Nicky needs our Prayers-Intervertebral Disc Disease

How can one day be great and the next disasterous. Sunday morning Nicky was fine, playing ball and having fun. By Sunday evening he was walking funny, his rear legs were not moving very well. He could only sit with his head up. This morning Monday it was worse. Took to vet at 9am took X-rays that showed he has a disc thats bulging and signs of sure pain. By 1:00 he could no longer walk on his rear legs. Not good. I have to get an MRI done. But my questions is has anyone gone thru this, and if so what is the recovery rate on back surgery and do they have full use of legs or semi or none. I am trying to keep him comfortable and still. The vet did give him a shot and some steroids for now.

Update: Tues afternoon

MRI showed herniated disc and that it is bleeding out along the spinal cord. Not good. But they will operate and hope for the best. The surgery itself is about 4-5 hours long. OMG, and will be a very delicate surgery. My wishes are that he pulls thru this major surgery and can walk, and if not fully walk , just a little bit. That would be the best Mothers Day gift i could receive. To just hold him in my arms again. So this will be a long afternoon of waiting and prayers.

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers and corgi paws crossed***:)

Update: Nickey's out of surgery 4:00, Neurosurgeon said it went well they cleaned out the area and stopped the bleeding. Was a 4 1/2 hour operation. His incision is 12 inches long. I can;t imagine seeing something like that on a dog. He will stay there for 2 days. She said that therapy will be very important and critical for his recovery. We still won't know how effective the surgery was until he wakes up and do some tests on any feeling that he has, also will take some time for the swelling to go down i imagine. I can't wait to see him. I can't imagine the pain he will be in when he wakes up. For now, he is very sedated till tomorrow.

UPDATE: Wed Night--- Just came from visiting Nicky at the hospital. Looks so sad. They were showing me how to expell his bladder. Its not that easy. The news is Nicky is not showing any signs of deep pain feeling. Or when the doctor ran her fingers along his spine, he did not flinch at all. I was hoping for some good signs. None at all at this time. I sure hope he comes around, i feel so bad for him. Looking for a good rehab for canine now.

THURS 5/10--Went to visit with Nickey. Sad to say no deep pain feeling as yet :( . Gotta keep positive. Practiced expressing his bladder. Then sat with him and massaged his toes and hips and legs. Might bring him home Sunday. With surgery and hospital stay and MRI i have surpassed $8000.00. Yikes. I am almost maxed out on credit card. But i will do whatever it takes for him. Gonna have to come with something. Maybe have a garage sale. We still have rehab ahead of us. I just pray for him, that he can get some feeling back.

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Permalink Reply by Roger/Laurie on May 8, 2012 at 1:43pm

Our family sends corgi kisses and hopes for a speedy recovery.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on May 8, 2012 at 9:02pm

Thank you Roger and Laurie.

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Permalink Reply by Lois B. Allen on May 8, 2012 at 1:49pm

Let us know how surgery goes and what he is supposed to do during recovery. Thoughts and Prayers for Nicky.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on May 8, 2012 at 9:03pm

Thank you Lois for your thoughts n prayers.

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Permalink Reply by Alison Prasavath on May 8, 2012 at 3:23pm

Praying that his surgery goes smoothly! Please keep us informed.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on May 8, 2012 at 3:37pm

Thank you so much Alison for your thoughts and prayers.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle on May 8, 2012 at 3:59pm

Take heart.....I went through this with my AJ girl. She did not loose use of her hind legs but did everything else that you mentioned. We opted for surgery with excellent end results. Full use of legs and range of motion.

I caution you to remember that your baby will have a long recovery, we acutally left AJ at University of Georgia vet school for two and a half weeks immediately follwing surgery and she still had quite a recovery when she came home. Do not be alarmed if following surgery Nicky is not able to walk, there will be a great deal of swelling and trama to the surgery area that must heal before you know the full scope of Nicky's recovery.

A couple of weeks out from surgery we followed a walking therapy schedule at home that she tollerated well and she made a full recovery. There was crate rest involved....not particually pleasant for any of us...BUT you have to give your baby time. Where he is immedately following surgery or even four or five days out is not where he will necsarily be forever.

Hang in there am sending out corgi prayers and hugs! ^,,^

PS remember that Nicky is also suffering from some swelling and trama now....that being said even though he can not walk at this very time that does not mean that he will not walk again. When the swelling on his spinal cord goes down it will relieve some the pressure and allow the spinal cord to begin to allow the nerve endings to function properly. This is not always the case but please know that there is hope in many situations particularly when he got medical attention as quickly as you got it for him.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on May 8, 2012 at 4:12pm

Thanks for sharing, its nice to know someone that has gone thru it. Did AJ have a herniated disc to. Nickys is bleeding out tho, thats scary. Anyways i am preprared for a long recovery, whatever it takes. The surgeon that called me about the recovery, said they were goin to keep him a couple days. And maybe on the second day do therepy with his rear legs to get the circulation going again, i guess that is critical after recovery. I think i would feel more comfortable if they did keep him a bit longer, i will have to consult with them on that. I'm sure they would know more what to do then me. I'm sure its not going to look pretty.

Thank you for you thoughts and prayers.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle on May 9, 2012 at 10:05am

Aj's disc was bulging so badly it was bulging into her spine and the term they kept using was it was about to "blow out". They explained to me that was when the disc blew up and embedded in the spinal cord.....A much more serious matter. To answer your question it was herniated. But I really want you to know that my breeder has known of dogs with fully herniated disc that blew out and were not able to walk that sucessfully completed rehab and walked after surgery. She actaully had a female that went on to carry a liter of pups full term (they did a c section). Surgery can be VERY sucessful for their long term health.

AJ came home with a railroad track of staples on her back and her fur shaved around it. Our therapy was short walk in the morning, at lunch, when I got home from work, and at night. She was a sofa hound so she had to stay in her carrier when we were not at home so she would not jump. She looked so sad.

She lived 8 years follwing her back surgery with no additional problems other than one time she was monkeying around and pulled her back a little. Hang in there!