Update: Lilly Neurology Recheck from February 23, 2012

I’m sorry for the delay in posting anything official to the blog. Those who follow us on Twitter and Facebook know that Thursday’s recheck appointment turned into an epic odyssey of waiting and waiting and waiting. It was a LONG day. Then Friday, I had FOUR HOURS of conference calls (one was a 3-hour video call) … before I could start my birthday celebrations. And, now this morning (Saturday), Lilly is having a conniption that I’m at my desk. So, just a quick, rambling update.

We awoke Thursday morning to FAR more snow than predicted. Tom wondered if I wanted to reschedule. I did not since Lilly was BADLY LETHARGIC on Wednesday. I was worried, and I wanted her to be checked.

So, we loaded our sorry selves into the 4Runner, and Lilly and I made our way SLOWLY to the specialty hospital. The drive there took about an hour and 15 minutes, but we made it safely.

Lilly was a trooper and hung in there with me in the lobby for the first 90 minutes or so of our wait, but then it simply got too stressful for both of us. There are just too many dogs coming in and out of the hospital, and Lilly was stressing out — growling, snarking, etc.

So, I put her back out in the car in her crate, and it’s a good thing because we ended up having to wait FIVE HOURS to be seen.

Why? You ask.

Because we didn’t have a real appointment. They were just going to squeeze us in, and the neurologist was doing an emergency surgery Thursday morning. We knew it was going to be a long wait as soon as we arrived, but what was I going to do? Far from home on a snowy / icy day, where would I go?

I have the option to hand over Lilly who would then sit in a cage in the back until they had time for her, but again … it isn’t like there is anywhere I can go or anything I can do. They charge an extra $50 for the cage space.

Plus, I don’t want her worrying that I’m going to “leave her.”

So, Lilly waited in the car, with me checking on her often.

I waited in the lobby so that they knew I was still there. I was even afraid to leave to get lunch and potentially miss the tiny window of time they had for us.

I had had a @#$@ BEAST of a week, so I did NOT have time to plan ahead and pack snacks or anything. I tried begging on social media for someone to bring me lunch, but there wasn’t anyone close by who could.

The receptionist told me she had takeout menus, if I wanted to order in, but I kept thinking they’d take Lilly any minute, and I wanted too long.

The Timeline

  • Lilly and I left the house at 8:15 am.
  • We arrived at 9:30 am.
  • They took Lilly back at 2:30 pm.
  • And, we were on the road home by 2:45 pm.
  • We got home at 4 pm or so.

My hands were shaking from low blood sugar by the time we left, but I made a mad dash for home. Thankfully, the roads had improved greatly. We stopped and picked up takeout and to get gas.

The Recovery News

While Lilly did get to see the neurologist, I did not, so the only feedback I got came via our assigned veterinary technician who said:

  • The neurologist is happy with Lilly’s recovery.
  • We’re dropping her back to a steroid dose every 3 days. (We had been doing every other day).
  • We’re dropping her back to tummy medicine just once a day. (We had been doing twice a day.)
  • We will keep her on the blood pressure medicine (even though I worry that her lethargy means blood pressure that’s too low).
  • We go back in 3 weeks, and they’ll check her potassium bromide levels (one of her seizure meds), and if it’s good, then we can drop the keppra (the other seizure med).

I’m happy to tell you that we have a REAL appointment next time. Of course, it’s at 8 am on a Monday, so the chances that we’ll get bumped or have to wait due to an emergency are very high, but at least we have a real appointment versus the kinds we’ve been getting, where essentially we show up and they get to us when they can.

I still have SO many concerns about Lilly’s recovery. We have more videos coming to show the kinds of neurological symptoms that remain, and I plan to write more about that soon. Suffice it to say that our girl is NOWHERE near normal.

And, it continues to break my heart … every minute of every day.

Oh, the Pain

You’d think with all the sitting I’ve done over the last 3 years at various hospitals would mean I’m “in shape” for that wait. Alas, when we got home Thursday, my lower back went into monster spasm, and I’ve been hurting ever since. It’s better after I sleep and as long as I don’t sit down. Otherwise, it feels like I have a couple of knives in my low-low back.

I even got a massage on my birthday, but I’m still hurting a fair bit. Totally annoying.

I might try riding my bike on the trainer since that helps our pal KB with her spinal pain so much.

I’m sorry to ramble. I’m tired and a little crabby, so I’ll sign off for now. Lilly really wants to go outside and poke around, so that’s what we’ll do.

I have three HUGE work deadlines this coming week, so if I don’t post … it’s because I just don’t have time. Don’t worry.

Thanks!