Miss Lola: Acupuncture and Paralysis

Lola was a shelter dog. They found her when she was only 5 wks. old. She only knew the warmth of her mother and litter mates for a very short time, if at all.

Lola is super smart, super strong, incredibly tenacious and stubborn. She figured out patterns in our life that we didn't even know we had, like realizing when my husband is complaining about misplacing his wallet, it means we are getting ready to leave the house. It didn't take us long to go back on a promise we made to each other that she would not sleep with us. Alas, she has been sharing our sleeping space since she was a puppy.

Last Tuesday, Lola lingered in the bed while my husband and I sleepily moved through our early morning routine of getting milk for our toddlers- identical twin boys. Lola's entrance
into the room was preceded by somewhat of a spill onto our wood floor in the bedroom. We laughed to ourselves, "That crazy Lola! What is she up to now?" When she made it into the room, she didn't jump on the couch but lay down in a weird position. My husband went over to her. "Are you okay, girl?" She tried to stand up, but fell onto her side. She kept
trying to walk and failing and we were completely freaked out.

I quickly got dressed and drove to our integrative veterinarian. I knew the office would be jammed pack and full as usual. People drive from all over the state to get into this office,  but I had to get her seen right away.
 
The staff got us in and our veterinarian entered the room and sat on the floor with her as he started examining her. He shared the results of her neurological exam with us - Lola could feel one back paw, but the other, nothing. Her reflexes were weak. She could stand on 3 legs with support, but as soon as she would try to walk, Lola would fall. Neither back legs could even hold her.

As our veterinarian covered our options and the evidence for each part, we were glad we had insurance. No matter what happened we could work out the expenses, so now we just had to decide on the best course for Lola. We talked about seeing a board certified neurogical specialist and the possibility of needing surgery. We were leaving town the next day and this was so stressful. The doctors set up all the paper work and we notified the specialist so if she needed surgery it would all be worked out.
 
We decided to try an integrative approach using injected cortisone, homeopathic medicines and acupuncture. This made sense to us and the surgery option was still available should she not respond.

Our integrative approach worked magic. I hesitate to use the word magic because when it comes to holistic medical therapies many think of it as exactly that - magic- something immeasurable, improbably and impossible to prove.
 
Not true.
 
My dog had acupuncture. Yes, our "crazy Lola", our tenacious, rambunctious, sassy dog fell asleep when the last needle went into place. If you knew our dog, you would think that would be an impossibility. When I tell this to people who know Lola, I first tell them she had acupuncture. They look at me a little like, "Seriously? You think that works on a dog?" But when I tell them how she reacted, they see how powerful it
must have been. She is also on some homeopathic remedies.

I don't know how it works. But it works. We watched her relax and improve each hour that first day. By the end of the first day Lola was standing and wobbling as she walked with the assistance of a sling. They did daily acupuncture for three days and she simply never looked back.

I will never be able to thank our integrative veterinarians and their staff enough for bringing our family member back to us. She didn't have to encounter any surgery- just a gentle, effective medical therapy.
 
And it worked.
We are forever grateful. We became One In A Million members of the Foundation today because Lola is One In A Million, our veterinarians are two in a million and we just have to support something as important as the work being done at the AHVM Foundation.