Making Progress

There have been days when I wondered if rehab was worth it. Today I got the answer ... definitely yes.  I left Carl for only a couple of minutes and came back to find him on the sofa.  When I first adopted Carl he couldn't lift his front feet without falling over.  Now his core strength is such that he can lift his whole body!

Out of the Trial

The past month has been somewhat of a roller coaster. carl did well in the initial stages of the trial but had side effects from the drug used in the latter part. The researchers tried reducing the dose of medication, but even at very low levels carl showed side effects requiring medical intervention. Yesterday we called it a day, withdrawing him from the trial. I had high hopes for the trial as Carl's bladder function was much improved and there were some changes in his hindlimb function.

Carl is thus back to his old routine - daily rehab with weekly sessions in the underwater treadmill. I still hold out hope that somewhere down the line we'll find some way to help Carl, but am happy with how things are now.

Carl not concentrating in the UWTM (6/25/10)

Good days and bad ....

Last week was a great week with movement in both hindlimbs, wanting to stand all the time. Today things are not so good - Carl is his usual crazy self, but there has been no movement of his legs and his tail is hanging. The neurologist told me she expects dogs to fluctuate over time, but it doesn't make the less positive times any easier to handle. Tomorrow is Carl's week 4 trial evaluation, I'll be interested to hear how he does....

From last week is Carl's first "real" session in the UWTM (having a blast and behaving quite badly at times). No movement in his hindlimbs at this point. The plan from here on is to go in the tank and move his legs for him.

Trial and Conduction testing

Today was the end of the second week on the drug trial and Carl was in to be tested. I see definite changes, but these could simply be natural variation.

Also today Carl was tested to see if there was any conduction of impulses beyond his spinal lesion. There was nothing, but that was no surprise to the neurologists given the severity of his spinal cord injury. Given that Carl can wag his tail, there is some conduction, just nothing that registered in his legs.

The trial continues and we will see what happens over the coming months.

Spring is Here

Finally the snow and rain is gone and the trees are once again green (pity about the grass though).  Having tried all sorts of things from kids trousers to insulation leg protectors I finally concluded that the only way Carl could be outside was in a cart.  Thankfully I have two - his k9 cart he uses for playing in the yard, his Doggon cart for longer walks.