Cory’s Story

Cory’s last seizure was on May 22, 2005.  I was very concerned that the recent MRI and surgery which he had for Cauda Equina Syndrome would cause his seizure threshold to lower and he would be having them again, but he is getting a little stronger every day and it seems if it was going to happen, it would have by now.  My heart goes out to anyone who is still battling the seizure monsters.   Cory wishes all of you a happy day!

Today is Cory’s 13th birthday!  He was in a happy mood this morning, and we took extra time to snuggle with him before we got our day going.  He wants me to say hi to all of the people who care about him, and to thank you for following his story.  We completed our first month of hydrotherapy with yesterday’s session, and he is gradually getting stronger and walking with less limping.

It’s been 7 weeks since cauda equina surgery, and Cory’s hair still isn’t growing back very well, so we applied Dermagic Skin Rescue Lotion to help heal the wound and promote hair growth. Here’s the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB2JWHNkfAI]

Quick update: Cory’s Story is in the hands of the publisher now and we’re so excited! We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

P.S. – If you’re interested in the Dermagic Skin Rescue Lotion, visit Dermagic’s website at http://www.dermagic.com

Hey everyone!  This video shows how Cory is doing on Mother’s Day.   Note how he walks fluidly, almost without any limping.  He wanted to go further but we don’t want to have him overdo it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTgNIkJ_L8o]

Hey everyone!

There was family in town on Wednesday so I got to go home and visit Cory. I’m very happy to say that I am seeing tremendous improvement! Sandy beamed as she told me that she had just taken Cory for the best walk he’s had since the surgery. She described how he’s figured out a way to walk “like a panther” in which he just seems to get into a zone and walk very methodically, seemingly without any pain. When he walks around the house he still limps on his front shoulders, but there doesn’t seem to be any pain in his hind legs anymore.

He definitely also has much more feeling back in his hind legs. Before the surgery, it seemed that he would just lose control of them. He’d be standing and then his hind end would collapse underneathe him. I haven’t seen that happen once since the surgery, though he is still a little wobbly in the hind end. This is more likely due to atrophied muscles though, since he hasn’t been able to get much exercise since the surgery.

He had his first hydrotherapy session a couple weeks ago and his next one is coming up in a couple days. We have talked with several people who absolutely swear by the effectiveness of it, so we are staying positive about the potential results. Of course, the goal is to get Cory physically healthy enough to be able to swim and take care of himself this summer during our usual camping trips.

Oh, and one last thing – Sandy has submitted the book “Cory’s Story” to a publisher, so it’s just a matter of time before the book is released! Hang in there!

I took this photo of Cory last night.  He likes it when I let him babysit his beloved tennis ball.  He is not yet able to chase after it.  It has now been 5 weeks since his surgery for Cauda Equina (ruptured disks).  He is so happy to be on the mend!

We were a bit apprehensive because we tried hydrotherapy about 6 months ago and Cory was extremely stressed out by it.   But yesterday’s session was just awesome.  We were instructed to leave for session, which was about 40 minutes.  We came back at the appointed time to find Cory in the arms of the owner/therapist, in the heated pool, with his eyes closed and his body completely relaxed.  He was getting a massage and obviously enjoying it very much.  I spoke softly to the therapist and Cory did not even open his eyes at the sound of my voice.   He got out of the pool reluctantly, and didn’t make a sound the whole ride home.  I have never seen him that mellow except for when he was on pain medication.  We have sessions scheduled once a week now through the end of July.  Although it’s too early yet to see any direct benefit of the hydrotherapy on Cory’s body, I have every expectation that it will do him a lot of good.  Thanks for your words of encouragement for Cory’s continued recovery!

Yesterday marked the 4th week since Cory’s surgery.  Over these past 4 weeks I have taken him for “little” walks which have not amounted to more than about 50 steps beyond the top of our driveway, just to keep his muscles moving.  But on Sunday Cory and I went for our first real walk through the neighborhood, probably about a mile.  Cory did very well!  He did not lose his balance even once.  Although he still walks on his hind knuckles occasionally, that has improved.  The vet’s assistant says that the knuckle walking is the last thing to go on the road to recovery from this kind of operation, so we are not concerned about it.  Cory drew a crowd of wide-eyed children on our walk, who were fascinated with his shaved back and healing scar.  I let them touch the scar and rub the peach-fuzz that is growing back.  Cory loved the attention, and the kids loved the experience.   We start Cory in hydro-therapy tomorrow afternoon, and are looking forward to his further recovery!

Here’s the video I promised. It shows Cory moving around and doing some tricks 3 weeks after surgery on his spine for cauda equina syndrome.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHsbERbuNwQ]

These pictures are of Cory 3 weeks after Cauda Equina surgery. His back was shaved for the surgery and his hair is slowly growing back. But it seems to be growing back very slowly.

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