Still going strong

It's been quite awhile since I made a post, but we've been busy and Boomer keeps making progress.

Boomer went back for his 4 week check-up and he continues to make great progress.  He is more and more like himself and we have to try to stop him from doing all of the things that he really wants to do.  Boomer really loved to jump before and now he wants to do that again.  He sneaks a jump up onto the couch or onto the ottoman that's in the front window.  It's hard to yell at him for doing things he did for 7 years without a problem, but now we're concerned because we don't want anything bad to happen to him again.

Boomer also got a haircut so that the hair growing in would look more like the hair that was shaved all the way down.

Justin jokes that we got him a "fade".  You can still tell that his back is a little bit shorter than the rest, but hopefully it will grow in well together.  You can also see how skinny his legs are when he is shaved down this far.  It's amazing how skinny he really is.  His back legs just look like little chicken wings.  We're working on making sure that he keeps moving his legs and massaging them too.  Hopefully this is aiding in his recovery!

So we were also told that Boomer should not be jumping up on things, or really down because of the compression.  He started to do the three stairs out on our front porch and so we decided that it was time that Boomer could do stairs to be able to get into our bed.  I did a lot of research and found stairs that made it so that he can easily get up into the bed: 

Wal-lah!  Stairs!

When the stairs first arrived, I set them up and begged Boomer to come up on the stairs.  He just looked at me like I was crazy.  I even tempted him with treats, but no avail.  I tried putting one on each step to get him to go up, but still, he wasn't having it.  I think the stairs are really nice and match our furniture really well.

So, I figured maybe the bed and getting up there wasn't motivation enough.  I knew that he loved his windows, so I quickly moved the stairs in front of our back windows and magically:

He knew exactly how to do those stairs once they were where he really wanted to go!  He was so happy to be able to see out his window on his own.  It was so hard to get him to come down and use the stairs.   When Justin got home from work, we tried the stairs at the bed again and finally after many treats and attempts we got him to use the stairs.  I'm proud to say that he's now using his stairs and using them well.  He doesn't usually try to jump up anymore (I think he didn't want us to yell at him anymore).  Boomer now uses the stairs to go up and down.  Down is still a little less coordinated, but I'm happy to say that he's using them. Progress!!

Boomer is also feeling so well that he is happy to be hopping all over again:

Those back legs are pretty good and we're making some awesome progress.  He still does get really tired really quickly, but we're working on his stamina again.  We've started to take him for his nightly walks again and he's keeping up. He also likes to gallop through the yard and go up and down the hill.  We're so thankful that he's getting to be more and more like himself again.

I love seeing this happy face want to play and run around again.

Another awesome thing that we had sent to us was from the staff over at NC State.  I got this awesome email below:

Hi Ms. Smith,

I am one of the vet students on Dr. Olby's summer research team. I wanted to let you know that Boomer is mentioned/pictured in a recent news piece on the NCSU Goodnight Scholars Program:

http://emas.ncsu.edu/goodnight/putting-passion-into-practice/

The student highlighted by this article, Leighanne, is helping us with the treadmill study that we're doing as a joint effort with the school's biomedical engineering department. A photographer snapped some great shots of us while we were getting data from Boomer last Tuesday. I hope you enjoy the article! Thanks again for letting us borrow your little guy for our research. He is SUCH a pleasure to work with!!! And he's really getting to be an expert treadmill walker too!

Cheers,

- Sarah

Make sure you click on that link and see him in action on the treadmill! It's a great action shot and shows what he does when they have him down at the vet school.  I'm glad that Boomer is such a trooper and can help them with their study.  Who knows if he would have had the human protein if he would have progressed faster than he did, but all I can say is that we wouldn't have our Boomer Bear here without the help of NC State and Dr. Olby and her awesome study!

Boomer heads back in a few weeks for his last visit with Dr. Olby's team.

Staples are out!

On Monday, Justin and I took Boomer to NCState for his follow up visit and to get his staples out.  We dropped him off at 8 AM and picked him up at 4 PM.  He was there all day to get his staples out and do the testing for the study.  Kim brought him out to us in the afternoon and said that he walked on the two different treadmills and when they brought him in to do the sensory study where he lays on his back and he fell asleep.  Guess he was comfortable there!

His back looks much better without the staples:

The fur is also starting to grow back and look much better.  Boomer is going on Saturday to the groomer (I'm going with to make sure that he's okay) and they're just going to do a trim up so his fur growing in doesn't look as funny.  I think he'll be happy though to get more of a summer cut on the rest of his body too-- it's hot here in North Carolina.  Been in the 90s all week.

Also for going through all of his pains, Boomer got a new summer bowtie.  He hasn't been too keen on showing it off lately.  He won't let me take a good picture to show.  But, he's doing well with his walking. 

He really wants to do more and more, but knows that he can't.  So, he's getting a bit frustrated.  Everyday when I get home and let him out of his crate he's standing up and putting his front paws up on the crate and bouncing with his back legs until I make him sit and wait to get out of the crate.  

His balance is getting much better, but it's still not there 100%.  We could try the aqua therapy now that his staples are out now. Who knows if we will. He's not too much of a water dog, but it'd get those legs moving!

Speaking of getting legs moving-- he's trying to get them moving up the stairs. 

You can see in the video he tries really hard to get up the steps.  We were told on Monday that it's better for him to go up on things instead of down because of how it compresses his back.  So, we're letting him try to go up the front three steps with assistance.  He's gotten better at it since I took this video earlier in the week.
His walking has also gotten much better:

You can tell he is a bit more stable but he still wobbles towards the end or when he's getting tired.

And, I think one of the favorite things that he can now do again is roll.  When he had his staples in he wanted to roll so bad on the grass and on the carpet but we wouldn't let him.  So, I think on Tuesday when he realized that he was allowed to roll, he went for it! He rolled for about 10 minutes on the carpet.  I'm sure where his staples were and with his fur growing back in it must be itchy. I guess we just don't scratch it enough; but, we don't want to mess with his scar.

So, we're making progress.  I'm so happy that he's able to walk and able to be more of himself again. He still doesn't have it in his back legs to jump up on the couch or to look out his front window, but that's okay.  I don't think we're wanting him to jump at all.  In fact, if we can just master the stairs again I'll be happy because we bought him stairs so he could walk up and down on the bed.  They key will be to get him to walk on the stairs to get up and down.  I know he'll just want to jump off the bed, so we'll have to train him.  He's a smart cookie, so I think he'll pick up on it.

But for now, that's all. Hopefully we'll post more progress soon-- but those legs are working and getting stronger and that's all we can ask for!

No News is Good News

So, we have been busy-- and thus no news is good news!

Boomer has been doing really well.  We are so happy he's returned to himself more and more.  However, with him returning to himself that means that he thinks that he can do everything before he had his surgery.  He wants to be able to do the stairs and jump on the bed and go under the table.  These are just all things that he just cannot do just yet.  However, he's a little sneaker and ends up getting underneath the coffee table and then we make him lay on his side and slide him out so that he doesn't hit his staples when he gets out.

He does want to play with this toys and have you throw them the way he used to.  But, his back legs just can't keep up with him, so we've just been throwing his toys just a small distance on the carpet so that he can keep his traction on the carpet.

His walking has also gotten much better and this weekend he tried to run a bit, but it really tuckers him out.  Those back legs just aren't back to perfect, but he can get around himself. I can't believe the progress that he's made in just these two short weeks.

Justin and I feel like we had a toddler in the house and we have to keep watching what he's doing and have to be super aware of where he is so he doesn't do something to hurt himself.  Boomer has been very much baby training for us.  I'm glad to say that Justin and I have been a great team throughout this whole process and I am happy that we have each other to lean on to go through this together.

Boomer goes back on Monday for his check up and to walk on the super special treadmill again and get his staples out.  Here's how far his incision has healed:

His staples are looking good, but I think he'll be happy to get his staples out. We will find out what we need to be doing for him when we talk to the staff after his appointment on Monday.  

But for now, his sweet face is back:

making progress one paw at a time

Boomer slowly continues to make progress with that he can do. Monday he was able to walk about 1/2 of our usual walk on his own.  Of course, this is with me picking him up and getting him to the sidewalk.  He still can't do stairs and I'm afraid for him to do the stairs.  But he went outside and was able to do a lot of the walk on his own and when I went to put the sling underneath him, he would stop and wouldn't want to move.  He wants to do his walking unassisted. I'm glad he wants to make all of the progress on his own. He's a good little dude.

He also is a bit more sure of himself when he is downstairs in the house.  I was in the fridge getting my lunch together and I had left him on the bed about 20 feet away from me.  All of the sudden I saw him at my feet!  He is wanting to get up and walk around downstairs.  He's really good on the carpets we have down, but the hardwood floors make him uneasy.

He wants to be able to do what he used to be able to do, like go under the coffee table, but I've now yelled at him for that.  He doesn't understand his staples and that's a hard thing.  But, he's making more and more progress.  His walks do seem to tucker him out.  For example:

We're happy that he's making so much progress.  We'll continue to update as things get better.  But for now, here's a picture of his sleeping quarters: 

Boomer's a baby

I now have a taste of what it will be like when you have a baby.  Boomer woke us up every so often last night with his coughing.  Then this morning, it was hard to get ready because he wanted to be near me and I had to make sure that he didn't try to get up while I was doing other things.  So, I got his bed and put it in the bathroom so I could get ready.  He was close to me and could watch me and I could watch him to make sure that he was staying put.  Then I had to carry him and the bed downstairs so that I could get my lunch together, with him watching me.

Justin and I did take him out this morning and he wouldn't potty so it was nerve racking to have him not potty.  So, after Justin left for work I took him on a walk and used his favorite word "walk" and he was so excited and that did the trick! He was able to urinate and defecate and get totally tired out.  He was able to walk from our house around the corner (both ways-- one way on each walk this morning) and he wanted to keep going, but I thought it best to stop him at one point so that he wouldn't be hurting from his over zealous walking.

I realized that I needed to tire him out before I went into work and so we went for a walk again. I got him all settled and got my stuff together and left for work.  We have our security cameras and I was able to watch Boomer on the cameras.  He seemed okay for a bit but when I checked when I got to work Boomer was howling.

When I got home we went for another walk and he was tuckered out again.  He did well in his crate and was standing when I got home.  So, he knew I was coming in and I hope he didn't over do it to get up as I walked in the house.  We're going to have to work on him staying calm when someone walks in.  But, he's making progress and we're moving his legs and giving him some massages.  But most of all working on his stamina so that he can build strength in those legs.

Boomer's First Day Home!

Boomer came home yesterday! We couldn't be more excited to have him home.  It is a lot of adjusting and making sure that he is comfortable.  Before he came home we prepped by cleaning the house so we didn't have to do anything when he got home and we could just lay around with him.  We also bought him a new crate that we put in the study for him to stay in during the day while we are at work.  It ended up being a great deal and he has enough room to have a bed and an area that we have a pee pad on just in case.

We got to NC State right at 9 AM and Dr. Bray walked Boomer out with a harness and his sling.  He was doing really well walking and Dr. Bray said that Boomer was able to walk unassisted in the grass.  The slick floor and concrete is another story. It was great news that he was still progressing.  Dr. Olby came out and she was very excited about the progress that Boomer was making too.  They gave us his discharge papers and he isn't on any pain meds-- actually he isn't on any medications at all.  Which is awesome! They told us that we needed to bring him back in a week because it's 2 weeks from his surgery, so that he can walk on the extra special treadmill again.

So, we waved good bye until his check up to Dr. Bray-- she gave us the PT papers that he needed to do (massage and moving his legs around) and off we went. We brought Boomer's seat for the car so he can see out the window and he was so excited to get into the car:

You can see the big smile on that face.  He was ready to go to his home and be back in his bed and with his stuff.  We are a bit nervous with his staples and making sure that we keep him happy.  It's hard because Boomer is like a baby.  He can make noises that let you know that he's not okay and you don't know what's going to make him happy.  We have to guess, but he's been a good mute patient so far.  Since he's not on any pain meds it makes it easy to know that when he's tired he's had enough.

We were so excited that when he got home we wanted to test out his walking unassisted in the grass and we were so excited with the results:

Even though it's just a few steps and just a few seconds, it's wonderful to see him walking on his own again.  Now, he does sway a lot with his back legs and he is unsure about pottying unassisted, so we still have a long way to go.  In addition, he still cannot just stand up on his own.  He pushes back to stand up but his back legs still aren't cooperating the way that they used to.

Boomer was just so happy to be back in his space and on his big bed:

He loved being home and being surrounded by his stuff. We were happy to have him there, but his quick walking stint outside really tuckered him out.  It probably takes a lot of energy out of him to walk since he really has to do a lot of work to make it all work.  It was okay though, because we really enjoyed the puppy snuggles as well.

 We also liked having the time to just relax and not have to worry about anything else but enjoying having our puppy back home. We did get concerned because we would take him outside and he didn't want to potty at all. So that's been an adventure to get him to pee.  Finally when we took him out for a final time he did pee and we could go upstairs to bed happy.  I think out of all of the things that Boomer missed the most was our bed.  I placed him on our bed and I think that was the biggest smile that he had all day.

Even though he's not smiling in this picture it made him super happy to lay up there again.  He wasn't too thrilled though when it was time for bed and we put him in his crate on the floor.  Luckily he didn't cry when we put him in there, he just realized that was where he was going to sleep.  He did wake us up every three hours though with his coughing.  Hopefully he kicks the cough soon because it sounds awful!

Saturday Visit

We were up early on Saturday so we could go and visit Boomer in the morning during visiting hours.  Dr. Bray was there from 8-10am and that's when we were allowed to visit.  Side note: Dr. Bray is ALWAYS there. I am so impressed with how much she works and how happy she always is to see us or talk to me on the phone.  She's an awesome resident!

So we go there after 8:30 so that we could let Dr. Bray get into her day before we wanted to see Boomer. When we got there, she walked out with Boomer on the sling and he was doing really well walking.  Boomer hadn't seen Justin all week so he was really excited to see him. Boomer tried to jump up, but those back legs just still aren't cooperating yet.  Dr. Bray wanted to show off how well he was doing and give Justin a try at walking Boomer in the sling.  So, we walked around the corner over to the neurology exam rooms and sat down in there and Justin was able to give Boomer a big puppy hug.

Dr. Bray talked to us in our exam room and Dr. Olby joined us as well.  They were both impressed with the progress that Boomer was making.  We discussed that he would be released on Sunday at 9 AM and they would fill us in on all of the information then about what needs to happen.  We also discussed when he would need to come back and visit and walk on the special treadmill in the Biomolecular building.  He needs to come back on June 16th or 17th for his follow up.  

Dr. Bray and Dr. Olby left and we were allowed to take Boomer outside and walk around.  So Justin was the one to try doing his sling walking today and outside we went! 

We tried walking Boomer around outside and we could see that his back left leg in really strong and his right one isn't quite there yet.  Right now I think he likes to walk more so on the concrete instead of the grass because he cant quite pick his feet up he kind of shuffles them instead of really walking.  

We had a really chill visit with Boomer and just loved on him.  We are just really excited to be able to bring him home and snuggle with him on the couch while he continues to recover. 

Family Selfie!