17 January 2012

Milestones

We've had many milestones in our partnership together, but none are quite so integral as the one we have made today.

Today Thane is six months seizure free. Though all but one of his seizures were mild, the mere fact that we have achieved such a victory so soon and especially the knowledge that this was not about epilepsy but about Lyme- well it's a big deal.

During my partnership with Chimette, it was a constant struggle and evaluation process to keep his seizures and the disease' symptoms under control. When I look back, I see it as it was- a very hard and stressful life that played a big impact on our partnership. I swore I would NEVER work a partnership through epilepsy again.

Then Thane began seizing last spring. It was a quiet nightmare I tried hard to minimize the impact on me of. Of course for Thane, there was an answer to be found that would actually cure him of seizures. It's too soon to have that *cured* feeling just yet, but six months is a good running start towards that. I don't believe he will have another seizure again or that I am having false hope believing that Thane's seizures were caused by Lyme. I just need some time before I am ready to sink my teeth into and truly believe in a cure from seizure activity.

But today is a good day. It is a day to celebrate six months free of seizures. This is a VERY GOOD THING!

09 January 2012

Pawsitive Moves Toward Many Tomorrows

As time moves along, I'm beginning to see what helps are contributing to benefits in various symptoms of Thane's overall picture. There've been some really positive changes in home life especially. Thane is so much more at ease. He is the calmer dog I once knew before all of the skin upheaval and anxiousness took over. This has at the least been mostly from what Lyme did to him.

With a good collagen support protocol in place, I began to see this relaxation and as a result diminishing needs from Thane to chew on himself. I suspected that it was from this support, which has had good benefits for his skin, coat, and eyes at the very least. I was wrong though, that diminished anxiety appears directly related to a homeopathic remedy that meets his symptom picture and is one used with many who have Lyme (bearing they have the right symptom picture)

Between the collagen protocol and his remedy, we have added more potency to his Lyme regimen which has been the most awesome experience (OK some days I don't think that). I feel like I am getting to know this wonderful dog all over again and watching symptoms resolve that had a bearing on whether or not he would ever return to full duty again. Its been a very special time lately experiencing that revitalization.

Those following my regular blog, Through a Guide's Eyes, know that things have improved so much that we are back to training again. That does not mean that Lyme is completely behind us. We have another month of meds before re-testing will confirm or deny this. We are at a place though that I never imagined we would be again. So much has resolved itself- things that I did not even realize were from Lyme have changed or are changing.

Thane's begun to take initiative in things he never would have, shown a silly clown-like side to himself and been a joy to watch come alive again (when I am not running on empty that is) One of the funniest things he did recently was to deliberately plunk his ball in his water bowl, bob for it, then bring it back to me dripping wet to be thrown Oh My! Who is this Dog?

What a life we will have together after all of this!