Graciehound

Yesterday's visit was great. We got to see Gracie at 9 AM and again took her outside for some fresh air and time in the grass. She was able to stand and bear her weight on all 4 paws, but needed steadying from us. There were some times we had to hold her up, but she showed us that she COULD be upright! She still was doing the rolling and flopping from one side to the next, but she was able to hold herself up in a sternal position for a longer amount of time. She tried a couple of times to pull herself up, so we'd help her to a standing position. You can tell she definitely wants to move and stand. At one point, she started getting whiney and then tried to pull herself up to a stand. We helped her up, then while I was steadying her backend, she proceeded to squat down and pee - on me! GOOD GIRL! I was so proud of her. She knew she needed to go, knew she should be standing to go potty, and wanted to make it work. She still is tracking objects as she watched me walk back and forth in front of her. She still is bright-eyed. Her skin looked much better yesterday. When we saw her on Saturday, her belly and legs were all bruises. All four of her legs look like they were beat up. They suspect the bruising on her belly was mainly from being shaved for the ultrasound, and bruising on her legs was from IV starts. Her skin was back to it's normal pink color, with the exception of one leg that has a pretty nasty abraision. They're putting special meds on that location to get the skin to heal. On Saturday, her limbs were looking swollen, but yesterday they looked mostly normal. There was one that looked like it might have a small amount of swelling left, but definitely improved. Today they are repeating a CBC to make sure her levels are holding. I am able to visit her again this afternoon. However, Matt is back to work tonight, so he will be sleeping this afternoon. I'm going to make some calls to see if I can find a sitter for Travis so I don't need to worry about watching him while visiting with Gracie. He's been a trooper through all of this, but I know it is hard for a toddler. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers for my girl. Her race name was Styled Princess. I told her yesterday she didn't need to go to such lengths to be called a princess. Sheesh! I'll give her extra hugs and smooches from all of you when I see her today.

We got to visit Gracie yesterday morning. They wheeled her in to the comfort room in a garden cart, and she was holding her head and chest up! When I said something to her, she turned her head and looked at me. She was nice and bright - very alert. We got a few minutes to spend together before Dr. Pettigrew came to see us. We reviewed the MRI and honestly, most of it went in one ear and out the other for me. I was loving on my Gracie. Matt told me later that they discussed the small possibility of a tumor at the site of the stroke, but he said it really doesn't look like it at all. If it was a tumor, it would have been highlighted more because of increased blood flow that tumors usually demand. Gracie was getting bit agitated while we were visiting. I think she was overwhelmed by all of the talking, being taken from her crate and put in yet another new environment. Dr. Pettigrew suggested we take her outside for some fresh air and let her lay in the grass while we visit some more. Once we were outside, she started sniffing and squinting - she LOVES being outside, and she looked so happy. Dr. Pettigrew tried to get her to stand, but she wasn't bearing much weight. He did say that she will occasionally thrust herself forward as if she is determined to get somewhere. We got to see that when she was laying on the ground. She pushed off and moved herself along the ground a little. She also rolled from one side to the other. It's not pretty, but she has feeling and movement in her limbs. That's a good start! At one point, she lifted her head, pushed again, and put her head in my lap. It didn't seem accidental, it seemed purposeful. After about 20 minutes outside, I noticed she was a naked neck greyhound! Here I am constantly educating others at meet and greets about how they must ALWAYS be on leash or in a fenced in yard. They must ALWAYS have ID tags on. And here I am, in the middle of Madison, with my dog laying in the grass - no fence, no collar, no leash, no id tags. We joked that if she got up and ran we'd be cheering for her first! While talking w/ Dr. Pettigrew, I asked about how fearful she might be while adjusting to blindness, especially with a toddler in the house. He said that she still has no menacing response, but it appears her vision is back. The menacing response is very complex, so that may come back in time, but it appears her vision is coming back. Earlier in the morning, he got her attention and tossed cotton balls. She tracked them! When we were outside, he pulled a coin out of his pocket and did the same thing. It was great to see her watch it go up and down. WAHOO! She is continuing to eat when presented with food. It's not pretty. Her proprioception seems to be off - she doesn't seem to know where she is in relation to other things. She stuffs her snout into the water bowl. When I fed her some cooked ground beef, she nibbled it out of my hand, and actually nibbled my hand at one time. She is still in the Critical Care Unit to be able to be monitored for further seizures. She also tries to roll in her cage, and they don't feel comfortable having her doing that without someone in the room monitoring at all times. They don't want to sedate her to stop the movements, so it is better for her to stay in CCU. The minimum standards the hospital has for her to leave are that she must be able to: 1 - eat on her own, 2 - drink on her own, 3 - be able to relieve her bladder on her own. We added that our comfort level is that we want her also to be somewhat ambulatory, as in she is able to hold some of her weight so that I can assist with a sling, etc. When Matt is working a stretch of days, I'm alone all day and night with Travis. I need to be able to manage her care in addition to taking care of Travis. Right now, Gracie is able to do all three of the basic minimums for her to come home. They would like to see her drinking more water than she is, but she is eating on her own and drinking some water. She is able to control relieving her bladder, and she demonstrated that for us yesterday! The most exciting thing, aside from seeing her have more control, was a comment that Dr. Pettigrew made several times. I commented that we understood we will not have 100% of our pre-stroke Gracie back. He said, several times, "Don't be so sure about that." He thinks we'll be surprised by the amount of recovery she is able to make. Matt is still holding off on too much hope, and I am trying to not get myself to worked up, but we do have hope that she will have good quality of life. We get another visit with her today at 9 AM. YIPPEE!

Gracie update: 06/19 ~ 6 PM We worried all day about Gracie's MRI today. We expected to hear from the neurologist around 4 or 4:30. By 5:30, we hadn't heard anything so I called. I finally got through to Dr. Pettigrew, who was about to call. He was just waiting for one more result, which he got while we were on the phone together. GOOD NEWS! NO TUMOR!!!!!! The MRI results showed nothing grossly abnormal and no evidence of gross disease. There was no tumor or evidence of inflammation/infection. The spinal tap came back clear as well. There was a small highlighted area on the mid-brain which indicated a small stroke. However, this area is not a typical location to induce a seizure. It appears that the seizures are cryogenic seizures. She is still extremely affected neurologically. She still is non-ambulatory and has no menacing response. We don't know if this is as a result of the stroke, brain damage, or if it is all related to the many drugs she has been on in the last few days. The phenobarbital loading she experienced can be very hard on some dogs, and it is like they are on a very bad drug trip. The neurologist said that many dogs begin to recover from these symptoms in a week or so. We are hoping she will begin to come out of the drug fog by the end of the weekend. She still is showing signs of blindness. He said it may be 1-2 weeks, or it may be permanent. She may have behavior changes post-stroke. However, despite all of this, he feels she has a great prognosis for recovery. He said several times that this may be very recoverable. We still don't know what caused the seizure in the first place, or why she had status ellipicticus. We may never know. They believe the seizure caused the hyperthermia (she was at a lethal body temp when she got to the ER), and the severe hyperthermia caused the stroke. I get to go visit my baby girl at 9 tomorrow morning. I know that we may never get 100% of our pre-stroke Gracie back. She may have permanent blindness. We can handle that. She may have to be on anti-epileptic meds for the rest of her life. We can handle that. She may have some residual ambulatory issues. We can handle that. As long as she can have a reasonable quality of life, we'll do what we can to make her happy. I'm just so happy to hear that she doesn't have a tumor that would be life-limiting disease. Thank you ALL for the thoughts and prayers on this roller coaster of an experience. I truly believe this is the most continual stress I've ever experienced in my life. AND I GET TO GO HUG MY GIRL TOMORROW!!!!! That's the best stress reliever ever!

Gracie update: 06/19 ~ 11 AM I spoke with the vet this morning around 8:30 and again at 11. Her night was pretty good. No seizures, which means her last seizure was Wednesday morning around 1:30 am. She was trying to get up and re-position herself as she often would at home. When trying to do this, she would actually roll back in her crate. She appeared to get more anxious as she tried more and more and was unsuccessful, so they gave her a sedative to calm her down and let her rest. Overnight she was offered food and water, and ate and drank/ate both times it was offered. The vet said she looks brighter this morning and is more aware of her surroundings. Her neuro exam is about the same. She still has no menacing response, but her left eye no longer appears to be protruding. Her lab values continue to look normal. She wasn't eliciting abdominal pain this morning when palpated. She had the abdominal ultrasound this morning. Her liver and kidneys look fine. Her spleen did seem to be enlarged and the texture was overall normal (smooth) but there were a few rough areas. The vet contributes the size and texture areas to 1- greyhounds having a slightly enlarged spleen compared to other breeds, and 2- all of the medications she has been on in the last 3 days. They did take an aspirated sample, but the impression is that it is all drug induced, not disease. There was a small amount of free fluid in her abdomen. They did sample that as well, and were only able to get about 1 mL. Very limited amount of fluid present. It was clear, not bloody. Her impression is that it is related to the seizure as the organs can "leak" after such a severe seizure (status ellipicticus). There was no evidence of an abdominal bleed present. Her left adrenal gland was large. There were two things that this could indicate (including Cushings disease), however she doesn't have any clinical presentation of either of those items. She is in for her MRI this afternoon. From the MRI, we could learn if her seizures were caused by: 1- CVA (cerebral vascular accident) such as a stroke, 2- brain tumor, 3- infection/inflammation such as meningitis. If none of those are present, then we consider her seizures as idiopathic, and treat for epilepsy. She may be transferred out of critical care today, pending the results of the MRI. We asked if we could come visit Gracie today, but most likely won't be able to. Dr. Thomovsky said that she will try to make it work, but not to count on it. That way if we are able to, it will be a nice surprise. She promised me she would give Gracie a few smooches and ear scritches from me. I will try to continue to update you with her results and progress. A huge THANK YOU to Kali (a greyhound friend who works as an anesthesia vet tech for UWVMTH) for spending some time with my girl yesterday. She spent about 30 minutes with her and was with her during a fire alarm. I'm sure Gracie is confused and scared, and having someone love on her helped to keep her calm. Gracie needs that calm right now to help her heal. In addition, Kali sent me a PM to let me know that if she had the MRI, Kali will be the one working with her. Gracie is in greyt hands! Thanks, Kali!

Gracie Update: 06/18 ~ 6 pm Gracie is now at the UWVMTH. We transferred her there this afternoon. When she arrived, there was concern that her RBC and platelets were decreasing and she showed abdominal pain upon palpation. We met with the vet and the med student and reviewed her history and presentation. Chief concerns were her loss of blood cells (why and where), her abdominal presentation, and neurological deficits. We decided to go ahead with more blood work and an additional round of abdominal x-rays. The vet called around 6 with the results. Her platelets are still below normal, but improved from what they previously were. There is also indication that her body is trying to make more platelets as there were immature platelets present. Her RBC were back in the normal range. The chemistry panel looked okay with one exception. Her creatine ck level was up, which indicates muscle damage. Not uncommon with an animal that suffered hyperthermia as she did. The abdominal x-rays look good except one weird view. She said that the downside of x-rays is that the positioning can make it look like something is there that really isn't. We're following up on that tomorrow morning with an abdominal ultrasound. The neurologist was going to look at her before leaving today to do a baseline eval and recommendation for pheonbarbital levels. We are scheduled for an MRI tomorrow in case we decide to go that route. Thankfully she seems to be stable enough right now to consider sedation for further evaluation. As of right now, we're looking at several possible causes for the status ellipiticus (prolonged severe seizure) she experienced on Tuesday night: 1 - brain tumor, 2 - CVA (stroke), 3 - epilepisy. We've somewhat ruled out metabolic cause based on blood work, and have not completely ruled out but not likely that she has inflammation/infection of the brain (such as meningitis). She is showing pronounced neurological deficits right now: lack of motor control, severe head tilt, protruding left eye, lack of menacing reflex, some blindness. We don't know if these are a result of the severe seizure, hyperthermia, post-ictal phase, phenobarbital loading, sedative drugs, brain damage, or if they are signs of the initial cause of the seizure. We have some signs of improvement. She recognizes and responds to our voices and our touch, more so than from others. She perked her ears and twitched her eyes at the words "SQUIRREL" and "BUNBUN" today. These things indicate to us that she still has higher level function in her brain if she can recognize and respond. She did try to get up on her front legs today, but wasn't able to hold it. Later in the afternoon, she did try to stand in her cage. Again, unsuccessful, but a good sign. She shows interest in food when presented right in her face. Her chewing is not normal, but she did inhale food earlier today. So, for now, we're waiting to see how tonight goes and how her abdominal u/s goes tomorrow. We most likely will proceed with the MRI so that we can make an informed decision about her prognosis and quality of life. Please say a prayer for my little fighter. She's still got her spunk!

We are hopefully getting Gracie in for a consult with a neurologist at the UW Vet hospital today. I am hoping to go visit her this morning. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers.

Gracie update - 10 PM: I just got back from the vet. My friend Renee came over for the evening, and once Travis was in bed, she and I went to visit Gracie. Matt didn't want to come see her the way she was earlier in the afternoon, so he opted to stay home with Travis. Gracie was resting comfortably when we got there and seemed to get agitated when I talked to her. The vet said that is good because she didn't do that for him, so she recognized me and was making an effort. She straightened out her front legs, and I thought she was going to have another seizure. However, she was trying to paw at me but couldn't. She really has no motor control of her head, but that could be because of the side she was laying on. She did have pronounced deficiency on one side during the seizures and post seizure, so that may be the reason she couldn't move as much. We believe she also has some blindness at this point, temporary or not- we don't know. The meds she was given this evening may be helping any brain swelling. After maybe 10 minutes, her whining and panting was slowing and she was relaxing. She actually fell asleep for a while when Renee and I were visiting her. I spent a good 45 minutes laying on the floor with my head in her crate and my arm on her back. She was asleep when I got up and we were heading out. I leaned over and gave her a kiss goodbye and she woke up and started getting agitated again. I feel good that she was responding (although minimally) to my presence and that she was able to settle down. We may be repeating the meds tonight. Tomorrow we will discuss our next plan which may include an MRI. I'm cringing at the cost, but also don't want to/can't put a price tag on my baby girl. I am trying to make decisions based on her prognosis and comfort, not on my convenience or cost. Please keep the prayers coming for Gracie. She continues to need them. Thank you all for the support you've given to us. I think this is the hardest thing I have had to endure. I feel like I let my baby girl down when she was counting on me to keep her safe. I know it isn't logical, but emotions often aren't. After maybe 10 minutes, her whining and panting was slowing and she was relaxing. She actually fell asleep for a while when Renee and I were visiting her. I spent a good 45 minutes laying on the floor with my head in her crate and my arm on her back. She was asleep when I got up and we were heading out. I leaned over and gave her a kiss goodbye and she woke up and started getting agitated again. I feel good that she was responding (although minimally) to my presence and that she was able to settle down. We may be repeating the meds tonight. Tomorrow we will discuss our next plan which may include an MRI. I'm cringing at the cost, but also don't want to/can't put a price tag on my baby girl. I am trying to make decisions based on her prognosis and comfort, not on my convenience or cost. Please keep the prayers coming for Gracie. She continues to need them. Thank you all for the support you've given to us. I think this is the hardest thing I have had to endure. I feel like I let my baby girl down when she was counting on me to keep her safe. I know it isn't logical, but emotions often aren't. Here are two pictures of my beautiful Gracie from this past winter:

Gracie update - we went in to see her this afternoon. We might have made it past the concern for disseminated intravascular coagulation, but it looks like she might have swelling in the brain or a stroke. We're trying a new med to see if it helps with the neurologic symptoms. Normally they would do an MRI before giving this drug, but she is not stable enough for sedation at this point. My heart is breaking. Please let my baby girl recover and come home.

They will run blood work again around 10 and I'll hopefully know more of what is happening then. Right now our biggest concern isn't what the cause of the seizures are, but rather if she will go into organ/system failure due to DIC, if she will go into sepsis as a complication of DIC, if fluid will fill her lungs, etc. Thanks for the prayers. Keep up coming. They are a powerful thing, and I can't seem to do anything other than cry and pray. My son is thankfully napping right now, but he is so confused about why I am so upset.

6 AM update - No more seizures since around 2. Her 2 AM bloodwork showed her PT and PTT clotting times were slightly elevated, meaning we might be heading to DIC. Her RBC and platelets were normal. They've started her on several other medications. At 6 her clotting times were both normal. RBC are stable and glucose is back in the okay range. Her temp is still ever so slightly elevated. Her next dose of phenobarbital is scheduled for 8:30. They are giving her increased doses via injection to hopefully ward off any more seizures. She's not out of the woods yet. If she pulls through this, we still have to find what is causing the seizures.

Not good - just got off the phone with the vet. She just had another gran mal seizure which was harder for them to stop this time. They had to actually induce her to stop the seizure. Waiting about 10 minutes for the blood work. Some early indications that she might be going in to DIC. Dear God, she can't die!

I don't post often, but have learned so much from others' posts over the last few years. I know that Greytalk has members from all over the world, so I am hoping to get many prayers for my girl tonight. My heart girl is at the Emergency Vet right now and has been there since about 11 PM. I need prayers and white light from everyone. Gracie had yet another episode this evening starting around 10 PM. By 10:20 it hadn't resolved, so I was getting concerned. (Both of her previous episodes lasted 5-10 minutes.) By 10:40 she was seizing. I was calling neighbors and friends to get someone to stay with Travis. Matt is at work. I got her to the vet by 11:10ish. She seized the whole way there. Her body temp was up at 106 - extremely high. They were able to stop her seizure, get fluids in to her at the fastest rate possible, and were wetting her down with wet blankets to bring down her temp. We started a plasma transfusion, as the vet is concerned she might develop DIC (Disseminated intravascular coagulation) from her extended high fever. Even though her temp is down and she is no longer seizing, she is not out of the woods. If she develops DIC, she most likely will not make it. If she makes it without developing DIC, the vet suspects a tumor of some sort that is causing the seizure. Please say a prayer for my Gracie. My heart is breaking right now. I'm not ready to say goodbye to her.