The Day Of The Treatment

Friday was the big day of the stem cell treatment. We have high hopes that it will fix Jasmine right up.

Her lameness seemed controlled reasonably well with the pain management we were using.

Reasonably well meaning Jasmine moving without visible problems during the day, and only showing various degree of lameness at night. Of course she'd still want to do everything as she normally would. Getting her to take things a little easy is one of the hardest tasks. Holding her back is sad for her as well as for us.

All we want is to get her body caught up with her spirit once again.
 

Gambit

Getting her to take it easy was even harder on Wednesday, when son showed up on the walk with his Sharpei, Gambit.

Jasmine just loves that dog and really really wanted to play with him. How could we not let them play around at least a little bit? I was very scared but not letting her play at all just was not possible under the circumstances. Or course she did pay for it that night …

We couldn't wait for Friday, getting those stem cells in and letting them do their thing.

Since Jasmine was so good and cooperative getting the x-rays, her vet was hoping that it might be possible to inject the cells under sedation only as well.

Jasmine WAS a good girl, but couldn't help twitching her legs. That was no good, as the stem cells needed to be injected into precise locations. So she ended up having to go under anesthesia after all.

The procedure went well and Jasmine underwent the anesthesia without any complications.

The areas of injection had to get shaved, in order to create a sterile environment. Unfortunately, Jasmine ended up with a bunch of other shaved patches, as they were trying to find a place to draw some blood. Drawing blood from Jasmine is always difficult because finding a vain on her is nearly impossible.


Hubby actually got to be there during the entire procedure; originally to help keep Jasmine steady with the sedation only, but he got to remain even after the plan had to be changed.

He was admiring how the vet and his team are a well-oiled machine.

When Jasmine came home she was still quite groggy and slept until dinner time. She wasn't overly interested in food but I was able to coax her with a bit of turkey. Then she slept some more.

When she finally went to get up, her front left leg was very sore and her rear left leg was quite sore also. In fact, in retrospective, it makes my wonder how much of her wobbliness, which we though was from coming off the drugs, was from pain instead ...

She had quite a hard time getting around again.

I guess the DMSO++ and all that was of much more benefit in terms of pain management than we would figure. Today, since she ended up off all those things, we got a true picture of what the situation really is. (Note to self: the DMSO++ concoction seems to be really good)

It was very disheartening for me to see that (again).

OK, clearly, I'm emotional. I do understand that the stem cells will need some time to work before we can expect to see a true improvement in those joints. Somehow, though, I was not expecting to see her that lame. So her poor vet can look forward to an early morning phone call from me. It would make sense, though, that the lack of pain management for the day would have done it.

Half a kingdom for never seeing Jasmine lame again!

At least not this badly; at least not on a front leg ...

Some dogs show almost immediate pain relief response, even the night after the treatment; we weren't meant to be that lucky so we got to ride it out. We applied the topical treatment again and today she will be back on the original regime.

Come on, little stem cells, do your thing! Do it as fast as you can, please, for my little girl!

Related articles:
Jasmine's Acute Lameness
Jasmine Doesn't Like "Doing Time"
Our Of Jail Free Pass
When It's Looks Too Good To Be True … The Lameness Returns

***

Meet Jasmine
I'm Still Standing! (Happy Birthday, Jasmine)
How Dogs Think (Well, Jasmine Anyway)
How The Oddysey Started: Jasmine's ACL Injury
Jasmine is Vet-Stem's poster child!
Rant About Quality Of Life Versus Quantity, And Differential Diagnoses
Jasmine Is Headed For Her Next Stem Cell Treatment
Jasmine's Stem Cells Are In
Arthritis? What Arthritis? 
Guess Who Is An Ever-Ready Bunny And Really Liking The Bit Of Snow We Got? 
Don't Knock It Until You Tried It: Animal Chiropractic 
Jasmine's Fur Analysis
Back At Chiropractic Care

Further reading:
Jasmine’s Story: Can Chronic Diarrhea and Soft Tissue Injuries be Normal?
Jasmine’s Story: An ACL Injury and a Cancer Scare
Jasmine’s Condition Deteriorates: Another ACL Injury and an Abdominal Abscess
Jasmine Recovers from Surgery and Jana Discovers TCVM
Who’s Minding Your Pet’s Health?
Pet Owner Perspective On Stem Cell Therapy
Difficult to Manage Lameness Treated with Physical Therapy
Our Journey to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine