Category: Hinckley

Hind legs be damned! They are not going to stop Hinckley from getting to wherever his momma is.

I left him in the family room, resting comfortably after his dinner, and went to take a shower.  I take my first step out of the shower and almost step … right on Hinckley!  My determined momma’s boy.  This trek was probably 35 feet, with a few plants and doorways to navigate.

 He has the will and will make a way to end up where I am, even if he has to drag himself to get there.  Adding another degree of difficulty to his current mobility situation, is the fact he has to wear an annoying and unwieldy and so-not-cool, cone* on his head that bumps into everything in his path.

I’m not sure who’s attached to whom, more.

* We had to resort to this doggie embarrassment to prevent Hinckley from constantly cleaning himself. The poor guy is seriously chafed in parts that are private.   He’s asked me not to mention this to any of his (many) girlfriends.  But like all mother’s … I can’t help it!

We’ve been back at the homestead just over 24 hours now. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t going to be a difficult road, but we are adjusting, and Hinckley has been a lot more relaxed today.  

Last night we had a slumber party in the living room.  At one point, Hinck was determined he would take his rightful place on the sofa. He pushed himself up to a sitting position and then planted his head on the cushion as if to say, “Well…get me up here.”  I assured him that we would figure out a way soon.  Need to get his bladder operating better first.

We’re doing the PT leg exercises but haven’t gotten conscious response yet (where the legs communicate to his brain). At least, I don’t think. There are times when I am doing something and he groans or looks at me, but it’s hard to tell if it’s because he wants attention, or because he feels what I’m doing.  Definitely hoping for the latter.

As I mentioned, we  have a sling to help support his back-end so we can get him around and about for some exercise. Once he’s on the move, he’s in a hurry to get wherever he’s going.  Problem is, he has no idea where he wants to go!  We’ve done a lot of laps around the family room and kitchen. Somehow, he always ends up in the kitchen. Coincidence? I think not. 

Speaking of, right now he’s giving me ‘the stare’ to subtly remind me it is almost dinner time. He’ll kick it up a notch shortly and add the signature groans and sighs.

Ruff,

Laura & Alex

It’s been a helluva a week (it’s only been one week?!), but today is the day that Hinckley is coming home!

The ICU staff had a surprise for us yesterday when we visited — Hinckley has gone mobile! They hooked him up to a doggie wheelchair and he raced out to see us in the lobby. I’m not sure who was more excited and proud:  Hinckley, Alex and me, or the ICU team.  It was a really cool moment to see him desperate to grab my flip flop and parade it around to the other guests in the lobby.

We will get our instructions from the doctors this morning for his at-home recovery needs (headed to meet them at 9 a.m.). He will still have the catheter, so that will be something to learn about and deal with, but we will handle it.   We will also get another lesson on his physical therapy routine so we can do those at home to continue to build strengthen and sensation.

We can’t begin pool work/swimming until they remove the sutures and the catheter, but that will definitely be part of his workout routine in the future.

Sensation slllooowwwllly returning

While Dr. Medina was demonstrating the exercises on Thursday, she got a definite jerk response when tickling the fur on his right paw … which was a great sign.  They continue to do the deep pain threshold tests on him as well (very hard pinching or small calipers to test response) and believe they get tremors. Hinck has yet to give them the ‘look’ though, that says “Stop that!” 

Dr. Covey, the surgeon,  cautioned that given how invasive the surgery and with the spinal cord swelling, etc., it is normal for it to take up to two weeks to see feeling return. So the fact we are getting anything five days post surgery is a positive sign. It seems to be getting stronger every day though – last night, as Alex was teasing the fur on his hind legs, Hinck jerked his legs away from him multiple times.  Progress!

And so, the road to recovery begins

Once we get Hinckley home, our next big hurdle is to get Hinckley back on his feet – literally – so that he can soon return to his favorite things, like playing in the water. Here’s him, two weeks ago:

The genuine interest from our friends and families has been tremendous and humbling.  Your thoughtful words and barks of encouragement have been such a help over this past week.  Judging by all the emails, texts and phone calls, everyone wants to know how our boy is doing. And so, I’ve created this blog as a way to keep you updated if you’d like to follow along in our journey. I’m sure Hinckley will have a few words to add here as well once he’s back on home turf.

Ruff,

Hinckley, Laura & Alex

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

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Overall an encouraging day…keeping in mind baby steps. He is most definitely seeing blue unicorns and green bunnies thanks to the drugs. He even ranks the “Special K” drug for those in the know of the street lingo. (thanks google!).

I had a long talk w the oncologist Dr. Covey. She is pleased w his progress and said she believes she got a slight tremor in his right leg when testing him today.

Alex and I had a bet for which grocery store item Hinck would respond to. I lost entirely. We brought half the store to try and entice him … Rotisserie chicken, deli turkey, crap American cheese slices, banana, yogurt. And the last cart-thrown in by Alex?  Vanilla pudding. Who knew??

In perspective, over 4 hours we got him to take it from my fingers … A single serve packet. But….it’s a start. As the Dr said…would u really feel like eating on these drugs?

She hopes to start weaning him off one of the “good stuff” pain drugs in the next day or so…starting w the one that causes nauseous. So hopefully his appetite will return.

We are driving back now…and Joanne is right. This is one boring ass-drive. 🙂