‍Living with Henry has made me more aware of some of the profound challenges posed by this affliction. It has offered a glimpse into the myriad difficulties faced by a person with muscular dystrophy and the families who are affected by it.

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‍CONDITION: GOOD

‍Henry has had some increase in his rear limb shakiness. One evening, on his nightly burro-watch walk, his right footfall was not as sure as it had been. We paused; he wanted to continue. He had weakness on his right side but no signs of spasm or shakiness. Next evening, both legs had intermittent shakiness and weakness. Henry, also, took frequent “flop” breaks. Back into the House of Henry!

‍On Saturday, Henry was home alone for a few hours. When I returned, he was as happy in greeting me as usual. He greeted his visitor, his neighbor/girlfriend, Kaos, on the porch. But, Henry had significant shakiness in both rear limbs. He was not able to maintain interaction with Kaos as he was not able to maintain standing.

‍I observed Henry for a while and he remained bright and alert. He did not seem to experience pain, yet needed to lay down to drink and have “flop-downs.” Henry’s best guy pal, Mr. Bones, came over to the porch, too! Henry was so happy and excited. However, Henry did not trot along with Mr. Bones through the house as he usually does.

‍Play dates ended and Mr. Bones’ Mom gave Henry a kiss on the top of his head before they left. OMDog I wish I had a picture of that to show you!

‍The remainder of Saturday and Sunday were rest days for Henry. He remained Bright and Alert buy only Reactive in a very limited way. The enforced limits on his activities definitely caused him to be bored. (So, he made use of that time to grow more fur — and was his best sneaky self, grabbing anything that he could convince himself was his toy!!

‍RESPIRATIONS: Tachypnea with lip-flewing more frequently than cheek puffing. He could still breathe through his nose with his mouth closed, and still had diaphragmatic breathing while lying on his side.

‍CARDIAC: Tachycardia occasionally at rest, and some pounding.

‍PLAN: Observations over these past four days do not indicate a new problem. Therefore, we shall proceed at Henry’s rate and adjust accordingly.