Rubinka
The following is a letter sent to Nancy Camp from one of her clients.
Rubinka and I were training for a 5-day backpack trip planned for mid-September, 2011. She turned up lame on her front left leg after some typically Airedale “heroic” squirrel chasing during a 3-hour hike just days before our trip. After a phone consultation with the on-call vet, I took her on the trip but kept her leashed most of the time. She did fine, but I could tell it bothered her some. After we returned, I took her to a noted orthopedic veterinary surgeon in the Valley. He determined she sprained her wrist and I was instructed to keep off of it for a while. Unfortunately, after “a while” the wrist hadn’t improved and her spine was bulging in a funny way, so I took her to a local veterinary acupuncturist/chiropractor. The treatments made an immediate difference, and she seemed much happier. These treatments, complimented with herbs, continued regularly through the winter. However, whenever she played even moderately hard or went for a mild hike, I could tell her wrist hurt.
Finally in March, I went back to the orthopedic surgeon. During his second assessment, Rubinka reacted strongly to manipulation of her left hind leg. X-rays revealed a bad hip, the result of some unknown accident when she was a puppy. She had a full hip replacement on April 3rd, one month short of her 4th
birthday. She was one miserable pooch. During each check-up visit at 2, 6, and 8 weeks, the surgeon commented that she just wasn’t walking right. Something about a muscle near the hip that was pried aside for the surgery, but didn’t migrate back into place as it was supposed to. He said this caused her left knee and toes to noticeably flip out when she walked. I was disappointed that he didn’t recommend any physical therapy or strengthening exercises. His only recommendation was to take her hiking and let her run around. He must never have owned an Airedale! They go 1,000 mph with fierce, terrier determination and may turn instantly stone deaf! Plus, she can be reactive to some dogs her size and larger, so this wasn’t a realistic post-surgery option.
My vet tech friend recommended an appointment with you, saying that while she didn’t really understand your techniques, they had worked miracles on her Irish Wolfhounds. At wits end and full of concern for my dear rambunctious girl, I set up an appointment with you.
After your first session, Binka slept 2 hours straight, absolutely without moving. A few hours later when we went on our evening walk, she walked that fast, long-legged walk that makes me hustle to keep up. She hadn’t done that in months.
The next day she ran around the back yard, and I noticed that more often than not she’d halt with both hind legs pretty squared, something she hadn’t done post surgery.
A few days after the first session, I brought in all the squeaky and tug toys banned since the operation, and poured them all onto the floor. Rubinka was overjoyed, picking up the first one and then another and another! Then she did tuck butt runs back and forth in the living room, joy shining from her eyes. Finally, she just crashed and enjoyed a good long nap!
The second session you gave her wasn’t nearly so dramatic, but I saw post-treatment improvements then too. Overall, in the weeks that followed I noticed she was more playful, more relaxed at ease. She moved more easily and her posture was more balanced and square, and when she squatted, her left knee didn’t flip out and up as much.
Was she miraculously cured? No. Her left leg appears to be longer than the right, the result, I believe, of a too-long ball stem, which I fear will give her a permanently longer and unbalanced stride on that side. The left knee still flips out somewhat as do the toes. She’s regaining the superb fitness and can power around the yard. So, thank you! You’ve made a significant difference in the quality of Rubinka’s life, both physically and mentally. I look forward (and I know she does too) to future treatments on her journey to optimal recovery.
Kristin F., Hailey, Idaho
Nancy’s Comments: I used the protocol to take the sympathetic nervous system out of overdrive in the first session and checked the empty/fill rhythms in the heart, lungs, and kidneys paying particular attention to the ureters. I used Functional Indirect Techniques and addressed the gross misalignments in the spine and neck in the following sessions.
I saw Rubinka today (September 19, 2012) and she continues to make progress. Her caregiver is attentive and calls me whenever the dog’s patterns of movement vary from the latest improvement. It’s really nice to work with someone who understands targeting small issues before they become big ones. One thing that makes this dog rather high maintenance is that the leg with the hardware is longer than the other leg so the pelvis will always be un-level.