Henna's Journey...: #5 Day of Snoball Training

A MIRACLE!

Henna was 2 years old when she was admitted to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury. She had been thrown against a concrete wall by her biological father for crying too long. She had two depressed skull fractures, old blood on the brain from previous abuse, a lacerated liver, collapsed lung, suspected sexual abuse, and shaken baby syndrome. Henna coded while on the way to the hospital via helicopter and was brought back to life only to go into surgery to relieve pressure on her brain. She was not expected to live through the night. Henna was in a coma for one month hanging on to life. Then the miracle happened! Henna woke up and was able to move all her limbs and speak, shocking all of the medical professionals. We took Henna into our home and shortly after her arrival she started having seizures.

Henna's journey continues as we try to control her seizures. She received the Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) on Feb. 4, 2011 at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC. The VNS will send an electrical impulse to Henna's brain every 3 minutes for 30 seconds to interrupt her seizures. Over two months we have increased the electrical current and we have seen no change in her seizure activity. It looks as though Henna is in the third of children who receive a VNS that sees no relief from the VNS. We are very disappointed! We have started her on a new medication in addition to her current medications. Maybe it will help.

On August 6th, 2012, Henna had a full corpus callosotomy. This surgery is for people who have generalized seizures with no focal point. The corpus callosum is a band of nerve fibers located deep in the brain that connects the two halves (hemispheres) of the brain. It helps the hemispheres share information, but it also contributes to the spread of seizure impulses from one side of the brain to the other. A corpus callosotomy is an operation that severs (cuts) the corpus callosum, interrupting the spread of seizures from hemisphere to hemisphere. Seizures generally do not completely stop after this procedure (they continue on the side of the brain in which they originate). However, the seizures usually become less severe, as they cannot spread to the opposite side of the brain.

Henna received a white Labradoodle, Leo, from 4 Paws for Ability in Oct. 2010. We sent 4 Paws 2 shirts a week to help train her dog. One shirt was when Henna had a seizure and they used it for her dog to smell the chemical change during her seizure. The other shirt was when Henna had NOT had a seizure. This helped her dog differentiate between the two scents. It's a fascinating process. We trained for 10 day in Ohio with Leo and a trainer before bringing Leo home.

Leo had been going to school with Henna but started to bark and growl at different people when they came into her classroom. We worked with Leo's barking and growling when people would knock on the door and for a while he seemed better. He is very protective at home also. He then barked and growled at some boys who came into Henna's classroom and had to be removed from school. The trainer at 4 Paws said that some dogs bond so closely with their child that they become protective. Leo took on Henna's classroom as another home and felt he had to protect her. Sadly, because of his aggressive behavior, Leo can no longer be a service dog. The trainer said Leo would behave lthat way with any child he bonded to. Just his nature. We will keep Leo as a pet. Leo LOVES being just a pet. He still alerts to Henna's seizures and lives to get his hot dog reward!

Henna now has Snoball, a beautiful Golden Retriever. Snoball was born June 3, 2011. She is so sweet and a bundle of energy! Sno is doing an excellent job alerting to Henna's seizures BEFORE she has them! She is alerting up to one hour before Henna has a seizure. Sno goes to school with Henna and proudly wears her school ID badge. Snoball will be a great seizure alert dog and will serve Henna well.

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Saturday, July 21, 2012

#5 Day of Snoball Training

Today was a day of sitting and listening. We received a lot of information on grooming, medical, toys, and health care for our dog. We learned about what brushes were best for each dog, what toys for different chewers, flea and tick control, ear cleaning, teeth brushing, clipping nails, bathing, as well as heart worm medication, etc.

We talked more on seizures. One of the boys in the class had a seizure and his dog barked and sniffed him. Henna had about 7 seizures while she was sitting on the couch. Sno was interested and sniffed a little. Henna then lay on the floor and Sno started to lick her mouth and ears nonstop. Sno also started rubbing herself up against Henna's head, like dogs do when they roll on a dead animal to mask a scent. Jeremy said this was because of the scent Henna was emitting. Henna ended up having a seizure 5 minutes later. Go Snoball!!! Henna had so many seizures that Jeremy said the air was full of the scent. He thinks what will happen is that Snoball will weed out the smaller seizures and alert for the bigger ones. We'll take anything! Another dog was all over her boy yesterday and also today. The dogs are doing well and getting better with each day.

Snoball is one of the more active dogs in the class and does get bored and restless. She is up and down and constantly stealing her neighbor's toys. She doesn't think her toys are good enough even though they are basically the same. Silly girl. She does love to run when she gets a break.

We enjoyed watching Minnie Pearl do her hearing work, as you can see in the video. Tomorrow is another day at the mall.