Layla

[JJJ]

No matter the outcome, it seems like one happy family.

She looks adorable next to her teddy

[Gina]

Lindsey she is just to cute , she will have her good days and bad days.. Hopefully the good out weigh the bad...

[judy]

Tail wagging sounds promising! She is just so precious with her little teddy.

[Janet]

I have thought about Lelah quite often and kept her in my prayers. I really think having hope and doing all that you've been doing for her will pay off in the end. You're a great Mommy Lindsey!

[Lindsey]

Thank you so much. I am finding it hard to read other peoples' stories on the IVDD dogs yahoo group I joined. For example, there was one woman who was devastated.. her dog was down for days and had no deep pain for days and the vet told her to put the dog to sleep, she had less than a 5% chance of walking again. I comforted her and said that even if she can't walk, she can be happy. After encouragement, she decided to go ahead with surgery so the dog wasn't in pain. The day after surgery the dog has feeling back and is moving her legs and tail on her own. It feels like a kick in the stomach for us. Everyone is seeming to get a miracle except us. It's hard to stay positive reading stories like that, and I usually feel like nobody really responds to my questions, concerns, or stories about Layla. It's basically a group for dachshunds so maybe that's why.

But in good news, Layla wagged her tail TWICE this morning. I tried early this morning, even gave her treats, and she was excited but there was no movement. We were sitting in the waiting room to drop her off for rehab today, and I was watching a tv while Layla was watching the people and dogs walk around us. All of a sudden I felt something against my stomach. I looked down and her tail was moving! I told Scott to look and he caught the last wag before it stopped. He asked if she was pooping, but she wasn't! She already pooped an hour earlier! A minute later she did it again for about 5 seconds! I pinched her back but she still has no sensation. I will tell her rehab vet when she calls this afternoon.

[paula1961]

That is wonderful Lynsey that Layla is wagging her tail!! I can't wait to hear what they say about that. Stay positive. You are doing all the right things. Try not to get too discouraged. I'm still sending prayers for you guys and Layla.
She looks sooooo cute in her crate. She's happy just being near you. That was so sweet of Scott to put her teddy in.

[Lindsey]

Layla is my little rockstar. She is proving everyone wrong and I couldn't be more proud of her.

On Friday we didn't get a call from the vet all day, but when we got there to pick Layla up she was there waiting for us. She apologized for not calling but she wanted to talk in person. Layla did so well that day, she couldn't figure out the difference but there was a big difference in two days. She went from walking 4 minutes on the treadmill to 7 minutes. She had good movements in her legs on the treadmill and the exercise ball, and she has really good reflexes. She does different movements if you massage different areas of her leg, which was something cool the vet figured out! We asked about the tail wag and were told it's really exciting but for now to just chalk it up to reflex, although "Layla hasn't read the text books, so who knows!" She still had no deep pain sensation.

Today I just got a call that Layla had another really motivated walking day. She walked for 8 minutes total, 3 minutes with her back feet being placed for her, and 5 minutes TOTALLY ON HER OWN. When the treadmill stopped, Layla wandered around a little on her own too with all 4 legs walking. The vet wants us to try putting her in the bath tub and seeing if she will do any movements in there with her back legs. She still has no deep pain sensation and the same reflexes as last week, but the rehab vet and the surgeon both really want to see a tail wag and have requested that we try to get one on video for them! That makes me feel so much more hopeful than them just saying "It's probably just a reflex" and leaving it as it is. Now that they actually want to see it for themselves really gives me hope that they believe it might be something returning! And she said again what she said on Friday, "Layla hasn't read the books!" When I told Scott this, he said he forgot to tell me earlier but she wagged her tail for a full 10 seconds side to side as he was getting her food this morning! So I am going to pray and pray that we can get that on video.

Speaking of prayers, we had a very small congregation at church yesterday lol... There were 6 of us. One of the ladies did some readings and she asked me to read "The Lord is My Shepherd" and after singling me out for that, she singled out some other people asking how prayer has helped their lives. She asked Scott and he mentioned his dad having back problems and getting better, and also that our dog is sick but showing signs of getting better. Later when we went downstairs for some juice and baking, people asked more about it and we told them her story. Everyone said they'd keep her in their prayers. We drove an older woman home, who lives in the seniors complex beside our house. She told us how she was born in Serbia, lived in Germany, knows 7 languages but can't read or write, and raised 4 well educated children, and travelled the world. She lived in Ontario, but moved to Saskatchewan to be with her daughter, and said she was very very sick and "I came here to die". But, she kept praying and kept her faith and she got a lot better and she loves life. She is such a spunky and loveable woman! As she got out of my car, she told us she will try to remember to keep Layla in her prayers. It means a lot for so many people who barely know us to understand and see how deeply we care about Layla and to ask God to help us and help her.