Lilly Setbacks: Meningoencephalitis, Vomiting, and Seizures

best dog blog, champion of my heart, Lilly looking depressed

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.

The ONLY plus is that this happened at the hospital, where Lilly gets 24-hour care. If she’d come home Thursday afternoon as we’d hoped and had her first seizure here, that would have been wildly scary for me. (I’ve never had a dog with seizures.)

Her cage is about 3 down from their main ER treatment area, so there were staff there to jump in and start medications to control the seizures right away. So far, she has had two … that we know of.

best dog blog, champion of my heart, Lilly feeling really sick
Weds (2/1) After a short burst of energy when we arrived, Lilly sacked out in Tom’s lap for most of our visit.

 

best dog blog, champion of my heart, Lilly with her favorite dog toy
Weds (2/1) We brought her much-loved toy “lambie” for comfort.

 

best dog blog, champion of my heart, Lilly looking depressed
Weds (2/1) Unlike Tuesday when Lilly seemed befuddled but not daunted that she could not stand or walk … Lilly seemed to say @#$@# it. I can’t move. She looked VERY depressed to us and didn’t budge when we had to leave … as if she didn’t expect to be going home with us. It’s a good thing we kept the Ultimate Trail Pack … without the backpack part clipped on … the underlying harness is really helpful for supporting Lilly safely when she needs to move.

Lilly went in a bit of a hunger strike with the staff, after vomiting a couple of times over night (Tuesday into Wednesday). They say it isn’t from the chemo drug, but more just because her brain is so affected by the rampant inflammation that is meningoencephalitis. They asked us to try and hand feed her, and to drink a little more.

I’ve heard from others who’ve been through this that the chemo drug (cytoxan) is VERY hard on the bladder, so good hydration is key. Lilly is on IV fluids, but I’m always glad when she drinks even a little … because her warm / dry nose is too, too sad.

So, we try to get her to eat in this video from Wednesday (2/1) afternoon: