Here is part one (of five) posts that tell the story of our quest to get financial help from the company that manufactured the rabies vaccine Lilly received January 23, 2012. Today, we cover the timeline and process from my initial request to the official adverse vaccine reaction financial settlement offer.
Recently, we shared what (little) scientific research we could find about the incidence of severe neurological adverse vaccine reactions similar to Lilly’s. The short story is that is rare … really rare. At our appointment last Friday, I chatted with our veterinary neurologist about the data I found. He made a good point — the…
Lilly’s neurological deficits have grown significantly in the last 24 hours. I pretend we’re not headed back into life-threatening territory, but the worsening of Lilly’s elimination issues cause both worry and complication. I’m not sure I have the words to convey the heartbreak, so I won’t even try.
If you’d asked me last Thursday night about Lilly, I would have extolled her recovery virtues. Friday morning, however, Lilly suffered another major setback in her quest to heal from vaccine-induced meningoencephalomyelitis / meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and lining of the brain and spinal cord).
Yesterday, I shared what research I found about the rarity of serious, neurological adverse vaccine reactions like what Lilly suffered earlier this year. Today, a bit of a riff and a rant on my own “data.”
As promised over these many months, I did some digging to find out exactly how RARE what happened to Lilly after her rabies vaccination earlier this year really is. Today, the answer.
I’ve been meaning to write this post for many months. Now that I’ve pulled a bunch of research and seen the results of our recent USDA Freedom of Information Act request (more on that tomorrow), I suppose it’s time to tell this part of the story. I’m a smart girl. I’ve written (professionally) about veterinary medicine since the mid 1990s, and yet, I had no idea how dangerous vaccines could be for dogs like Lilly.
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?
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:
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),…
