Spring (and Regeneration) is In The Air

 Yesterday the sun was shining and it was one of those days in which the leaves seemed to glow like good chalcedony. I walked over near a peach tree I'd had for 6 years or so which never had gotten a successful crop before (what peaches it had the first year promptly fell off and never reappeared) and lo and behold this year there are peaches growing! They were very well camouflaged because if I hadn't been looking at a certain angle and the sun hadn't been shining in just the right direction I might have walked right by and missed them altogether!

As you can see here, some are already as big as a golf ball and are showing just a hint of color! Peaches are just about my favorite fruit of all, so I plan on guarding these with my life. Once they get bigger and are closer to being ripe I'll wrap each one in mesh to keep out the bugs and birds. I'd say there are probably 20 or 30 on this tree. I planned ahead to save on my grocery bill, and it seems this has finally paid off.

The two Granny Smith Apple trees in the back yard have only gotten one or two apples in the past year or so, but if the peach tree is bearing fruit that could be a good sign for the apples this year.

Carmella has been having a good time and has been a really good sport while waiting for her leg brace to be made.

She really enjoyed the warm weather and walked and nosed around the yard looking for squirrels and birds. We've got a few nests on the porch's eves that look like they might contain some expectant mothers ready to lay their eggs soon, busily flying back and forth carrying twigs and soft material in their beaks. Carmella finds this fascinating, looking upward and barking as they go about their business.

Then when she tires of that she eventually lies down in the grass to soak in the sunshine.

I stayed out there for hours to catch her in her cutest poses. Getting her to stay still long enough is not easy, but after she'd burned off some of that excess energy I was able to get some really regal shots. She has some really beautiful expressions, but you have to get very lucky to catch her in those before she moves or changes how she holds her face.

A friend of mine says she looks like Gene Simmons when she pants.

Finally she was hot and tired and went onto the back porch to lie down in the shade.

Next for Carmella; I need to continue looking into contacts and pertinent research for Carmella's stem cell transplant to regenerate the ligament tissue and neural cells.

I've been preparing for the show coming up in just two weeks, getting all my ducks in a row. My jewelry shop sales number continues to hover at 89 sales. Need to break that soon. It's been stuck there since January 21st.

Please help Carmella and consider making your purchases at http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/  for your Mother's Day gift or any other occasion for which you might want jewelry and in the process get yourself or a loved-one some unique and beautiful jewelry.  If you've looked, hearted, (or didn't) and said to yourself "someday" this would be a good time to take the plunge.

Also, please keep the donations, blog ad purchases, and supply sales coming. Each of these will bring me closer to my goal. Thanks to everyone who has helped so far. Blog, tweet, and spread the word to all dog-loving buddies!

For jewelry:

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com

For supplies:

http://GiftbearerSupply.etsy.com

Happy Birthday, Carmella!

Well, time sure has flown! Carmella is 2 years old today. She still looks and behaves much like a puppy, but sure enough she's all grown up.

I took some more beautiful shots of her.

This dog has a real sense of humor, and a presence which is almost human.

Sometimes I wonder whether she understands alot more about what's going on than I even realize.

On Saturday I went with a friend to Dr. Norwood's office when she was taking her dog in and got a chance to ask him whether he'd put in the referral for Carmella's MRI. He'd been sick with the flu that's been going around this winter, but told me he was going to get on it now and that somebody  at the specialty clinic could help pave the way for the MRI and a full neurological work-up.

Tonight while I was taking pictures of her eating she put her right front leg in that position I sometimes see in which her arch flattens almost all the way to the floor. I snapped a picture just before she moved it.

I hope we can get the right people on this to repair the damage. There are at least a few other dogs who could also benefit from this help if we can identify which of the various techniques will be the most effective.

Over the weekend I was reading alot of journal articles about stem cell transplant techniques, and there seem to be several versions currently being used. Luckily for Carmella, many of these are being done currently in dogs or at least are not illegal for use in dogs right now!

One foundation completely devoted to stem cell techniques and technology has put together a team of the top specialists in the world who are on the cutting edge of research in the field. Each of these specialists have their own sub-specialty and focus within stem cell research. Some of them are physicians for humans, and some are PhD level scientists. I plan on contacting some of them to see whether they can help brainstorm and solve Carmella's problem.

I didn't have a gift to give her today, but if we can restore her to the way she was before Distemper uprooted her life, that will be the best birthday present anyone could wish for.

Healing The Damage of Distemper-The Next Leg of the Journey

It's been a year as of October 1st, 2009 since Carmella has had the CSF procedure and though she's done alot of healing it appears that the myoclonus in her right front leg still remains. Generally everything that will heal on its own will have done so after a year.

Her leg has over time become somewhat weakened as though she has a fallen arch and that appears to be from holding it in an awkward position much of the time in an attempt to balance herself. The wrist looks somewhat elongated compared to the other and she holds it up off the ground or even knuckled over the way a primate holds its hand leaning on it on the ground. This is not natural for a dog and I'm worried if left that way could result in further weakening, and atrophy.

Dr. Norwood noticed this too the last time he saw her in the office, and it has continued to worry me. Initially I was looking into the use of Quinine but only found one research paper but then was not able to find it again to give him.

I started thinking about stem cell transplant, as I have heard more and more about this in human spinal cord regeneration. Since Distemper-caused myoclonus generally originates in the brain stem or spinal cord around the shoulder of the dog it occurred to me that maybe if a stem cell transplant could be done on that area that was damaged by the virus Carmella could regenerate new myelin!

When I did a search I found that MS has been particularly challenging for scientists to treat with stem cell replacement because there is a missing link in the technique that would make it more complete for that disease which is not as complex in other diseases and injuries.

MS in humans is closely related to canine distemper in much of its biochemistry, but my hope is that the reason MS is so tricky to treat with stem cell replacement is that research has been done on non-cured patients, whereas Carmella no longer has active distemper (so the damage , I believe, would more closely approximate a regular spinal cord injury).

I'm thinking she may need an MRI to find out exactly where the damage exists and whether it's just one small area or whether it's more than one.

I found this company that offers stem cell harvesting from the dog and preparation for transplant; http://www.vet-stem.com/

They mostly mention things like ligaments, but I found alot online about the possibility of CNS applications for it, so I think this just might work!

Carmella does not look very comfortable having to live with the constant jerking and a leg that seems like it might or might not support her weight at any given time, and at times her wrist nearly lies flat on he ground when she doesn't hold it knuckled over, looking more like a hoof sometimes than a paw, so if I can get this for her, and it works I'll be thrilled.

If Carmella's experience proves successful this will provide alot of hope to other dogs out there who did not get the Distemper treatment soon enough to prevent this sort of permanent damage!