Time For Drugs, Going To Vet Right Now

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Another long night, at least this one was seizure free. Henry has now officially made it 24 hrs with no Grand-Mals. He needs another valium dose this morning. This will be the second. He is officially incontinent. I took him out about four times last night. At 5 am he peed about 50 gallons in the bedroom. I expect him to be incontinenet for awhile.

 

 

I feel very old today.

[Guest PhillyPups]

After having spent time with Saint, who is seizure free for almost FOUR YEARS now :confetti, I can tell you the drug therapy DOES work, and is much easier on the dog. Saint has an awesome quality of life, he is a happy dog, carefree, and now his only seizures are to SEIZE THE MOMENT and have fun. I am praying with all my might that this is Henry's future.

 

There is an adjustment period for the meds to fully kick in, and Judy told me that Saint would be a bit loopy, but he is incredibly happy now.

 

When Saint's rear tires, Judy & Mike do what any good houndparent would do, they have him rest. When we were our, after a day of his heavy playing with Grandma Pat, and playing with his Crazy Aunts Heather and Nancy for a while, his butt was sagging in the pictures, so it was simple, load him up and take him home. Poor guy was so tired, he fell asleep eating a french fry, and it is the first I have seen EFFS (escaping french fry syndrome) as he sleeps.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Thank you for the encouragement Pat. I am happy Henry's still here, and that he stopped seizing. I'm just so tired and emotionally drained. The issued he's dealing wth today or a heck of a lot better than what we were dealing with Saturday so it doesnt make sense that I am crying now.

 

Right now, he is having a water issue. he tries to drink WAY too fast, and he keeps throwing it up. I thought that would be only last night, but he is still doing it today. So for now, I just keep giving him SMALL amounts of water every ten minutes. He's very thirsty. He is also incontinent. I need to fashion some kind of belly band.

 

I know Henry is not feeling his greatest today, but the meds got rid of the seizures which made him feel a lot worse than the meds are making him feel.

 

Things are gonna get better and better. Saint is our role model right now. This really would be a lot harder if I didn't know Saint's story.

[NeylasMom]

Emily,

 

Sorry to hear you have ot go back to the meds, but it sounds like you really have exhausted all other possibilities. Henry is really lucky to have someone like you. How many dogs get their own padded walls?!

 

Side question - I was reading your blog and saw a note about using baking soda for your carpets. What do you do, sprinkle and then vacuum? Do you let it sit for a certain period of time before vacuuming?

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Emily,

 

Sorry to hear you have ot go back to the meds, but it sounds like you really have exhausted all other possibilities. Henry is really lucky to have someone like you. How many dogs get their own padded walls?!

 

Side question - I was reading your blog and saw a note about using baking soda for your carpets. What do you do, sprinkle and then vacuum? Do you let it sit for a certain period of time before vacuuming?

Yep, just leave it on about twenty minutes and vacuam. Right now I have multiple pee stains all over from the last few days so I'm gonna have to get out the steam cleaner. And I use just plain water, and use the hand attachment for stubborn spots.

[CaliforniaGreys]

Lots of prayers coming for Henry. Emily, hang in there!

[LBass]

Checking on you and Henry. I'm so glad that he has made it 24 hours seizure free. I'm sure that is a huge relief.

 

--Lucy

[Sirocco_Nikki]

Prayers for your boy and some super-collossal-humongous-big hugs for you.

[Hawthorn]

My Sophie has had to have some Valium recently for some mild seizures. I remember the vet telling me that it could make her want to drink a lot but not to let her and to just let her have small amounts, as you're doing. I do hope Henry continues to improve and that you manage to get some rest.

 

[Guest EmilyAnne]

I'd get the valium in him ASAP. You may have to keep him on it a few days until the meds start to work. It's going to take about 4 weeks for the potassium bromide to reach maximum strength and a good 2 to 3 days for the pheno to kick in good. You may have to keep him drugged until then.

You were right on the nose about this, and I did have to keep him drugged till the Pheno kicked in, and I am happy to report, that I really think the Pheno is kicking in. He hasn't had a Valium dose since this morning, and is doing ok! Tonight when we were out in the yard, he had a little bounce in his step for the very first time since this all started! I am continuing to watch him very closely and will give another dose of Valium if needed. I continue the high dose (2 pills 2 x's daily) of Pheno till Wednesday night, then go to 1 1/2 pills two times daily, per vet's instructions. I am SO glad to see the Pheno kicking in!

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Henry needs to quit giving me heart attacks. Every time he stretches out or groans or shakes, my heart freezes. GAH! Getting a lot more white hairs on my head...

[TheFullHouse]

I'm so glad the pheno is kicking in. The hard part is to relax, especially after an episode this traumatic! It will take a few days but you'll soon be able to relax again!

[carronstar]

I just saw this. I am so sorry that Henry, and you, had to go through this. What you said about Henry "Every day I can have with Henry is a gift." is so true. Enjoy him.

[GreytHoundPoet]

[queenwinniesmom]

I'm just seeing this now. Poor sweet Henry. I know how upsetting this is to you, but you're taking good care of your boy. You are both in my prayers.

[Guest janiesmom]

Hi Emily-Anne

My epi-girl Janey has had cluster seizures for approx 2 years now and it has been a roller-coaster of adjustment to the meds. She is on 2 pheno 2x/day, the pottasium bromide 2x/day plus 2 meds for incontinence, l ppa 2x/day and 1 2x/wk. She gets valium rectally when she seizures, which is now once a month..we almost have it down to the day. The ice pack never worked for her. It is a lot of work and we stay home a lot more but she is her old happy self (8 yrs old) and a real joy. She tires easily and has some rear end weakness but otherwise she is doing well. She eats 3 small meals/day with more protein, no grain and lots of water. It is so traumatic to watch her go thro this but it does get a bit easier and with good management she lives a good life. Hang in there!!

Heather and Janey

Vernon, B.C.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Henry cried a lot last night. He really wants to stay by my side. When I let him out, he mostly stands next tome as opposed to walking around the yard, so I walk with him. 2:45 am, I gave him a Valium. Within 8 minutes he went to sleep. But only for three hours. The he cried and cried and cried. Even when I sat on the floor with him. I then lifted him up onto the bed. He didnt want to get on the bed at first, but once he was up there, he was happy to be there, and immediately curled up between me and my husband, occasionally resting his head on my side. It's only a full size bed, so I teeter tottered on the very edge of the bed. I took out the garbage this morning as it's garbage day, came in to Henry crying, he stopped crying shortly after I came in. He still has some after affects from the Grand-Mals that I was hoping would be gone by now, which is:

 

~mega spooky

 

~no depth perception in his vision

 

These things have happened before with his Grand-Mals, but it has never lasted this long. But then again, he's never had a cluster of five Grand-Mals before either. I think he's afraid of our bedroom floor area cause that's where most of his Grand-Mals occured. I'm going to do some re-arranging of furniture today to see if I can find a better arrangement for Henry in there. I will put his dog bed on top of a crib mattress so it's a little more closer to my height.

 

Oh, and Henry threw up very early this morning, right before I put him in our bed. He threw up partially digested food, pretty much his whole supper. I worry he loses his meds when he throws up. He has a *very* sensitive tummy. May have to do some research on what I can do for this. Ideas would be much appreciated. he is on homecooked by the way. He is allergic to chicken and eggs and hamburger makes him throw up. So he gets lean cooked steak.

 

I'm wondering, could the incontinence possible be from damage caused by the Grand-Mals? Or is it definately and only the seizure meds?

[ZoomDoggy]

Would sucralfate be in order, to help protect his stomach? I'm sorry he's having such a tough time, and I'm sorry you're not getting rest too.

Edited October 7, 2008 by ZoomDoggy

[Guest EmilyAnne]

OK, so this is a very good sign~

 

 

He's roaching!!!!

 

I know my Henry, and when he roaches, it means he's feeling braver and less spooky, which means he's making progress on recovering from the Grand-Mals!

[TheFullHouse]

Emily, you can give Henry some Pepcid before you feed him and give him his meds, that should take care of any tummy upset caused by the meds. Saint never had any problems with incontinence with his meds so I have no advice there. He drank more so I just let him out quite a bit more. He doesn't drink nearly as much as he did when he first started on the meds, I'd say he drinks the normal amount now.