Hi Dr. Yoza,

Peanut has been dealing with spinal arthritis for over a year now. 　She was managing the pain caused by the arthritis with acupuncture and Chinese supplements. As time passed, the acupuncture results did not last as long. She was having a harder and harder time sleeping and the lack of sleep was showing in her struggling to get around. We decided to give in, and try typical pain killers on July 28th. But even on the most mild, lowest dose, Peanut’s tummy could not handle so we stopped.　 In all her struggling to get up, she apparently pinched a nerve in her neck around August 10th.
Apparently the pain in her neck increased to the point where she could no longer walk or stand. This was about September 14th. In reaction to the pinch nerve, when Peanut laid on her right side, she was able to lie flat. When she laid on her left side, she would curl into a ball to relieve the pain…even if her arthritic spine was being twisted. I will send the picture of Peanut curled in the most extreme that I have seen her do in a separate email because the photo is on my phone.
Peanut’s first appointment with you was on September 17th.　 It was the first night that she actually slept longer than 15-20 minute intervals. We then followed up with treatments on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. By September 27th, she was able to get up on her own and walk a few feet. By October 2nd, she was walking on her own, although stumbling as she walked, she was still getting around on her own. In general, she sleeps for longer periods of time after her appointmenents.
She appears to be so happy to be able to walk that she doesn’t know when to stop and will keep going until her legs buckle under her. As I mentioned above, now it’s like watching a toddler.
On a side note, Peanut was adopted from the Hawaiian Humane Society at an approximate age of 8 weeks. Thus her estimated birthday is November 21, 1998.

Doreen T.