Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Perkins Journey


It has been a difficult month to say the least.
My dad passing away was the beginning.
I was dog sitting Perkins when I got the call from my mom about dad, I called Wendy & made arrangements for Perkins to stay with her. A couple of days before, I noticed Perkins wasn't quite himself, he was quieter then usual, shivering alot & had some difficulty walking up the stairs. While I was in Thunder Bay Wendy e-mailed to tell me Perkins had gotten worse & she was taking him to see a vet....within the space of about 4 days Perkins had become paralyzed. The diagnosis, Grade 3 degenerative disc disease. Wendy called Brian & he immediately flew home. After talking with the vet here in Lethbridge, the next step was to take Perkins to see a specialist. Brian & Perkins went to the C.A.R.E. Center in Calgary. The vet Dr. Diaz was hopeful that Perkins could be helped but wanted to try strict rest at home first before doing the surgery. Perkins seemed to improve some, but then hit a plateau, so surgery was the next step.
The surgery was done a week ago & was more complicated then Dr. Diaz had thought...Perkins disc was very large & inflamed & it was pushing on his spinal cord. The surgery took longer then anticipated but the disc was removed along with alot of scar tissue. Then we all waited to hear what the outcome was. Amanda said it best "it is amazing how much we can love someone elses dog" .
The following day Brian got a call that Perkins was not doing well, he was neurologically declining & Brian needed to get up to Calgary. You can imagine what everyone was going through, especially Brian who had to make the 2 hr drive to Calgary wondering what decisions he was going to have to make when he arrived.
To everyones surprise by the time Brian got there Perkins had begun to improve, he even ate some food that Brian brought with him.!
On Monday Brian drove up to Calgary to bring Perkins home , last night Amanda, Wendy & I went over for a barbecue. It was very emotional to see Perkins up & putting weight on his legs again & taking a few steps! He has a way to go, lots of rehabilitation & rest, but it looks as if Perkins has won this battle!
Perkins has a huge fan club & I'm sure everyone will join me in praying for a fast recovery for him !!
We love you Perkins ! ♥♥

6 comments:

Sharrie said...

And much of his fan club is because of the wonderful adventures he has when he stays with you. Wishing him the best in his recovery.

Anonymous said...

Lovely write up..great to hear that Perkins is on the road to recovery.
Perkins is a fantastic little dog and I have only met him a couple of times but always completely charmed by his outgoing personality.

Julia

Dianne SS said...

I am so happy to hear that Perkins is on the mend! He is loved by many including those of us who only know him through your posts. May he continue to make a complete recovery and have many more adventures!

WigglyZack said...

I had no idea. Poor Perkins. I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

Squishy said...

I love you too Perkins. I am so glad to hear he's on the road to recovery. Thanks for the update Jolene. He is a very special dog. Still lots of prayers!!

Diana said...

Im so glad he is doing better. I was tearing up just reading this. Diana