Now that it seems Lilly has been free from bladder bacteria for a few weeks, after nearly 6 straight months of back-to-back bladder infections, we turned our attention to the levels of protein in her urine. Infections can produce high urine protein levels, so we checked again, 2 weeks after Lilly’s last clear urine culture — where her protein level as a 2 (zero is normal). And … it wasn’t good news.
Friday, June 7, 2013, marks 500 days since Lilly received the ill-fated rabies vaccine that has forever changed all of our lives. Her widespread brain and spinal cord inflammation remains and requires numerous daily medications and others (including a chemo drug ~ 4 injections, over 2 days, every 3 weeks) to keep her alive. June also marks a full year since Lilly became completely incontinent (both ways). Taking care of her (and working a lot to pay her veterinary bills) consumes my every day. This is our new norm, and that’s OK … until I look at old videos and remember how strong she used to be. Then I’m super sad.
No real changes in Lilly’s overall condition to report, but here are just a few news items.
I don’t much remember what life with Lilly was like before she got so sick with an adverse rabies vaccine reaction called meningoencephalomyelitis in January 2012. Taking care of her fills my days. Our world has gotten quite small, but we feel joy at even the tiniest “normal” thing — such as playing fetch. Here, friends, is a little video update.
It’s official. I’ve fallen out of the habit of blogging. It’s complicated. Today, for example, my plans to finish work early so that I could clean my house (which is getting scary) got slaughtered by imminent, unexpected work demands from 3 different clients. Since it looks like I’ll be cleaning all evening, I’m trying to make some space in my brain to write a real update about Lilly. Let’s see how it goes.
By now, you’ve likely read several book reviews of Pukka’s Promise: The Quest for Longer-Lived Dogs by Ted Kerasote. I’m a little late to the party. It took me a while to read the book (a) because it’s long and (b) because I’ve been busy taking care of Lilly, after her latest setback (antibiotic-resistant infection and sudden inability to walk / stand). Below, I hope you’ll find a uniquely Champion of My Heart look at Pukka’s Promise.
Not nearly enough chocolate or ice cream in the house for a week like this, but here is a short recap of this week’s (mostly good) news … after Lilly became increasingly wobbly and weak, starting last Sunday.
We got mostly good news today from Lilly’s blood and basic urine tests. The urine culture takes several more days, but Lilly’s complete blood count (CBC) and senior dog blood chemistry panel look good. So, there is no reason we cannot go ahead with her cytarabine injections (“chemo”) tomorrow and Thursday. As for the sudden wobbly-weakness? Into the unknown we go …
The good news? A total of 7 weeks of antibiotics (2 different kinds) wiped out Lilly’s e coli bladder infection. The bad news? Now she has an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection called staph pseudointermedius. People get MRSA infections. Dogs sometimes get MRSP infections, like this one. All of this stems from her treatment for rabies vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis (and the resulting incontinence). The drug chosen for this next canine bladder war is a doozy.
