For those that don’t know, Gracie slipped a disc on Tuesday morning leaving her hind legs paralyzed. We took her to the vet and eventually to the :uga: University of Georgia Animal Hospital :uga: . After a failed test to find out exactly where the problem was, suspicions of “something else going on around the spine”, and the loss of precious time before surgery, we began to make plans to have her put down.
After some discussion with the head neurologist, a drop in price, and a re-prioritizing of surgery times, we agreed to get a more accurate image with an MRI and go from there. The MRI was very effective in identifying the problem area and confirmed that there was no cancer outside of the spinal cord. (There is a slight chance there could be cancer inside the spinal cord but suspicions were very low.)
She made it through the surgery fine yesterday and the surgeon said everything went very well. There are no visible signs of anything within the cord — no way to tell for sure though.
She is recovering now and has regained motor activity in her hind legs — something that was lost over the night she was supposed to have surgery. Please pray that the surgery was successful to begin the process of a full recovery. Also pray that if she is able to walk again, that she will not run away or get hit by a car.
Thank you to all our friends and family for your help and prayers in this so far.
February 9, 2007 at 5:15 pm
She’s doing worse today than yesterday.
February 12, 2007 at 9:13 am
We got her to eat this weekend. She also stood up on her legs. Pray that she is motivated to walk as she seems to not be trying very hard at this point.
February 12, 2007 at 4:49 pm
We talked to the doctor today and he evaluates her as pretty much the same as we left her yesterday.
While he still believes it is just a slower than usual recovery, he wants to find out more about her lumps to see if there may some sort of related infection going on.
Her white blood cell count and calcium were high in her initial blood-work but that is also caused by what else, but stress. It seems like any dog that comes in there is going to have a high white blood cell count.
We are praying whatever the issue is, it makes itself evident so we can make the right decision without having to wonder.
February 12, 2007 at 9:58 pm
We pray for Gracie each night now. Love yall.
February 13, 2007 at 11:41 am
Please know that you and your family are constantly in my prayers. Since it would be considered sexual harassment in the workplace, I will give you virtual hug:
::BIIIIIIG HUG::
February 16, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Some good news … Gracie seems to have bladder control now and she is making efforts to move her legs when she’s in a harness.
Look for an upcoming article titled, “Dog Surgery Is Like IBM Business Solutions.”