love

On Friday morning, Ophelia experienced a fibrocartilaginous embolism.  What that means, basically, is that she had a stroke.  Not in her brain, but in her spinal cord.  A small blockage prevented normal blood flow for a period of time, leaving her back legs paralyzed.  We took her to the vet, who said that we could leave her hospitalized until Tuesday (today) at which point they could reassess her and give her an MRI to confirm the diagnosis.  (Because it was a long weekend, no one would be able to see her any sooner than that.)

We pondered this and decided, instead, to bring her home for those four days.  The idea of her lying, paralyzed, in a kennel for four days was just intolerable.  Even though there would be people there to keep an eye on her vitals, no one would hold her, no one would comfort her, no one would help her not to be scared about what was happening to her.  So we brought her home in that condition and waited.  She has spent four days on our laps.  I have crawled around on the ground with her, holding her back legs, to help her go to the bathroom without falling over.  I have slept with one eye open to stop her from falling out of bed.

The vet said that if his diagnosis was correct, we would see some improvement in her mobility, and this has happened.  She has gone from being pretty much completely paralyzed on the first day to moving her legs a little bit on the second day, walking a bit with her feet dragging behind her on the second day, to walking a bit Frankensteinlike yesterday but mostly lifting her feet properly and only tripping on them a little bit.  Of course nothing seems like enough because I want her back 100%, the way she was, able to follow me all over the house and to jump in and out of bed on her own.  But when I compare her to the helpless pup she was on Friday, it's really very remarkable recovery.  And I am hopeful that it will keep getting better.

We've both taken the day off work to take her to the specialist this morning.  Good thoughts.

Meanwhile, I am awed by the way that dogs cope and recover when they are traumatized.  Rather than wasting time feeling sorry for themselves, they simply get on with the business of learning how to manage their new condition.  I have cried a lot the last few days, but I don't think Ophelia has been crying at all.



*