Thursday 7th Feb 2008 Wow,
I have 2 days off, a short break from work, and I suddenly realised the date. It’s almost a year since Brackens 'Bump' with our neighbour’s car. I didn't realise that so many people have been following our story, Thank you all for your kind emails and comment posts; I now know I have achieved what I set out to do and help others in the same predicament as us with advice and experiences.
I have been hanging off from posting our latest news, been hoping to try and getting some short video of it, but, Bracken can move her leg....! Yes, she can actually move her leg. I am however stemming my excitement as I am still not convinced she will begin to use it again fully.
Here's how it goes........
About 3 weeks ago I was sat on my couch watching TV relaxing after a hectic day, Bracken was lying on the floor in front of me, we had just been for a walk and she was tired and sound asleep. She started to dream as dogs do and was obviously running around in her dream chasing rabbits or pheasants.
All her legs and muscles were twitching back and forth and to my amazement, so was the paw of her paralysed leg. It lasted all of 30 seconds. I never at that point told anyone except Tom and Shona at ARC where we go for hydrotherapy.
I, like them was sceptic about it, there could be all sorts of reasons for it, muscle spasms etc......BUT. Just last Friday and for the first time ever, Bracken again was lying on the rug in front of me, Awake....! And was moving her paralysed paw back and forth quite freely and at her own will. I saw it, Lesley Saw it and my neighbour saw it.
It definitely was moving and it was no twitch, she was moving it. Were still keeping our excitement at bay though, I'm concerned, she may be able to move it a little, but I'm not sure she'll ever use it again. The muscle atrophy has been too great I fear and we will struggle to get it back to a condition that could sustain her weight.
The ligaments are all still in working order as you can see in my earlier posts where Tom got the leg movement back again. It’s just gone on too long, had she started to get slight movement 6 months ago, yes, she probably would have been able to get use of it again. There’s also the old Learnt behaviour, Bracken has learned to run, Walk and chase anything that moves on 3 legs and is happy with that. I think we would have trouble getting her to use the leg again.
Anyway, I do hope to get some video shots of the leg moving soon and will post it as soon as. I am still optimistic and ever hopeful that we may still see, well, what would be nothing short of a miracle and have Bracken back on all fours, but, my aim was, what may come, I hope this dairy has gone some way to helping others with the same problem or similar and can be used as a reference. I only wish I had been able to find similar information back in Feb 07, I know now if I had, I would have gave 1000% to keeping that muscle mass live.
Please remeber to read the comments left by others, there is also some real helpfull information contained in there comments.
Anyway, good luck to all, further posts too come soon, I promise.
Craig.
P.S. Good luck to Mark and Dillon in Colorado, Dillon is in the same boat as Bracken with radial nerve damage after a bump with a car. Also good luck to Susan and her 10 month old Lab, her pup had a bump just last Thursday and has nerve damage too. Please keep in touch and let me know how you get on.
3 comments:
What MIRACULOUS news!!! Oh, even if she can use it for balance and to catch herself if she begins to tumble! Or if she were to, God forbid, injure her other front leg. Never a bad thing to have a spare!
Much love and encouragement to keep doing what you are doing!!
You are doing so well Bracken! big hugs to you and Craig for sticking with the belief you will be better.Craig, Lulu started off just `running` in her sleep then eventually her leg got going again so dont give up stick with it.Our vet reckons Lulu had psychological reasons for not walking as well as physical.It baffled us all as to why when shes asleep she could run a marathon yet awake nothing. The worst affected leg is following the same pattern as her better leg,so we are hopefully she will regain full walking ability eventually. I'm sure Bracken will be fine. The only way she can fail is if you stop believing in her, have faith that she will recover and I'm sure she will.I know full well how much hard work it is looking after a disabled dog but it is worth it.Are you doing Electrotherapy on the leg?It is the single most helpful thing we have done to mend Lulus legs. Nerve regeneration needs electrical stimulation so it really does work, without it Lulu wouldnt have walked.We use a Neurotrac,they are around £59.see Lulus page www.simplesite.com/lulus-tale and check out the electrotherapy page..wishing you and Bracken all the best!If you need to know any more contact me.kind regards, Pat x
Hi Craig, I tried to email you but couldn't make it work, so maybe this will get to you. Our Betsy was hit by a car on 9/3/2008 and has all the symptoms that Bracken had..small pupil, paralysis in right leg, no broken bones or internal injuries. Just two days later she is eating, drinking, balancing outside to pee and today began eating her favorite biscuits. We have an appointment on Monday with a neurologist vet who has hydrotherapy capabilities and will start her on whatever treatments we can get our hands on. When we were feeling so sad and discouraged, your website and Bracken's story gave us hope. Thanks so much for sharing all the day by day. It has been so helpful and encouraging. Betsy's Mom
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