Day five....
Good things to report with Lili's improvement, it's still slow going and not even close to being anywhere near back to normal but the nurses report she's got good reflexes in her legs and I actually saw her put her right back leg in the correct position for standing and I think she put a little weight on it too, so I'm thrilled with that. Sadly the left leg is still dangling, but hopefully it'll improve soon.
She's having laser treatments too, which is a big relief because I was I searching for local vets that offer that service and I couldn't find one. Turns out they do it all in house, so I'm really happy with that. Counting my lucky stars that I took her to this vets.
I'm hoping the laser therapy is something I can take her in for regularly if it's going to help her recovery. They haven't mentioned it before, so I'm wondering if they've recently started it and if that's what's responsible for the leg positioning? I will try to remember to ask tomorrow.
Apparently she's being good as gold though. Everyone at the surgery loves her and can't say enough nice things about what a good girl she's been throughout this whole ordeal. She's so happy and excited by everything, which is great to see. She trying to crawl to get closer to us all the time we're with her, which is lovely but at the same time it worries me because I know she has to rest. She's crazy for chicken and biscuits (as per usual) too and bright as ever, which is always makes me feel relieved all over again, although I do miss her tail wagging.
On the downside...I tried to express her bladder again and couldn't get so much as a drop to come out. That's disheartened me but the nurses say they struggle all the time to do it with every dog (apparently cats are easier...typical haha!) and when they took over to see if they could do anything and nothing would come out for them either, so I don't feel too awful since even the professionals were struggling too.
The orthopaedic specialist is happy for us to take her home as soon as I'm confident with her bladder. She's also off opiate/IV pain meds all together now and is just on the Metacam and she seems even brighter each day so that's awesome. I feel more like she's "out of the woods" now and is taking the first steps towards recovery. Obviously, still very early days. No guarantees of a full recovery, I expect some setbacks and it's going to take a lot of time but the nurses say she's doing well so far, and I can't ask for more than that right now.
Hoping to get her home on Sunday, but we're not sure if it'll happen because of her bladder and the fact we're struggling to wrestle an old sofa out of the front door and need to wait on a couple of removal guys to come and help (hopefully in the morning) so we've got enough space for her pen and somewhere to drop a mattress to sleep downstairs so she doesn't fret overnight.
Here she is today....
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@Finvarra - Thank you so much!
@bizzlizzy - Yep, I'm feeling a fair bit happier about everything now which is really welcomed. (The pessimist in me is expecting a setback at any moment though.) It'll be nice to have her home as I feel like I'll sleep better if she's here and then I won't be as exhausted as I feel haha! Thank you, you too!
@Jonnydog - Oh no, that's such a shame. Totally understandable though, a very similar thing happened to a relatives dog about twenty years ago. We're really blessed to be in an era where we can be given more hope in these situations. Thank you - I'm holding on to the hope that she's going to get there in the end.
@Jaysmumagain - Oh yes, she's got no problem scoffing things haha! I'm a bit worried that she won't eat her regular food when she comes home (she's had it too good at the vets haha!) so I foresee a bit of trouble getting her back to regular diet. I was thrilled, now I feel a bit deflated again but I think it may be a case of "two-steps-forward-but-one-back" for a while. Thank you so much, sending big hugs back.
@elaine.e - Thank you. Yep, there's a big fight ahead for us, but as long as she keeps making the little improvements it'll keep giving me hope to push on.
@ejp - Hoping I'll be able to post more like it as the days go on.
