Layla
 

Please pray for Layla. Will explain later. PLEASE.

I saw your thread on YT. :( :( :( Sending thoughts your way. Big hugs to you and Layla

Thanks Maddie.

Over the course of yesterday, Layla went from not climbing stairs to completely losing control of her back legs. She may have a split or ruptured disk. We need to decide our course of action for the next couple of days... if it gets bad enough do we want to do back surgery or commit her to being on wheels for the rest of her life. We will do the surgery, no matter what the cost. But we're praying she gets better before it gets to that point.

Prayers are coming to Layla, Lindsey. I read it on FB. Please post asap.

Hugs to you too! You just be so scared!

Oh, poor Layla. That sounds so serious. I'll be praying.

I am terrified. She is my baby. Our vet just took her in and is hopefully going to get her to pee or poop today since she wouldn't for us all night. We bought this house for Layla, we wanted her to have a yard so we bought a house. What if she can't enjoy it? What if she can't even get up and down the stairs? What if we should have just stayed in the condo to make her life easier?

I asked the vet about chiropractors because a YT person said she had great luck with chiropractors with even totally paralyzed dogs. The vet said it could be great, and she would get some information for me today. She was going to call another vet who practices accupuncture, although he's in the process of retiring. She's going to try to get us in. She's also calling the small animal hospital to get quotes and book us in for an MRI.

I am exhausted and I feel nauseous. My baby can't walk. I have taken that so for granted. I should have taken her in yesterday morning instead of waiting all day. Maybe something could have been done sooner. She walked on it and it kept getting worse until she couldn't walk anymore.

Lindsey, you ARE exhausted. Everything just looks really bad to you right now. Maybe Layla's problem can be fixed as quickly as it popped up. Don't question buying your house or when you got her to the vet. Just go slow and make the best decisions that you can at the time. We are all praying for you. You have always done your best for Layla, and for everybody that you love. Breathe Linds.....

Got a call, it's progressing quickly, so we are taking her directly to the animal hospital in the city. They may be able to do back surgery today. Continue to pray.

Lindsey, you and Layla will be in my thoughts and prayers today. Hugs, GF :hug:

I'm so sorry Lindsey. She's lucky to have you for her mommy. Thank you for keeping us posted.

OMGosh Lindsey! I know you must be devastated. I am praying for little Layla!! I so hope everything is ok with her. You are a fantastic Mommy!! Never doubt that!

Still praying for you, Layla and Scott.

How is Layla? I'll keep checking in. She is in my prayers.

Oh Lindsey.......I am so so sorry and saddened, i just cant begin to understand what you must be going through.

Now just stop thinking all those "If only" thoughts, you are not to blame for this, you are just stressing out and it is making you think all sorts.

I am going to be so worried and i will be keeping a check out for updates. I am praying that all will be well, it is just dreadful news - Harvey is my baby too, so i can only imagine what you are going thorough.

Keep positive, god bless baby Layla and keep her safe and make her well x x x

Lindsey, I was just on YT checking on Layla. I know it's crazy to say try not to worry, so I won't. You have a lot of people praying for Layla. Please let us know how she's doing. We're here for you sweetie.

Oh...... Just checking in for any news.

I'm sorry I've forgotten to update here. Layla went into emergency surgery yesterday at the animal hospital in the university. They have the best of the best specialists, surgeons, and equipment. It's the only place like it in Western Canada so we're lucky to be so close.

She had deep pain in her back feet when I picked her up from the vet (meaning she showed signs of being able to feel when they poked hard between the pads of her feet). By the time they observed her at the hospital, she had lost all signs of deep pain. Her chance of full recovery after surgery at that point dropped from 80% to 50%.

The doctor in charge of her care as well as the surgeon let us know all of the risks involved and what COULD be causing her paralyzation and the chances that it could get worse, and it was so hard to hear that Scott and I both sat there bawling. We said to absolutely go ahead with surgery since it is the only chance to save her. There's basically no chance of recovery without it. We asked to see her before we left and they brought her in for us. She was SO happy and licking away our tears and licking our hands and she had such life in her eyes. When the surgeon came to take her for testing, Layla didn't even look back at us as she was being taken down the hallway. She was just looking straight ahead like she was feeling good and determined. It didn't matter that we were leaving.

After a few long hours we got a call saying they had done the test (can't remember the name) where they injected her spine with dye and found one exact spot with definite compression and that's where they would be going in. She'd be in surgery in half an hour, and it would take about 2 hours for the procedure. It was the best news we could have gotten. There was no fluid causing it, it was just one spot of solids that they could remove.

I called the town vet to update her and she said she couldn't believe it, she and her techs had JUST finished saying a prayer for Layla and the surgeons when I called with the news. She said she absolutely believes in the power of prayer and she would continue to pray for her. She was so relieved there was only one spot in question and she said she is so confident that Layla will get better.

Almost 3 hours later, the surgeon called. They removed something (I think she said a plate, or a disk??) from the area but then found some more in the next vertebrae up which is why it took a little longer than expected. But they removed a LOT that was putting pressure on her spinal cord and it was sitting nicely where it should be. She would be waking up in ICU and they would assess her in the morning, when I'd get another call.

At around 10 last night we were in bed when I heard my cell ringing downstairs. I RAN down but missed the call. It was the hospital. I was frantic, why were they calling me at that hour? I had already got the call from the surgery, what if something happened while she was trying to wake up?? I tried calling back and just got a recording, and Scott was hoping they'd call his phone, but then I had a voicemail. It was just the student vet wanting to introduce himself and apologizing for calling so late. He just wanted to let me know she was comfortable in her cage and sleeping soundly. He said he would call me in the morning.

This morning we decided to catch up on sleep and not go into work until this afternoon. I woke up with the call from the hospital. It was the student again, letting me know that Layla is awake and alert and they have done an assessment and she is not better but not worse than yesterday. It's good news because they worked with such a sensitive body part, plus it probably means they targetted the right area because she was going down so quickly yesterday.

We are going to visit her tonight right after work. We will have to see if she does well with our visits or if it stresses her out when we leave.

It's tough being at home without her. There's evidence of her everywhere, but it's just a big old empty house. She is what makes it a home. We were laying in bed last night and Scott tearily said "I can smell Layla on the blanket" and I said "Maybe she's sending us her scent so we will feel better and know she's okay"

Please keep your thoughts and prayers coming. They are working so far. She's a tough little girl and I am praying with all my heart that she can make it through this. We just have to wait and see what her nerves are going to do. Hopefully they will rebuild and she can regain feeling in the next few days or weeks. Even if it takes months, I am hoping she will be okay.

It certainly sounds like Layla's in good hands!!! I'm hoping that every day she gets better and better!!!

Thank you. I know there's still a lot of risk and she may not regain function. However, she had only lost deep pain for a few hours at the most, and from the articles I'm reading the prognosis only becomes very poor if it has been lost for 48 hours or more. There's still a 50/50 chance. I just wish we could have gotten her there a little sooner.

Keeping Layla in my prayers Lindsey. Sounds like she has the best with her so that's great. Please keep us posted.

Don't knock yourself down for not getting her there faster. You did what we all would have done. You had no warning that you even had to worry about her spine.

All that matters now is to get that sweet little baby home! I'm sure she will be walking!

I'm praying for her, and keeping her in my heart.

I am so glad that so many people I've talked to are so hopeful for her recovery. I am terrified for her still.

We thought we had good signs tonight when we visited her. I massaged her legs and her tail, and then Scott was playing with her feet, and her leg twitched! Twice! He also thinks she may have tried pulling her foot away. Then she wouldn't do it for a long time. Finally she started moving her tail up and down when he pushed between her toes. We were amazed! But when the doctor finally came out she said it's probably just a reaction, since she wasn't moving her head to look. But she wasn't moving her head when we touched anywhere, even where we know she has feeling. She was so doped up and sleepy...

Scott is holding on to the hope that what happened was more than just a reaction. I'm scared to get my hopes up too high and have her never recover :( I want to be prepared for the worst.

Thank you so much for the update. I just know she'll get better! I bet she has a full recovery:)

I can not stop praying for her. I want to be so hopeful but I can't shake the bad feeling I have.

I think there's something with April... A year ago my mom had a stroke in April. She recovered fully. I can only hope I am so lucky with my little girl.

Just got the phone call... they assessed her and there is no progress yet. I keep crying here at my desk. I can't get any work done.

:hug:

Keep the faith Lindsey. Continued prayers are being sent to Layla for a quick recovery.

Thank you so much I can't stop praying, but I feel like it's not enough.

I read about a treatment being tested in the states with a really good rate of recovery if used within 72 hours, and I asked about it last night but they don't do it here yet because there is not enough of the study done and no long term effects known :(

Praying so hard for Layla and both of you........

Linz, do they think she should be better by now or is it supposed to take a few days?

From what I've read there's a good prognosis for any dogs that regain feeling within two weeks, but every time they call and say no progress yet they seem pretty disappointed in it. And not only is she not feeling anything in her legs, she's not reacting to pinch tests down her back. I guess I just have to keep hoping and praying.

We are all praying Lindsey. I know you are so filled with anxiety, but we will keep praying for the little sweetheart.

I don't understand how this happened. Did she fall?

Praying that Layla makes a full recovery!!! I am so sorry that you are going through this.

Oh, Lindsey, soooo hoping and praying that she makes a full recovery!!!! Keep us posted.

No, she didn't fall. It seems to be IVDD (intervertebral disc disease) which is a genetic disorder basically meaning she has been predisposed to this from the time she was born. The reason the vets think this is that there was NO major trauma to cause anything. It would have had to have been a big blow, like something falling on her. But there was nothing, we were home with her all day when it started.

I'm going to copy and paste my post from YT....

Last night we visited Layla and she was so awake and happy! She gave us kisses all over! Her IV was gone and her leg was pretty bruised, but she was moved out of ICU yesterday. We brought her some kibble and some treats, as well as a few toys from home and a shirt I had slept in since the night she got this way...

First of all, when she smelled the treats, she almost dragged herself right off my legs to get to them! She's still pretty shaky standing on her front legs, and doesn't realize she'll fall over when she lifts one leg. But we managed to feed her a couple of kibbles and a treat. After about the first hour, I switched her to her daddy's lap and she laid down for a bit but started crying. We helped her up and she dragged herself right back over to mommy's lap and collapsed in my arms.

As she was laying there, Scott started playing with her back feet, and she was watching him. When he squeezed, she had a very pronounced movement of pulling her leg back away from him. She continued to do that while she watched. I don't know if that's still considered 100% reflex, but the movements the day before were just very slight twitches of her leg or tail. She soon turned her head away from us and started to fall asleep, and the only reflexes we got at that point were again just twitches of her thigh and tail.

The physical therapy person talked to us and let us know she started Layla's first session of acupuncture yesterday, and that it was very easy because she could work the needles in quite hard and Layla can't feel a thing past her shoulders. She also did electroacupuncture from the area of her neck to her tail and Layla fell asleep She said she was dreaming because her breathing was different and when she woke up it went back to normal

After our two hour visit, we put her on the floor for a bit. Scott lifted up her back end a little and she started moving her front paws. I had an idea so I took the t-shirt we brought, rolled it up, and put it just in front of her back legs and lifted. Wow! As soon as that back end was off the ground, she was motoring all over the place! It made me so happy to see her just like a regular dog, except with her back feet dragging on the ground.

The doctor told us that she would be able to come home Saturday if we're ready. And we're not sure that we're ready yet. I'm scared that I will not be able to give her as much care as she is getting there. She wants to see Layla at least 3 times a week for physical therapy but as of right now she's always watched and gets physical therapy EVERY DAY. I'm scared that I won't be able to express her or I won't do it right, and what if she cries at night because she wants on the bed? Will she cry if she wants to change sleeping positions? I just want her in the best care possible and I don't have enough confidence in myself yet.

Oh and other good news is that it's not a bad sign that she's not getting better yet, but it's a good sign that she's not any worse. With a paralyzation as severe as hers, they are expecting to see improvement in the next 4 weeks if any will occur. And if it does, it will probably be near the end of 4 weeks. There's still a 50% chance.

Last night I had a very vivid dream that Layla just got up and walked around the house. When I woke up I was so excited to see my miracle baby, and it took a few minutes to realize it wasn't real. And I cried.

It sounds good Lindsey. She seems to be reacting more when Scott touches her back legs. She also sounds happy, and that is a very good sign!

I think I would prefer her to be at the vet for PT every day too. You will know what is right when the time comes.

Still praying, but I I think our girl is going to be okay.

According to the vet, NOTHING has changed since yesterday so what we thought was hope really was nothing. She has made no progress.

Will continue to pray for Lelah Lindsey. I know you must be worn out from worry, but just take one day and one step at a time.

I have not been a religious person for a long time and right now is when I need to pray for a miracle more than ever and I have been having trouble feeling any connection. On my lunch break I had to run to the bathroom, sit in a stall, and completely break down. I was sobbing. I don't know what to do.

When I came back to my desk I did a little search on how to get prayers answered. And I realized I don't believe enough. I need to ask specifically for what I need... for Layla's spine to heal itself and her brain and body to reconnect, and I have to believe it's happening before I see anything. The dog I saw Wednesday night and the dog I saw last night were so different... she's already happier and loving us and having energy. That's an improvement in itself. I just have to know that her spine IS trying to heal and it's still sooooo early. Nerves can take weeks or months to heal and regenerate. God is working on her, I have to know that.