Sunday, May 17, 2015

Henry’s Coming Back

We know we can get long winded with the blog lately, so we will give a short version for those in a rush. For those that have time for the all in version, we will offer that, too. So, here is the short version: Henry is truly making a come back (He says, "Don't call it a come back because I never left!")

Now, the longer story with some analysis. There are 2 Henrys. Traumatized Henry (TH) and Almost Healthy Henry (AHH). There is pun intended that the Almost Healthy Henry's acronym spells ahh. It is literally a sigh of relief. Anyway, TH behaves anxiously. TH falls into a routine of Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD). TH is quick to have his world crumble at the first sign of routine being broken. TH melts down when he is home alone. That's TH. TH is still a sweet boy but he is distracted by the demons in his own head. TH wants to relax and be AHH but he struggles with all the changes that have happened over the last year. TH misses his siblings, wonders why they are not there; misses his vision, wonders why it has failed him, struggles with why he can't navigate with ease anymore. TH is not as trusting as he once was of his OBP peeps. TH is depressed and sad.

Now for AHH! AHH has learned to mentally map the house. AHH has also gotten better with mentally mapping Grammy's house (it helps that the 2 homes are laid our similarly). AHH no longer has to compulsively go in an out 5-15 times before bed time before he can settle for the night (he's down to 2-3 times on average and if he's really pooped, then it's just once!). AHH has gained the ability to be a bit more patient when he realizes that he is home alone. Instead of immediately melting down, he will go potty, get a drink of water, settle somewhere, check again if someone came home, yelp for help but then settle again and attempt more patience. AHH has become confident on walking outside and picking up cues such as where paths change texture (no grass to grass, low grass to tall/weedy grass, concrete to mulch, etc.). AHH is coming to terms with the loss of his siblings. His depression is lifting. His physical and overall health are improving. His mental health is also improving. He's able to enjoy things that he'd once forgotten (like lounging in the sun, chewy sticks and long walks).

We knew that his healing would take time. We planned on that investment. We actually both over estimated this and under estimated this. In some regards we expected him to get better pretty quickly (like get used to being the only dog and after his cancer we thought he was going to be ok after a short time). But then once he had the seizures and the brain issues and then also went blind he really went even more down hill after that and I am not sure we thought he'd ever get any better. (It was probably our own depression and helpless/hopelessness that made us feel that way. Time may heal all wounds but how the heck do you get THROUGH that time to see what the other side may look like? We were struggling.) But now, AHH is doing better than we truly expected. And we only expect him to keep getting better! We see how good he is doing and we want him to do GREAT! And we just know he can! We think TH is almost gone. AHH is here for the most part and we are looking to the future with just good old H.

So, here's to Henry! #HenryStrongAllDayLong #HenryIsGettingBetterAllTheTime #HenryIsTheComebackKid