The Cause Of Dempsey's Paralysis

[Guest HeatherDemps]

Wasn't sure where this should go, but figured since it is health related, this is the best place for it.

 

I know I had let everyone here know about having to put Dempsey to sleep several weeks ago after he suddenly lost the use of his back legs. I don't think I mentioned though that the morning after, the main oncologist called and offered to cover the costs of a necrospy since Dempsey was in a cancer study. After thinking it over, I decided to go ahead with it in case it could help other dogs with cancer or in the same situation...

 

So, I spent the last couple of weeks worrying that they would come back and say that it had been something "minor" and we should have done something other than making the decision to PTS. Not likely or logical, but emotions have been on overload here.

 

In typical Dempsey fashion, we couldn't end up with a clear cut answer of what the cause was (well, the cause of the cause). There was no sign of a tumor in his spine- the cancer hadn't come back. However, the nerves in his spine were degenerating for no obvious reason. There was bruising to the nerves like is seen when a disc hits there, but the disc was where it should have been and there were no signs of disc problems. The oncologist assured me there would have been no way of treating this, so I know for sure we did make the right decision. Had we done a CT, it wouldn't have shown anything and an MRI would have shown something wrong with the nerves- but surgery would not have been able to fix anything or been able to show "why".

 

I did feel that night that we were making the right choice for Dempsey but it's been impossible not to second guess myself and wonder. I think having this information will put to rest the "what ifs" and serve as a reminder to trust my heart and instincts when it comes to making decisions for my dogs- even the tough ones like this.

 

Heather

 

[HopeForHounds]

Heather,

I'm glad you can have some peace now. It is never an easy decision to make, though I knew from reading that you had made a good decision for him.

Sending you a big hug

 

[Guest greytmonty]

I am glad that you got some answers. You were tuned into Demps and you knew when he was suffering. I hope you find some peace in this information.

[turbotaina]

I'm so glad you got some closure on this. Now you can allow yourself to heal.

[ahicks51]

Necropsy rarely gives us all the answers we want, but there are times like this where they give you the answers you need. That's good to hear you were able to make the correct choice.

[grey14me]

[CaliforniaGreys]

As others have said, I too am glad to hear you feel some closure. Doesn't mean that "what ifs" won't creep up from time to time. Your connection with Dempsey was deep, and your actions were selfless! You remain in our thoughts

[greypuppyluv]

I'm sure it's somewhat comforting to know that your heart told you the right thing to do with Dempsey. Deciding whether or not to do a necropsy can be difficult, but I'm glad that in your case it did give you some answers.

[MP_the4pack]

I'm glad you had a necropsy done. Believe it or not, I still have "what ifs" about Topaz. But Brindle died in surgery. When they opened her up, they said she was loaded with cancer and we made the decision to just let her go.

 

But............I still wonder about Topaz, 9 yrs ago.

 

That's a nice closure you have.

 

 

 

MP

 

[Guest trevdog]

 

I'm glad you got some information to help ease your mind a bit....and maybe he helped further some more research along the way.....

 

Those what if's are tough to handle sometimes.

[patricia]

[Guest KRKWMU]

I can't begin to know how difficult all of this has been for you. It was certainly nice for the oncologist to do a necropsy so you could have some closure and to help other hounds too. Dempsey will always be with you. Take Care.