Emma’s Diagnosis:
Back to Emma’s healing journey, I left us off on the day we walked out of the vet’s office after thinking she just had a strained muscle due to a slight limp (in case you missed it). The day Emma was diagnosed with CCL disease and advanced Degenerative Joint Disorder (DJD). The day we were advised to consider having her go through the process of an invasive surgery. The day our life changed from living carefree with our dog to carefully managing every aspect of it. The day my focus changed in the determination of her lifelong treatment plan. The day I decided to invest in making sure we were getting ahead of it!
I went straight home to do my own research. The skeptic in me had to make sure because ‘how could the vet reach this conclusion for certain without the proper back up tests?’. Truth be told, I was still hoping (perhaps, wishful thinking) he had made a mistake. At that point, all he had done was a clinical evaluation and manipulation of the stifle (Emma’s knee) – which by the way, seemed to have been very painful – and I know this by the loud yelp she let out while looking directly at me in fear. I’ll never forget the sound of her distress or the expression on her face. It was the only gesture I needed as an indication that right then and there I vowed to be her voice. Never again would I let anyone else touch her without asking the appropriate questions (what, where, why, and how….). After all, I’m not known to be a ride-or-die type; at least not just to anyone!
As her dog mom and advocate, I started to research all the options. I spent countless days and nights on the internet learning about her diagnosis, on the phone calling specialists for appointments and getting referrals, reading similar stories to learn from others and the paths they had chosen with reason, talking to people who had already gone through the TPLO surgery, and/or conservative management otherwise since not all dogs are good candidates for the surgical option. I started gathering data – radiographs, second and third opinions from traditional, integrative, and holistic animal specialists as well as veterinarians – ultimately and intuitively concluding to proceed with conservative management since her case was not yet to the point where surgery was our only option. Quickly for content, CCL disease is a progression of the joint deterioration (chronic) rather than a sudden and severe injury development (acute). After a two-hour consultation visit with a highly reputable orthopedic veterinary surgeon, we learned (in short) Emma’s condition was the latter and immediately I decided to get prepared to treat her for the rest of her life – like a deeply rooted plant that required ongoing care and maintenance to keep it under control. Ironic metaphor since I don’t have a ‘green thumb’ though I was determined. I said ‘in short’ but will try to summarize so you understand why we didn’t jump right into surgery. See, the surgeon further explained Emma’s condition shaped through a series of unfortunate events. Let’ digest!
First of all, in the ‘English vs. American – Emma’s Lab Type‘ post I shared that we brought her home way too early when she was only five-weeks old. Well, evidently puppies are to remain nursing from their birth mother (dame) until they are at least 8-10 weeks of age to gain from the benefits of the colostrum during this early development stage. It aids with the evolution of bones, joints, and muscles. That was problem number one! Next, I also shared in the ‘Beyond the Barre‘ post that Emma used to train and run 5k races with me regularly. This is a change in the recommendation since nowadays veterinary science cautions against running puppies until after their bones and ligaments are fully formed and matured (or at least over 12 months of age) to avoid musculoskeletal malformations. Who knew?! Lastly, again another recent change in the veterinary arena, they used to recommend spay and neutering puppies around six months of age. Research has since shown sterilizing your pets before 12-18 months negatively affects muscle maturity in males (interfering with hormones) and risks of mammary tumors in females as well as hormonal imbalances their bodies require for bone growth, joint, and cartilage functionality. Up to this point, I had gathered that her body was malnourished. Striped of nutrients and bodily substances crucial in bloodstream delivery to organs and tissues for proper development of her musculoskeletal system (bones, joints, and ligaments). Then, it hit me; FOOD IS MEDICINE!
Now, I am not a nutritionist so not getting into the nitty-gritty details but I myself had just gone through a period of adjusting my food intake and habits to get some personal health concerns under control. This was a pivotal moment in the discussion for me because after digesting the information the vet had served, I felt that I could prepare and equip her body to feed back those nutrients and hormones through a targeted nutritional plan. A plan that could not only help Emma’s body heal and maintain the current state of her situation but that could also potentially outdo the threat of surgery in conjunction with other preventative measures. That’s when I found the first tool for our box – an integrative (use of traditional and holistic measures) veterinarian that specialized in nutrition as well as prophylactic medicine and treatments, trained in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM).
TCVM focuses on healing the root cause of disease; encompassing a range of modalities from herbal medicine, mind-body exercise, acupuncture and of course nutrition. Truth be told, the fundamentals of this practice were all new to me and I was intrigued. Though more importantly I WAS OPEN MINDED and knew we had to act fast. So here I summarized that 2-hour consultation visit into six (6) minutes read time as a way of introducing the Food Therapy aspect (inclusive of holistic natural herbal supplements) and why tailoring Emma’s diet to treat the imbalance within her body was the first step.
I will be touching on the methods we have approached with Emma to date and share our experience through her healing journey on this page so I hope you have subscribed to this blog by now. Follow along to stay in the loop of her story. A story rewarding enough to be showcased!