Field Trip!

Katie was definitely back to her normal self this morning....... dragging her entourage around the yard and through the bushes. It is kind of funny being dragged around by a dog you are supposedly helping to keep balance. She actually doesn't need that much support. I simply offer it when she looses her balance and I keep her from falling, but otherwise she is pretty much traveling without support.

Our first stop of the day was for more electro acupuncture. She was pretty excited to go just about anywhere today. She seems to find acupuncture very relaxing. The needles are so thin that I don't believe they cause any pain going in. We left Travis here for his minor surgical procedure to remove a lump.

We then headed to the Cobb clinic to meet with the surgeon again. We lucked out and got to meet Dr. Filer. Dr. Filer was highly recommended by everyone I had talked to. No one had heard of Dr. Wagner. He was very nice and he had evaluated Katie during her prior stay. He was very pleased with her results and thought she was doing great. He said she should start physical therapy, swimming, and walking now................ so happy about that!!! She can do steps with some support.......... she's happy about that (she doesn't like being carried)!

He explained the spinal stroke or fibrocartilagenous emboli (FCE) to me. It is when cartilage breaks off and travels in the bloodstream. He said when that it got to the spinal cord it caused an interruption in the signals from the brain...... this is probably what caused her to lose her footing. When she did the splits, she probably strained or tore some muscles, bruised her pubic bones causing her the pain that she was crying about. I thought that was interesting since I originally though that her accident caused the back problem. I think I feel better knowing that it was probably just a random, unstoppable thing that happened. I hope I explained all of that correctly.

Dr. Filer didn't know why she was worse temporarily last night other than maybe she laid wrong or had overdone it in the ex pen causing her to be fatigued when we finally took her outside. But in other words... who knows. He also said we should see slow, steady progress over the next 6 months and that he expected a full recovery. He said that at 6 months that is generally the full extent of recovery.

He also suggested putting runners on the hardwood floors around corners, on steps, and at stopping points. There is also something called Shaws Paw Wax that I can apply 3 times a day to help give traction.

Her first swim appointment is this Saturday at 10 AM. Can't wait! First physical therapy session and evaluation is on Oct. 29th. I'm excited about that too!

Tonight, I took her to the building that we do obedience in. It has smooth, rubber mats and I thought it would be great for doing some walking. All in all, she's had a big day and should sleep well tonight.

As it turns out, Katie just makes a good pillow for the other greyhounds.