Champion of My HeartA real-time memoir about life with a fearful border collie, by Roxanne Hawn

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Miss Lilly and I hauled our silly selves across town for her veterinary neurology recheck appointment this morning, in advance of this weekend’s third round of cytarabine injections. It has been 6 weeks since her last neuro exam and 9 weeks since her major adverse vaccine reaction relapse. Here is today’s news.

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Monday dawned with a full-blown anxiety attack hovering. Seeking just an hour of quiet, an hour or solace, an hour of something other than work or worry, I headed out to the greenhouse. Big mistake. An unsupervised and steroid-fueled Lilly helped herself to a non-food snack. There went my day.

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It’s official. I hadn’t added everything up since the end of June, but I did on Friday, and we topped $15,000 in expenses to treat Lilly’s severe rabies vaccine reaction. To be exact … $15,095.01. People have been asking, so I’ve again set up a chip-in, if you’re so inclined. No pressure. No expectations at all. Read the rest of this entry »

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Simply put, everything makes me worry. When Lilly seems neurologically stronger, she often acts out-of-her-mind fussy from the daily steroids aimed at shutting down her most recent relapse of vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis. BUT, when Lilly stops pacing and crying all the time and curls up to sleep, it looks to me like a new relapse. What’s a girl to do?

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We’re still reeling and consumed by mourning and mourning-related tasks, but I wanted to post a quick update for those who haven’t been following the news on our Champion of My Heart Facebook Fan Page.

Starting Friday, May 11, Lilly suffered another relapse. The following symptoms got worse and worse over the weekend:

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Here is part five (of five) of frequently asked questions dog lovers have asked me since Lilly’s ill-fated response to a vaccine earlier this year. This series of questions / answers covers the COSTS of diagnosing and treating Lilly’s vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord), including how much the pet insurance company paid, how much Champion of My Heart fans donated, and whether or not the vaccine company responded to my request for financial help.

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Here is part four (of five) of frequently asked questions dog lovers have asked me since Lilly’s ill-fated response to a vaccine earlier this year. This series of questions / answers covers the treatment of Lilly’s vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord).

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Here is part three (of five) of frequently asked questions dog lovers have asked me since Lilly’s ill-fated response to a vaccine earlier this year. This series of questions / answers covers the symptoms, diagnosis, and Lilly’s prognosis of Lilly’s vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord).

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Here is part two (of five) of frequently asked questions dog lovers have asked me since Lilly’s ill-fated response to a vaccine earlier this year. This series of questions / answers covers the vaccine itself, factors that people think / assume may have led to the adverse vaccine reaction, and the incidence rate of vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord).

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Here is part one (of five) of frequently asked questions dog lovers have asked me since Lilly’s ill-fated response to a rabies vaccine earlier this year. Today, we cover Lilly’s health status and vaccine history.

While this 5-part Adverse Vaccine Reaction FAQ isn’t everything you need to know about adverse vaccine reactions in dogs, it’s my best attempt to cover the big issues and answers – as they pertain to Lily’s vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord).

Once all five FAQ posts have been published, we’ll add links to all 5 into each post, and we’ll copy everything into one static page for people who want all the adverse vaccine reaction info all at once.

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Among the behavioral changes we’ve seen since Lilly developed meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord) is a resurgence of attention-seeking behaviors. It makes getting any work done pretty hard, and it makes taking a walk on our road interesting.

You see, Lilly is smart. She recognizes patterns in my behavior and that of other people.

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Next up in our gallery of changes since Lilly developed meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord) after an adverse vaccine reaction to a rabies vaccine is this video showing how much trouble Lilly has holding a simple sit. Sometimes, her front feet slide out. Sometimes, we joke that she must have “butter on her butt.”

Our veterinary neurologist points out that Lilly’s brain inflammation has more to do with body awareness and control, but this sure looks like a strength issue to me. What do you think?

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Last week, after a long walk and a dip in our pond, I took a picture of a happy Lilly. It’s a nice picture, except all I can see are the changes in Lilly’s face from her ongoing neurological deficits. For comparison … first a few pictures of Lilly BEFORE she got so sick following her rabies vaccination in January 2012.

OK. Not quite “wordless,” but mostly photos in this blog post.

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In March 2012, I had the chance to attend (on a press pass) two days of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) annual conference. It happened to be in Denver this year. My number one destination was a session called “Video Tour of the Neurologic Exam” by Dr. Simon Platt, who works / teaches at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

If you ever have the chance to hear Dr. Platt speak, take it. The man is very funny and has great videos to demonstrate what various neurological problems look like.

For obvious reasons my notes reflect mostly information that applies to Lilly’s case of meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord) after an adverse vaccine reaction to a rabies vaccine.

I learned a few interesting things, however, that might be of use to you.

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Lilly and I apologize for last week’s blogging absence. The clock ran out on us every single day. Sometimes we simply get busy with work (remember, lots of HUGE bills to pay), but we also have some BIG blog posts brewing. They are not the kind that come together quickly. So, this week, we promise a few more updates about Lilly’s recovery.

After that, if we can eke out enough time and mental bandwidth, you can expect some big picture, HUGE news blog posts in the wake of Lilly’s adverse rabies vaccine reaction.

In some cases, we’re still waiting for requested information to arrive and to have the time to dig into critical research.

Planned topics include (in no particular order):

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