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| Harper on the way to the vet |
Harper went for a CT scan today and the results were heartbreaking. The bone specialist told us that Harper was born with many deformities: The left side of her chest is larger than the right. Her left hind leg is shorter than the right hind, which makes her balancing harder than it already is. All of this, we knew.
What
we didn’t know was how bad her spine was. Her spine is curved so badly you
would think it might just snap! The doctor can only guess that when Harper was in her
mommy’s womb, her mommy had either been exposed to toxins or had been hit hard
enough to hurt the fetus in her.
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| Top view of Harper's spine, which should actually be straight! |
We had sent Harper for a CT scan in the hope that we could
find out if a spinal surgery would benefit Harper, and perhaps, help her walk.
. . . but the news pierced into our hearts like daggers - a surgery would be
very high risk and she may end up paralyzed.
Damage to the spinal cord can cause loss of
voluntary muscle movement, muscle tone, muscle shrinkage, and loss of touch and
pain sensations. This damage may be irreparable.
Harper has very little
sensation on the lower part of her body. I watch how she tries to stand, loses
her balance and knocks full force into furniture, she doesn’t feel the pain at
all. Her spinal problem cannot be fixed, neither will the cells regenerate
itself
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| Still groggy from the GA |
We were told, not only would
she be unlikely to ever walk, she might one day just wake up paralyzed. In
fact, the doctor predicted that within the next 4 to 6 mths, she would be hit
with paralysis.
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Shaved for her scan today |
We have done so much for baby Harper and she
has come a long way. Much as we find it extremely difficult to fathom what has
been said, we knew from the start that she would always be a special puppy.
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| Having her first meal of the day after she got home. She needs her back harness to stand and eat. (The harness is a normal front harness which we use for the rear) |
As for baby Harper, all of 6 months, life has
been a daily struggle. We will continue to give all our love, the best care we
can provide and pray that a miracle will happen.
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| Sweet dreams Baby Harper |
Harper continues to undergo twice weekly
hydrotherapy sessions, while different volunteers take turns to walk her for
half an hour every day after work, to continue to try building her muscles.But what Harper really needs right now is for
a family to adopt her, someone with a garden as that is the only surface she is
able to balance relatively well on. With a bigger space to move around in, we
can then look into getting her a wheelchair of her own.
Harper is also the cover girl of our HOPE 2014
calendar. If you have not placed your orders, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg
