Brody Update

Just wanted to give you a quick update on Brody. He had his last session of physical therapy today and they said that he is doing better than expected. They gave him clearance to do short walks a few times a day along with his exercises. Here’s a video of him during water therapy:

Jenni

My Dog Brody

At the end of a blog post in August I wrote "Over the past couple of weeks my dog Brody was acting different. He wasn’t wanting to eat at times, go outside for walks, and looking a little down. We took him to the vet, but they didn’t find anything physically wrong. They prescribed him with some antibiotics, pain pills, and stronger allergy pills than he was on before. Over the past couple days, I’ve noticed he’s been feeling better. I’m glad that it wasn’t anything serious."

I thought it was just a phase he was going through; not wanting to jump on things like furniture. Although last Sunday morning I noticed that it was much worse; he was not able to walk anywhere with all 4 legs. Basically, he was using his front legs and dragging his back half across the floor, with the inability to pick himself up anywhere. He wouldn’t come over to his dish to eat and was struggling.

We took him into the emergency Vet clinic that day where they examined him. They told us they thought he had a herniated disc in his spine. Not completely sure where it was or how much of the spinal cord it was affecting, the only way to see was with an MRI. In order to get one, she had to take him to the University of Minnesota, which has a separate clinic and the ability to do one on him.

It showed that Brody did indeed have a slipped disc, where it was, and that surgery was the only option for fixing it. It was pinching his spinal cord, paralyzing him and causing loss of feeling. After contemplating about the odds of a 50-50 chance of recovery, we decided on going for it. Not long after, he went into emergency surgery where they removed most of the disc that ruptured.

The surgery wasn’t a "quick fix", which the doctor said was very common. They told us that it could take up to 2 weeks for him to regain feeling and movement. Although just after 6 days of recovery and physical therapy, he started moving his legs, walking a little bit and regained bladder/bowel control! It was a huge sigh of relief and prayers well answered. We picked him up from the University clinic yesterday.

He has strict instructions of limited yard time, walking distances and overall movement for the next 4 to 6 weeks. This is even after he gains strength and ability to move more. I’ve heard people say that dogs tend to look like their owners, but never take on the same disability. I find it ironic that out of all things he ended up with a spinal cord injury, just like me. I’ll keep you updated as he progresses over time.

Jenni

Unleashing my Situation

I love writing, especially if it's about me because it's another way to get things out that may be stuck inside. That’s one of the reasons why I have my blog. It’s kind of like my diary; a way to share my feelings even though it’s public. In high school and college I took creative writing classes and really enjoyed them. I’ve always thought about writing a book about my life. People have told me that I have a story that should be shared with the world. I suppose if I look back at old posts of mine I could compile them and it would create a book in itself.

I also enjoy speaking and sharing my story with others. I like to inspire them no matter what happens in life to stay positive, and believe that everything happens for a reason. I’ve said this to myself many times and it’s helped me get through situations in my life where I felt like things are out of my control. This is also how I’ve been able to overcome so many obstacles throughout my life, the biggest one being my accident. It’s one thing having a situation happen in your life and another to actually be able to overcome it when needed.

Jenni