Ali's Mum here
Just have to share this with you all
This week didn't start off too well - we had to have our 13 year old English Springer Spaniel, Ben, put to sleep as he was desperately ill
Then Alison developed a really severe chest infection which meant she couldn't go into hospital for the planned three days of physio
After a couple of days of us all crying and feeling desperately sad we decided to take the plunge and buy a new English Springer Spaniel puppy (who we have yet to name)
He has been in the house two days now and is not too manic around Alison's leg - he sits by her side a lot of the time and she has been stroking him and playing with him
As a result we have seen a minor miracle happen in front of our eyes - Her hand is starting to unfold and is now no longer in the tight fist we have seen for most of the past three months - she can now pull out her thumb and the first two fingers to hold a pen once more.
The hospital did mention that one of their patients recovered use of a hand by playing with her pet rats and now we have discovered desensitisation by dog !!!!
I am so happy that after a really hard week things are finally looking up - Its as though Ben has had a word with someone up in heaven and set us back on the right track.
The hospital always felt that it would be easier to get the hand to respond to treatment than the leg, but hopefully this is the start of a chain of improvements which will lead to the recovery we dreamt of !!!!
As for our miracle puppy, all we have to do is think of a name for him .....Any suggestions ????

Finally managed to upload a photo of our new puppy - Don't let the sad expression fool you, he really is a little monster at times

Firstly, I am so sorry about the loss of your dear dog. I know how that goes- very hard!

Oh, how happy I am for you and Ali about her hand unfolding! That is such great news!I am excited for you both, and that's great that your new darling puppy is helping. I do hope she continues to make progress and my thoughts and prayers are with you.

As far as names, I looked at ones that mean "helper" and "strength"- perhaps you'd like a name that had a meaning that meant he helped or gave strength to Ali?

-Matt "helper of humanity"
-Alexander/ Alex defender and helper of mankind
-Ezra helper
-Saidi helper
from: http://www.thinkbabynames.com/search/1/strength/1

Just some thoughts... there are so many names to choose from that naming isn't an easy task.

P.S. He is GORGEOUS!!

Andrea,

What a gorgeous puppyHis name should perhaps reflect the start of better things for Allison--?what about Chance.
I am so glad that it looks as though Allison is getting better. It is so unfair for one so young to have to deal with this sometimes terrifying disease.
Thoughts and prayers for continued progress.
Love Tayla

awesome I am glad that Ali's hand is doing much better. Hope she is over her chest infection soon, they suck. New pup is gorgeous....! springers are the best.. I had one called Woof when I was younger.. he was gorgeous.

Best of luck and hope the hand continues to unfold.

Love

Frogga xxxxxx

PS what about encouraging her to teach him to sit/ lie/ take him to training classes/ brush him (with bad hand)/ put her feet on his tummy to rub it (with bad leg), sit on the floor with him/ play wrestle with him etc? "dog physio!" When I had Fat Pig (a white alsation) and Booboo (another white alsation) they were brilliant for desense, company and ROM. Got to a point where had trained Fatz how to walk on his harness and pull me (in my manual wheelchair) along which was great!! also as Fatz would lick me and Boo would headbutt me that worked as a form of desense.

Alison here
Many thanks for all your replies. I too hope that my arm will get better - I just wish that my leg would do the same thing, I'm absolutely bored at the moment and want to go back to school to see all of my friends.
I like some of the names that you have picked for our new puppy - we will decide which one is the best when we get some more names, I like the name Bruno.
Vanessa - many thanks for all of your support through all of this, you have been brilliant, if you need any help just ask me. I like the name Alex for our new dog. Many thanks
Tayla - many thanks for wishing me good luck and thanks for saying that the puppy is cute - hes a bundle of trouble.
Frogga - Many thanks for all of your replies and advice - you too have been great. I like the names of your dogs, they are kinda funny, lol. I have been trying to rub my bad leg on the puppys fur, but it is really painful at the moment. I have been trying to teach the dog some tricks - we are going to take him to puppy classes when hes had his final vaccination.
When we took the puppy for his jabs he was ever so good, he didn't even jump when the needle went in. He was a bit shy, but when we gave him some dog biscuits he was straight there.
Will keep you up to date with my progress
Many thanks and pain free hugs
Alison

Oh, I'm glad Ali's doing better. She's such a nice, warm person.

I *LOVE* the puppy. He's so precious.

How about 'Milagro' -- it's Spanish for 'Miracle'

You know, it's really sad about losing Ben. But, I believe he's finished his work here and has gone onto his next life.

I believe that The Universe guides our steps where we need to go next -- sometimes we go as 'teacher' because we have to pass on something that we've learned; sometimes we go as 'student' because we still have more to learn. Sounds like a real good student-teacher match-up going on here I'll let you figure out which one is which

Hugs. Welcome back, Ali

Barb

I'm glad i checked here to see his picture- think spaniels are soo cute and sweet. We've had a few spaniel mixes over the years.

I was thinking along the same lines of "Miracle" or something that means similar , or in another language or a different spelling.

Ohh Ali I am so glad things are turning around for you hon, pets are wonderful therapy for us.. I think mabie it would help for the foot desensitising if you just rested your leg/foot against the fur to start (psst.. yr pup looks like mabie a "frobo" to me) I hope your feeling better cold wise.. it's amazing how uncomfortable a cough can be for the RSD areas.. shakes it up some ay.

Boo is also a name that pops into the head when looking at that picture too.. or doodle.. then you can call him doodle bug..

Hugz Ali and Andrea you are a blessing to us here,
Sandra

my little pom died a year ago last week..i still miss her....she never even knew she was a dog....always on my lap or in my arms..............

but getting a new little one is a great idea....and it is helping with your hand too.........i opt for the name 'miracle' too........good luck with the obedience training and new tricks...................my friend has a large malteze, and she taught him how to do situps........i swear, he pulls up and goes back down...so funny...........

sounds like you need to join in on our road trip....bring the puppy too....he may get along great with joans horse............