Aerosmom

I do remember meeting you while I was there freaking out when Snickers's remaining front leg was seeping blood. Not my best moment. Usually I am a little calmer. We ended up losing Snickers just before her fourth chemo -- either a seizure or a blood clot. I have been at the vet referral hospital a little too often this year. It sounds like Dr. Troxel thinks it's something like GME because the spinal tap didn't show any signs of cancer. It's been five days since the cytarabine and Cricket is a little better, still very wobbly. Did it take your Sara a long time to bounce back? How old is she? Cricket doesn't have seizures, and the inflamed areas were only in her spinal cord as far as what was visible on the second MRI. I am feeling a little more hopeful today. When I went to take Aero and Kanga Roo for a walk today, Cricket stood up and came to me as if she was going too, but then she fell. I am going to take her to her favorite place where the squirrels run all over the pathway soon. I bet it would really boost her mood. How is your Sara doing now? I just made an appointment for swimming so Cricket can build up her muscles and strength again. The prednisone really wastes her muscles and it's been well over a week with very little activity. Who is Sara's doctor? Cricket's is Dr. Troxel, who has been great. I was really impressed at how sweet the vet techs were to Cricket when she stayed there overnight. Do you drive to Woburn for the cytarabine injections? I guess you have the option of administering them at home too, but I was a little leary of my ability to do it right. Thanks for your words of encouragement!

That's okay -- there's a lot of stuff to read. Cricket has been on pred since August of 2006. However, it's not helping her at this point and she's getting some negative reactions to it -- thin skin, muscle atrophy, etc.. The neurologist also suggested trying another chemo drug Lomustine. But I think at this point I think I'll see how she does over the next few days.

Today Cricket is a little better. I heard from her neurologist and her spinal tap was pretty much the same as it was 14 months ago. So all the signs point to an autoimmune disease -- at least not cancer. Right after I spoke with him and said that she wasn't doing so well, I held a treat up and she stood up and walked toward me (for a turkey/duck jerky treat of course. ) I also made her walk (towel assisted) a bit in the yard by tossing treats a few feet in front of her so she would go forward -- we made it from the front to the back and then another few hundred feet and back. Thankfully she is such a big food hound. After Speaking with neurologist, she doesn't sound too far off, although ideally she'd be walking for greater stretches without trouble. The neurologist suggested PT -- swimming -- and I gave them a call. Last year when all this started I walked her religiously and it really helped her. I think she has to come a little further along before I'm able to do that so the PT sounds like a great way to get her to that point. I feel like a manic-depressive and I'm sure I sound like one too. This has been a very emotional week and I've had little sleep and I feel really drained. Thanks for all the prayers and support. Here's a photo of Miss Cricket (shaved head and all from the spinal tap) in her Halloween candy corn collar.

Is there any way to share some of these links? I'd love to read them, since we're having neurological/autoimmune issues with Cricket. Thanks for thinking of her and the other pups who are experiencing trouble.

Well another day has passed, and it hasn't been the best. Cricket isn't gaining that much more coordination. This afternoon I left her in the sunroom with a marrow bone while I took Aero and Roo for a walk, and when we came home she had fallen on the floor trying to get into the family room. I don't know how long she was stuck lying there but it broke my heart. We weren't gone for much longer than an hour and I really thought that she'd be busy with the bone and not be interested in getting up from the cushion. I spent a good part of this afternoon trying not to cry. I love this girl. She has the prettiest sweetest face that just lights up when you are in the room with her. It breaks my heart. I can look at her body and it's a shell of what it once was. When we got Cricket she was an incredibly strong, muscular girl who didn't fear anything. Now her muscles in her legs, especially rear have atrophied. I have walked her every day to keep up her strength, but it seems like this last stretch of time really wiped her out. being in a crate at the hospital didn't help, but the few days leading to her chemo weren't the best and she really couldn't walk. I watch her face light up when she watches little Roo and it breaks my heart that she might not be here to see Roo grow up. I am completely devastated that I am going to have to say goodbye to another dog at such a young age. I can't even begin to imagine how this is going to rip out the heart of my daughter, who has a special bond with Cricket. But in my heart I think I know that this is not the best of life for my beautiful fawn girlie. It'd be an easier decision to make if she was in pain, but I guess quality of life counts too. Intellectually I know that we've been lucky to have had her for so long after the onset of this. Has anyone else had to make such an agonizing decision? It seems as if the neurologist is telling me that there isn't much left to do and it's a quality of life issue. Are we being selfish to keep her alive at this point? She loves treats and meals and hugs and being with us still. The only consolation is that maybe her sister Snickers will meet her at the bridge and they'll be able to run together again.

I understand how you feel. It's a really difficult, sad time.

I have removed eight ticks from Aero today alone. It is horrendous right now! Gulp. I'm not far from Plum Island at all. I'll have to look up that book too.

Sending prayers for Sally! And hugs to you Bev.

She looks really good and in good spirits too. It should get easier as each day passes too. Hugs and kisses to your beautiful brave Darcy!

Update: Cricket is ok, but no dramatic changes yet. She is able to walk a very short distance but she still isn't stable. Her bowel control is better and bladder control also better, although having the towel pressing on her bladder doesn't help at times. It makes for interesting times when her pee still has some chemo residue. My washing machine/drier have been running non-stop since we came home. She had a very restless night. We tried to put her on a cushion in an x-pen near the front door and in the doorway of the family room where Aero and Roo, my daughter and I were watching tv. My daughter had been sitting next to her with the "gate" of the x-pen open and thinking Cricket would stay put, had moved to the couch. It didn't take long before Cricket decided to to walk into the family room and go to her usual spot near little Roo. Although it wasn't the most stable/straight walk, she did manage it. I slept on the pullout couch and I think she must have shifted from one cushion to another over the course of three hours, with a potty break in between. After the anesthesia I expected her to be groggy. I think she was very excited and happy to be home. I'm encouraged by her determination and the small steps she's taken. I think the neurologist wants to see a dramatic turnaround in the next few days in order to consider the chemo successful. I'm afraid to get my hopes up because I think he isn't holding out too much hope. They've added Pepsid, Flagyl, and Carafate, as well as Baytril since her running nose has returned. They noticed some blood in her stool, but I looked at her stool today and it didn't seem to have any blood in it. Cricket's appetite is great and she will be getting chicken breast and white rice for dinner. I think she's really happy to be home. Keep praying that she gains more coordination. If she doesn't this is going to be an agonizing decision trying to decide what to do.

I just heard from the neurologist and he saw inflammation in different areas of her spinal cord but not in the orignal spot. Essentially it sounds like unless she turns the corner in the next five days she isn't going to get better and it's a quality of life issue. I don't think this is going to be easy at all because she is so mentally alert and still seemingly happy. Her body isn't doing well on the steroids either, so we are running out of options for her. I don't know how I'm going to get through this. I've been bracing myself all morning to hear this news, and it's really one of the reasons I didn't want to even have the MRI because I didn't feel like it was going to be a good outcome. Maybe a miracle will happen and the chemo will help her, but it doesn't sound too hopeful.

It's going to be a long morning.

Keeping sweet Alan in my prayers.

I'm so sorry.

Oh no! I just saw this. I'm so sorry to read this. Run pain free Sir D.

Sending prayers here too! :hope

We got back about an hour ago from visiting Cricket. They moved her into a HUGE corner space with a mesh bed and tons of room. The tech caring for her was so sweet and said she decided to move her there so she had more room and if she leaked (she still needs help walking so she leaks when you push on her bladder.) it wouldn't be hard to clean up. Cricket really does look much more comfortable. She was busy watching all the activity in the room and then she was fed cat food! I was surprised they gave her cat food, but I guess it's highly caloric, not a bad idea before anesthesia. She inhaled it. So, other than the nagging fact that she isn't that mobile yet, she seems in good spirits, is alert and has a great appetite. We sat with her for over an hour and she snuggled with us. It helps so much to know she's isn't overly stressed being there. What really touched me is the really nice vet tech who moved her into the big corner room with a bed was busy hugging every animal goodbye before she went home. I'm really hoping the spinal tap and MRI give us some answers that we can take positive action on. Keep the GT prayers flowing. She hasn't gotten any worse, which is good. I felt better this a.m. after talking with the neurologist again because it sounds like his number one choice of diagnoses is still inflammatory/autoimmune spinal cord disease. Not the best thing in the world to be facing, but a much more welcome choice than cancer. I've searched the topic here and it seems that some dogs have recovered and are able to manage autoimmune spinal cord disease....I hope everything goes well tomorrow. I trust her neurologist to make good choices and I know he's doing the best he can for her. Maybe the spirit of Snickers is watching out for her sister (Snickers died right in the same room where they keep the ICU/overnight dogs.) We're not ready to give up this fight yet.

Cricket has been on Prednisone for a long time...never heard about the 9 a.m. stuff but I do know that you should give it to them with food as it can irritate the stomach. She's had pm doses too -- so the before 9 a.m. doesn't make sense unless there's some other reason?

Go Bodie! It's nice to hear some good news. I hope the WBC rebounds so Bodie can continue fighting his battle.

With Snickers, she was definately depressed at first. She would go into a remote room and sit by herself and not really pay attention to any of us. It worried me. It took a good two to three weeks before any sense of normalcy returned. it's very hard at first, but look at the post of Bodie running and hear all the stories. Snickers climbed our staircase to the second floor I think the second day home. I think she adjusted easily to the amputation and balance issues becasue she was retired due to a broken leg. I bought all sorts of rugs to help her on the tile and ended up not needed them. We had lots of trouble with screaming episodes, not sure if it was phantom pain or what but they killed me. They stopped eventually. I massaged her a lot -- they have to adjust to their new gait and I think it wrenches a lot of muscles because of the bobbing. Hugs to you. It was a brave decision you made for Darcy and I bet you'll see that it was a great one once you see the old Darcy return.

Cricket is now scheduled for the MRI and spinal tap tomorrow. I postponed it because I wanted to make sure we weren't just going to be confirming a dire prognosis before putting her through anesthesia. So, after talking with her neurologist this a.m., it seems as if it could help her prognosis. He still thinks it's likely an autoimmune condition and that we can try two other chemo drugs if that's the case. I think he wants to rule out a secondary infection with the spinal tap. Keep the prayers coming that she regains some mobility and also pulls through the anesthesia and spinal tap. And also that we can figure out how to get her out of this mess.

Sending prayers!

I stopped in to see her this afternoon, and she didn't look better at all. She ate three pieces of chicken crack and seemed happy to see me though. I was in tears driving home though. Snickers went to the bridge in the same room just a few feet away from the crate she's in August. I'm worried I'm going to have to say goodbye to another dog soon. I almost feel as if the MRI will just help convince us that it's time to let her go.... I'm praying really hard now that the chemo works. I might go visit her again this evening with my daughter -- if we can fight the traffic at rush hour. Keep the prayers flowing!

Update Thursday a.m.: The neurologist wants to do a repeat MRI/spinal tap on Cricket. She's lost a lot of coordination. Today they are switching her to a continuous IV of cytarabine (chemo drug), and hopefully we'll have some encouraging results tomorrow. The possible diagnoses: GME or some inflammatory spinal cord disease, cancer , viral infection, disk problem...I feel like crying, but I want to stay positive. She has to stay overnight again because she had breakfast and they have to wait until tomorrow to do the diagnostics. Pray that something works for Cricket! I hope we can figure out what's wrong with her and that it's treatable.