The journey to a miracle
http://news10.com/2017/01/21/nearly-paralyzed-dog-overcomes-the-odds-reunites-with-family/
https://www.facebook.com/MHMPetShow/videos/1985269818406530/?fref=mentions
Luke, Grizzy and I are going back up possibly this week for a year and review follow up.
When we brought Grizzy for surgery due to our local vet’s diagnosis of Wobblers, we were sent to the “best” in the area. Here is a good write up of the lousy syndrome.
While Grizzy had a bad case of Wobblers that came on so suddenly, nothing could prepare us for what we were getting into financially, mentally and physically. When we got the call that surgery was a success, we were thrilled. Having said that Grizzy’s case has and continues to be nothing that the textbooks, research, and professionals describe or “promise” about this horrible debilitating syndrome, treatment,
and success rates. Grizzy wound up staying longer than normal because he did not show good neurological signs post op. In fact, he walked into the Surgical Vet but was discharged on a gurney completely paralyzed. 160 pound paralyzed beautiful young mastiff. During his stay, we visited him every day, but I only brought Luke once. While the surgical area and staff were impressive, it was a dark and somber scene for our Grizzy. His eyes said, “what the heck happened to me, Mommy I can’t move, and I’m in a lot of pain!” Grizzy went from running around finding Easter eggs to 3 weeks later a dog with quadriplegia. As you can see from my Luke’s face, he was very upset.
During this journey and today, I continue to learn more and more about Wobblers and treatment. Feel free to contact me. Also, take a look at “Me, My Dog and a Sheep” available on Amazon. The reviews thus far have been great and the author readings I have done to elementary grade children have really been a great experience for me. The children are empathetic, and hang on to every word about Grizzy’s journey to walking. See one below. Thank you for joining me on this blog and allowing me to share this experience of a special dog never giving up. A lesson that can be applied to everything in life. The link attached is a good explanation of this horrible syndrome: wobbler-syndrome
In April of 2016, our young family dog was diagnosed with Wobblers Disease. This is like spinal stenosis for humans where the vertebras impinge on the spinal cord, and the animal suddenly gets lame. Originally we thought it was Lyme disease. No such luck. After about two weeks of helping him ambulate, we brought him to our local vet, and he gave him the diagnosis of Wobblers and said he needed spinal surgery immediately to stop more lesions from further injuring his spinal cord. This dog, “Grizzy” is a 160-pound English mastiff so helping him ambulate was no easy chore. Within three days he had surgery of three levels of his cervical spine. The neurosurgeon at the specialty vet told us he would probably walk out of there, if not very soon since the spinal cord was no longer being pushed in by the bones. This began our journey of home care that we NEVER EVER expected, nor were we given an idea of what is involved with it by the vet. The directions were to “get him up.” How? It was 160 pounds of dead weight, and he was in tremendous pain. This was no different than caring for a human quadriplegic from turning to avoid pressure sores, toileting with hospital mats, to holding his head up to feed him with applesauce. You would not believe our attempts to set up an inpatient care center in the middle of our living room. My son, Luke was Grizzy’s best friend. He was devastated by Grizzy’s illness and inability to move. For this reason and our deep love for our furry family, we took a leap of faith for surgery. I started a @Grizzyjourney Facebook page and documented from surgery to rehabilitation attempts at home and at a specialized vet in Albany and the support and cheers for Grizzy were amazing.