I am jumping from the the track of the "back story" to give a current update of Cassi's progress...since it may take me a bit to catch up. I am not only doing this for all your information, it is also helping me to chronicle what is happening with our baby in the hopes it will help someone else deal with this some day. It is never hopeless...things just take patience. Patience is something I have a hard time with, but I am learning real well with this event. Plus, since Holly (Paige) and Alissa were out of diapers when Diane and I married, I have never had the "experience" of a newborn with the late night changing and light sleeping to listen for cries...until now...Since last Wednesday the 18th, I must say there has been a great learning curve. The first night home, we tried the "airline" crate that the two pups slept in when we first brought them home. Miss Cassi didn't like that at all and complained with a "howl" that we had no I idea was in her...come to find out, the staff at the PESCM had experienced her crying out to "momma" for the few nights she was there. "Broke their hearts" they said. I ended up pulling her out of the crate and grabbing a couple blankets and my pillows and slept on the floor with her...if you can call it sleep. Maybe 1-1/2 hours...maybe...next day I had a tax seminar to stay awake through.
Next day, Diane was in charge of her care. She had to take her to a revisit to check her bladder to make sure we were doing our job and emptying it for her. We weren't getting the bladder as empty as they would like to see, so we had to bring her back Friday morning. Diane spent the rest of Thursday relaxing with Cassi and watching a movie with Alissa, who had come by to keep them company. The first sign of any response in Cassi's hind end was when Alissa was helping Diane express Cassi by holding her legs out of the way, when all of a sudden Alissa said "Mom, did you see that"...Cassi's legs had "twitched"!
I left the seminar early and arrived home around 4:00pm. Apparently, Diane had forgotten about the twitch, because she didn't tell me until later...after we had eaten and we were starting something on the DVR. When she related the story to me, I immediately turned Cassi on her side and pinched a pad on her foot...she pulled her foot away. This is the "deep pain" response that the doctor said she was hoping for. When I took her in Friday morning, Dr. Jim confirmed what we had seen...and he was as pleased as we were. And we passed the bladder test.
We have noticed daily improvement since Friday...her tail will move at the base when we pinch the tip, she shows resistance to stretching her legs...but ths biggest improvement we have noticed is, she is getting some muscle use back! More on that in a minute...
This will get a bit graphic...no pics though, I promise...
We went through a rough weekend (at least I did) being concerned that Cassi's bladder was distended. I was not sure I was expressing her right and she wasn't releasing as I expected. She was also leaving pools in her rest area...which made me think she was truly distended. Saturday, I called PESCM and asked them a few questions about how much urine to expect and they told me that I would have to contact our regular vet for anything about the bladder. This confused me, but I called Dr. Kat at the Country Vet. See, I was thinking that Cassi was releasing urine on her own and I was not able to get anything from her because of that. Dr. Kat seemed to think that Cassi needed to come in and have a catheter reinserted to drain her. I told her that I would monitor Cassi and call her later in the afternoon before they closed if I didn't get anything from her. About 20 minutes later, I got what I wanted. Worry was over for today. Still had Sunday to make it through. I don't know if she was just drinking less water or what, but the same thing concerned me on Sunday. If the bladder gets too distended, it can damage the bladder muscles and she can develop a control problem. I was concerned enough to, this time, call PESCM...again. They were concerned and said I should bring her down soon. Long story short (yea, right...), they said I was doing great at releiving her and she, more than likely, was releasing on her own now, hence the wet spots we were finding. I asked if we could now go the diaper route...and they said yes! Cassi has been wearing Huggies "ones" since last Sunday.
Fast forward to Wednesday (yesterday)...While changing Cassi before her 9:00am doctor appointment, I was expressing her to make sure she was empty. This started a bowel movement and, as I was holding her up under her tummy after positioning her legs and feet correctly, I noticed she was holding herself up in a (how can I say this...) poop-squat position. After she finished pooping, I stood her up with my hand and slowly removed it (my hand, not the poop...that was already done)...and as I removed, she actually stood, on her own, for about 10-15 seconds! I called out to Diane to come watch...but she wouldn't do it again. Off to the doctor we went for the staple removal.
Staples came out and the wound looks great. The hair is growing in pretty quickly. She is sleeping in the rest area through the night without any whining. We are transporting her around the house with us in the carrier we have. When we watch tv at night, she is up on the bed with us...but I attach a leash in case we fall asleep so she won't try to jump off the bed. The front half thinks it can do everything she used to be able to do. She thinks she is healthy...except for that part that drags behind her...
Today, we are thankful for the progressive movement we are seeing. We are thankful for friends like you that care and pray for Cassi to get better. I have predicted that she will be walking by the end of the year. Maybe sooner, but by the end of the year for sure. Patince is a virtue learned slowly...
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