Whew! Long day, so just a quick note about Lilly’s recovery from meningoencephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord) after having an adverse rabies vaccine reaction. Today, Lilly had her first recheck appointment with the team at Rocky Mountain Veterinary Neurology (housed inside the Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado).
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As of 12:30 pm or so mountain time, Saturday, February 4, 2012, Lilly had been seizure free since around 4:30 pm Friday (2/3). I’m happy to report a few other pieces of good news … finally. The post includes the latest video of Lilly’s recovery from vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis.
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Words cannot convey the exhaustion all of us feel as Lilly remains hospitalized, with new symptoms cropping up each day this week (so far). Thursday (2/2) was another long day, so just a few pix and notes and another video … before we tackle whatever comes up today (Friday 2/3).
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A massive snowstorm kept us pinned on the mountain Friday. We had about 20 inches of snow when we awoke, and the local weather folks are saying we might get another 20 inches of snow before this storm is over Saturday morning. As much as it broke my heart, we did not risk making the drive down the canyon and over to the veterinary hospital. So, this update comes from phone chats with her neurology team. Not great news.
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We were prepared to share moderate news (not worse, not better) about Lilly from Wednesday afternoon (and we will below), but a crushing early morning call brought a report that Lilly began having seizures overnight. Our neurologist called about 6:20 am with the news. He was en route to the hospital. While it wasn’t unexpected, we’re still devastated and worried 10 x more Thursday morning than we were Wednesday afternoon. Photos and video below from that visit. We won’t be able to see Lilly until about 1 pm today.
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We have a diagnosis: meningoencephalitis. That simply means inflammation of Lilly’s brain and the lining around the brain. We do not, however, know (yet) the root cause of Lilly’s rapid decline over the last week or so. Here are some pictures and a short video from our visit with her Tuesday (1/31) afternoon and more details that we can share.
I know this post is likely WAY too long, but there is a lot of information to share.
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We’ve had a tough, tough, tough week. Look for short updates posted on our Champion of My Heart Facebook Fan Page, but the headline is that Lilly has gotten increasingly sicker since her rabies vaccine given January 23. Over the weekend, she developed all sorts of scary symptoms, including:
- High fever
- Extreme lethargy
- Inability to walk (that got worse and worse)
- Slow cognitive responses (that also got worse over night)
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Lilly and I apologize for the sudden, unexplained absence from blogging these last two weeks. Due to a new and difficult stage in our eldercare responsibilities, we cannot promise it won’t happen again, but we’ll do our best to keep afloat and provide some entertainment.
If you’ve not yet LIKE’d our Champion of My Heart Facebook Fan Page, where we sometimes report on such life events, we’ll catch you up on the backstory behind our absence:
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In spring 2011, I bought Tom 19 goldfish for our pond out front. Their numbers quickly dwindled to 6, maybe 8. Our best guess is that birds or maybe a raccoon got them since we never found floating bodies. Due to wild moss overgrowth in late summer, we haven’t seen the little sweeties since August. Then, the pond froze.
The valley experienced some early, sub-zero temperatures for about a week, and the ice blocked our chances of getting the fish out. Our plan had been either to (a) overwinter them at the humane society pond or (b) overwinter them in a tub in the house (as we did in the past, with our first batch of fish that lived 3 years).
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Posted by Roxanne Hawn | Posted in Dog Brag, Dog Life, Hot News | Posted on 30-12-2011
Doesn’t every media outlet release a list of some sort this time of year? We’re joining the fray with our top 5 news items for 2011.
The year didn’t go at all as we’d planned, which is disappointing in many ways, but you can only do what you can do when distractions and demands leave zero time for pursuing your bigger goals.
I suppose the biggest feelings at the end of 2011 are relief and gratitude that we survived relatively unscathed. C’mon 2012, we’re counting on you.
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Thanks to my work, writing pet industry and pet consumer articles for magazines and online outlets, I interview lots of amazing people and pioneers. The latest one to catch my fancy? A cat named Bug, who hikes, canoes, and sometimes oversees events at her human companion’s veterinary practice (Westside Family Pet Clinic in Madison, Wisconsin).
OK, I might be a tad partial to Bug since that’s one of Lilly’s nicknames, but she is an awesome, awesome kitty. Observe. Read the rest of this entry »
The folks behind Buy A Shirt Help a Dog donate one-third of every t-shirt purchased to another non-profit dog charity every 4 months. They’re taking nominations for dog charity groups through December 31, 2011. Pop on over and nominate your favorite! We’ve already nominated ours … Humane Society of Boulder Valley.
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For about 6 weeks now, Lilly’s chlomipramine dose has been just 75 mg ONCE a day (in the morning). We’ve dropped the nighttime dose. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but some new behaviors have cropped up. Now, I’m having doubts about the dog behavior meds decision.
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The Angry Birds craze reached our rural, smart-phone-lacking abode. Dog toys. We’re talking Angry Birds dog toys today. And, thanks to Hartz … we have 6 dog toys to give away for the holidays. Read the rest of this entry »
