A Ginny Update

As could be expected, Friday was a terrible, restless night filled with bad dreams without Ginny at home. I finally just got up at 5:30 because I just couldn't sleep, and if you know me, you know I can always sleep and I never get up early, but the worry was all-consuming.

One of our family Dachshunds, Holly, ruptured a disc in her back in 2000 and although she had surgery that allowed her to live for an additional three-and-a-half years, she was paralyzed and in a wheelchair/cart.

When Ginny had surgery in 2014, we steeled ourselves for a similar outcome, so we were beyond thrilled when she healed beautifully and had no lingering issues.

When she was admitted on Friday, we were convinced she'd be having surgery again because she wasn't able to walk. We weren't convinced we the results would be as spectacular as her first surgery.

We spoke with the emergency vet hospital early on Saturday morning before Ginny was moved over to neurology, but it was just to get some additional information from us. It was about 11:00 when the neurologist called. Overall, it was good news; she thought Ginny was responding well to the medication and her recommendation was to manage Ginny's symptoms with medication and very strict rest. She shared that Ginny probably had a herniated disc in her neck because she was weak on her right side when they put her down to watch her walk. Her front right paw was knuckling under and she was wobbly, but the neurologist did not think surgery was necessary immediately and wanted to proceed cautiously since Ginny is almost 12 and if we can manage things with medication and rest and give her little body a chance to heal to the best of its ability without surgery, we are all for it. (We had a similar scare two years ago and she recovered nicely.)

Clearly we were relieved, but I'd be lying if I didn't say we were also very nervous.

We picked her up in the afternoon and she did ok during the car ride home, but it was apparent she was still uncomfortable. A bigger issue was the stress she'd endured, and we just wanted to get her home so she could feel safe. The office is almost an hour from our house, so that was a very long car ride.

When we got home, we put her on the grass and she had a very difficult time walking. It was heartbreaking to watch.

We had a quiet afternoon and evening, and as the hours passed, she seemed to improve. She was very happy to be home and she has three people doting on her. She's been sleeping beside us on the couch while we are awake, and spent the night in the playpen while I slept on the couch beside her. She had a pretty good night and when I took her out this morning, she appeared to be walking much more normally, with no knuckling happening.

All of this is very encouraging, although we are nowhere near of out the woods yet. It's going to be touch-and-go for at least the next week, and we'll be going back to the neurologist in two weeks for a re-check. We're hopeful that things will continue to improve, but if they don't, and Ginny ends up needing surgery, that's what we'll do.

In the meantime, you can find me right by her side.

Happy Tails to you…