) the vet this morning. We are talking over one another and shouting out every minute detail (because it might be important), correcting one another and completing each other's sentences. I look like the mother of a new born (no sleep) and Roy is detailed in his account of how upsetting it was to watch Sophie screaming, wailing and pacing. So the vet reveals Xanax is the plan - we have a thousand questions - she tells us to break the pills in 1/2 and start with that dose. We can always up the dose to a full pill if we need to, blah, blah. Then she looks Roy square in the face and says, "And if it doesn't work for her, you can take it."

Crying Over Kibble

Take yesterday's To Do list and apply it to this morning. Though this morning she shoved the kennel (we use it to barricade her in our bathroom) out of her way to get outside for the bathroom break. She is very, very thirsty and is taking us out frequently to see what's happening with the hose.

But now we can add to the list medication and kibble. When we first had her out this morning and she was drinking from the hose we were able to get most of her medications down between drinks. She was gracious and took a nap after her exercise so that I could take Joey up to Pulgas Ridge Park for some off leash romping.

When we returned Sophie was starting to get agitated again. She had walked Roy around the yard several times, hose break each lap. She would lie down, but only for minutes at the most. I walked her around for a while and asked Roy to bring out her water bowl and kibble bowl. She showed some interest in her bowl, then we heard "crunch". Roy and I looked at each other, "Did you hear that?" Then another "crunch". I started crying.

The routine became: walk around the pool, stop at the hose, stop for 5 kibbles, walk around the pool, hose, kibble. She took a 10 minute nap, but now she is on the move again.

Agitation

Sophie began to get agitated again late this morning. Thankfully she did not start to wail, but she wouldn't stay still. She was very determined that she wanted to walk around outside.

We took her out, around the pool (I actually think she wants the pool to be opened so she can swim), stopped at the hose for a drink then out to the side yard. She stopped by the hose out there too and slowly put herself down. She rested in the shade for 45 minutes or so with Roy out there reading a magazine. I ran up to borrow a x-pen so we can fence Sophie off. I was only gone 30 minutes or so, but that was enough for Roy to call and say "get back, she won't relax".

On advice from the vet, we gave her another half sedative and I sat with her until she dosed off. She is resting now.

This is not easy.

The "To Do" List

We have always said that Sophie is the smartest one in the house. She proved this to be correct again.

This morning, after a good nights sleep, Sophie walked us outside. Bathroom break: check.

Then she walked us over to the hose and wouldn't move until we turned it on for her to drink. Water: check.

Then she walked us around the front yard, into the back yard and around the pool, twice. Exercise: check.

Then inside for a nap.

Sophie is a total champ and is, and will always be, my hero.

Now if I can just get food and meds on that list...