Marjorie
Moderator~
Member since 2011. Surgery & Conservative
Posts: 5,724
|
Post by Marjorie on Feb 2, 2014 7:08:49 GMT -7
Such excellent progress for Hurley!! Wonderful news, Lola. He's well on his way to a full recovery. Hugs to you both.
|
|
|
Post by Marianne&Juliet on Feb 2, 2014 7:25:58 GMT -7
Bless Hurley! You and he has been on my mind, I am so glad he is doing well! Hugs to Hurley from Romeo, Juliet and Dolce!
|
|
Lola & Hurley
Helpful Member
2 paralyses, 3 surgeries, 2 conservative treatments. Now walking :)
Posts: 135
|
Post by Lola & Hurley on Feb 17, 2014 4:29:00 GMT -7
Thank you all for your positive thoughts! Today marks the start of the fourth week in Hurley's post-surgery recovery process. I am pleased to tell you that he is doing excellent. This morning, he was lying on his back on the carpet for the first time since the beginning of December, giving himself a nice thorough rub, paws in the air, wagging his tail. We are so happy, and so is he! His walking is improving day by day. Last week we were given permission to allow him into a larger carpeted area to practice on a daily basis, supervised. The physiotherapist also gave us green light to increase our outside walks to 4 x 10 minutes / day. We also do PT exercises 3 x day, max. 5 min. at a time, e.g. sitting down, getting up, and lifting front paws when standing. Of course, Hurley already knows this, so he sits down, gets up, and lift his paws, then sits down again, gets up and starts to bark when all the treats don't fall into his mouth at once! Such a smart cookie he is!!
|
|
Marjorie
Moderator~
Member since 2011. Surgery & Conservative
Posts: 5,724
|
Post by Marjorie on Feb 17, 2014 7:17:11 GMT -7
Such an excellent update for Hurley! So glad to hear how well he's doing. Keep up the good work, Lola & Hurley! And keep us posted - we love hearing about his wonderful progress!
|
|
Lola & Hurley
Helpful Member
2 paralyses, 3 surgeries, 2 conservative treatments. Now walking :)
Posts: 135
|
Post by Lola & Hurley on Feb 24, 2014 7:39:47 GMT -7
Today starts the 5th week post-surgery. I am surprised that Hurley is still progressing, almost every day something new! Last week, I scratched behind his right ear and could see a little reflex movement in his right hind leg. This morning I found him scratching his right ear with his right hind leg. And he did it again a few hours later! He is also sitting up straight now whereas earlier he was leaning towards the left side, and walking is much more steady. We are now starting to walk three times a day, which is closer to our normal routine, up to 15 min. at a time. 15 min. is almost enough to do a neighborhood walk and say hi to other dogs, which Hurley is really happy about because he misses his friends. Obviously, no playing with other dogs yet, just a hi in the leash! Besides the physiotherapy exercises, we've now also started little hydrotherapy twice a week to help him build his muscles: I fill up the bathtub at home up to Hurley's lower neck and he walks from one end to another to get some treats. I do not know if it helps or not, but the physiotherapist said we could try it if he is up for it - and of course he is, he loves all kind of action! Obviously, it's been a long road and there is still much more to do, but after all these years, conservative treatments, three surgeries and all, this has become our way of living. Hurley turns 9 years in 6 weeks time and I have no doubt he will celebrate running and wagging his tail! Overall, he is just such a positive, happy spirit and an inspiration for me
|
|
Marjorie
Moderator~
Member since 2011. Surgery & Conservative
Posts: 5,724
|
Post by Marjorie on Feb 24, 2014 8:21:32 GMT -7
I'm so glad to hear that you're still seeing such wonderful signs of improvement, Lola! Don't be surprised if you continue to see signs of improvements months from now. My Jeremy continued to improve for over a year following surgery. The hydrotherapy that you're doing in the tub can be very helpful in strengthening muscles and improving walking. The water gives some resistance that they have to push against. I'm fortunate enough to live near the ocean and walking along the water was a great help to Jeremy. You're doing a great job with your Hurley, Lola. Kudos to you!
|
|
|
Post by Jean & Mimi on Feb 24, 2014 10:04:50 GMT -7
Yay for Hurley!!! Sounds like he is doing so awesome Little bits of improvement will continue to happen. So happy for both of you
|
|
Lola & Hurley
Helpful Member
2 paralyses, 3 surgeries, 2 conservative treatments. Now walking :)
Posts: 135
|
Post by Lola & Hurley on Mar 26, 2014 23:14:40 GMT -7
I am pleased to report to you that Hurley continues to do well! We are now past the 8 week's post-surgery hurdle, and although the recovery process has slowed down, we still continue to see improvement. He is now walking freely around the house, luckily, we have never let him run stairs or jump on furniture, so the house is doxie safe. We do 3 walks a day, 20-30 minutes at a time, and if we notice something strange back at home (it can be something as small and simple as licking a paw), we immediately cut back on the duration of our daily walks and let him rest more. Then, once we know it was a 'wrong alarm', we build up the duration of the walks again, max. +5min / a walk / week. Better be safe than sorry, right? Hurley is continuing with joint supplements, Cetyl-M and Duralactin and we are also continuing our physiotherapy visits, once every 3-4 weeks. There he gets 5-8 minutes of laser treatment in addition to check-up and updated exercise instructions. We are now down to 1-2 exercises per day at home, depending on the other activities we have done, such as walking in the forest or meeting other dogs. Hurley has a few good, same sized friends with which to play with, meaning sniffing around and finding treats - all wrestling games are still banned! Unfortunately, the "bad" right hind leg is still worse than the left one, and he occasionally skips some steps outside, especially when at mid-speed. He is now stepping on it and able to go over small obstacles without any trouble but the physiotherapist said it may never recover completely, that there may have been some permanent nerve damage. However, he can scratch his ear with it and seems not to mind at all. And, it's still early days, so we are hopeful that the leg will become stronger once Hurley builds up his stamina. Feeling the leg with hands, it is clearly smaller and thinner than the left one... Anyway, the main thing is that we can see he is happy, he wags his tail constantly, begs for belly rubs, all paws in the air. He fetches all his toys every evening and is eager to play. He is excited when we get guests. He never leaves the kitchen when I cook. ... He is back in our lives 100% and we could not be any happier!!
|
|
StevieLuv
Helpful Member
Conservative Treatment 3x. It really does work!
Posts: 1,335
|
Post by StevieLuv on Mar 27, 2014 6:44:09 GMT -7
Wonderful update! Thank you for sharing
|
|