Day By Day

We don't know what to do. Yesterday Sophie had a pretty good day all things considered. She still can't walk, she still suffers extreme pain at various points in the day, she still can't eat or drink out of a bowl.

So the fact that her excruciating pain lasted only for an hour and 15 horrible minutes was a good thing. The fact that she ate and ate without vomiting was pretty good. She actually ate quite a bit - we were thrilled. She did her swimming therapy and napped in the sun. And by this morning, you could tell she wanted to get up and head outside. But that's the thing - she can't get up. When I get her up, it takes her a few steps or seconds to understand where her feet are and what they are meant to do. Once we get going she can eventually walk on her own, but she can't stand on her own.

We are taking each day one at a time, moment by moment. We were given the OK to do swim therapy for 3 minutes, twice a day and we hope that will not only help physically, but emotionally. Sophie loves to swim.

Fused Disk

When we took Sophie in to have her stitches removed we also spent some time with the surgeon discussing the severe limp Sophie presented the day of surgery. We had some x-rays taken while she was under for her surgery so we had the opportunity to review them.

Sophie has two disks in her spine that have fused together. It is not that uncommon in an older, very athletic dog. We had already seen signs of it in that she had stopped holding her tail up high, had a slight arch in her back and showed some sporadic weakness in her rear legs. The vet said that since she responded so well while on Rimadyl, she felt that was the best coarse of action and did not recommend surgery - though it is a possibility.

Last Tuesday, Sophie couldn't walk. She completely lost the ability to use her hind legs. She could not stand herself up, she couldn't stay standing when we got her up and she couldn't walk. We got her to the vet who did a quick examination and felt that there was significant enough swelling around her fused disk to cause the symptoms we were witnessing. She recommended we treat Sophie aggressively with steroids before talking about MRIs and other options. Sophie stayed with them for two days.

She responded well to the steroids. The next day she was able to hobble around with the assistance of a sling. She was carried outside for bathroom breaks, but once outside she could walk a little. Thursday, she walked herself outside - still using a sling. We visited on Wednesday, hand fed her (she had not been eating) and told her how much we love her. We saw the vet a briefly and she reiterated that she was pleased with Sophie's response.

We were able to bring her home Thursday evening. We were given a new pile of medicines, a pamphlet for Scout's House and the OK for 3 minutes of therapeutic swimming a day.

She has not done as well at home as we would have liked. We hoped that she would continue to improve slowly each day, but she has taken a step backwards and has stayed there. Friday she slept all day and barely ate. Today she has had bad pain and has eaten less. She seems to enjoy her walks out to relieve herself and when we opened the pool she was very interested. As you can see, she paddled around - for ONLY 90 SECONDS (if our vet is watching in on us).

We will see what tomorrow will bring for our little Rock Star Sophie. We are hopeful it involves eating, walking and a wee bit of swimming.

No More, Please.

I have not written anything about Sophie for a few days, because not much has changed. She is eating, she wants desperately to be "cleared" for swimming in her pool, and she has less "goo" coming out of her nose. We'll call her "stable" as we head in to get her stitches taken out tomorrow morning.

So. Why relax?

We took the Labradors with us to run some errands today. We stopped for lunch (read:dogs got snacks) and on the way home we stopped at one of Sophie's favorite parks (all of them are her favorite parks). There was a friendly gang of dogs hanging out so we joined in. Joey was quick to find the 1.5 year old who also likes to play chase. Joy! Lucky! They romped around for a good 15 minutes, then it was time to go. We leashed up and headed for the car - Joey leading the charge. Then she stops short and starts to furiously shake her left front paw and she won't walk on it.

I get down and start to search through her toes and pads and fur for what I expect to be a burr, or splinter of some kind. I search and search but I find nothing. No burr, no glass, no blood, nothing. She is still shaking and shaking her paw. We carry her to the car so I can look at her foot without the other dogs coming up to help. I still can't find anything, but now I see a little red spot.

Oh. Crap. Bee sting.

This bee had incredible accuracy. You know the 2nd to last scene in Star Wars (IV) where Luke has to fly along the surface of the Death Star and at the very last second use The Force to shoot 2 photon torpedoes into a 3 meter wide hole which will eventually destroy the Death Star (but not Darth Vader)? You know that scene? That is what this bee had to do to sting Joey's foot. This red mark was deep in between the "palm" pad and the toe pads. The Force is strong in that young padewan bee.

Off to the vet we go. Poor Joey. She hates the vet.

She was a brave little soldier. The vet AND a tech searched her paw and squeezed it and shot her up with benedryl. She got a cookie for her goodness. She didn't feel that was adequate. She is sleeping happily now.

Good Weekend for Sophie

Sophie is improving everyday. The further we get from her wailing and panting the better - and the more we think it was the medication. He appetite is probably 70% back to normal. She shows a lot of interest in food (and she is getting anything she wants) but will only eat "so much" of any one food. Where she used to eat 1 cup of kibble, now she will eat 1/2, then asks to be hand fed, then loses interest with 15 kibbles to go. She has been really good about taking her remaining medicines (thyroid, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic) too.

She has shown more and more interest in her pre-surgical routine. We took her to the park twice yesterday and twice today. She enjoys the trip and carrying around her pink squeaky ball. She's not doing much more than that (which is fine with me).

She still is producing a good amount of mucous that comes out her nose. I'm hoping that is all normal healing stuff, but don't you worry - I'll ask. She is due to get her stitches out on Thursday.

Chicken for breakfast? Why Not?

Sophie is home from rehab. She spent a few days with the vet being observed, going to group, having one on one time with the doctor (to share feelings) and going cold turkey. She’s home now, starting to eat more and eat more regularly. She is resting, finally. It’s nice to have her back!

Last night we saw her appetite coming back, but this morning it has returned almost completely. She is still fussy (she never was before) but she is eating more at a time. We are up to half a cup of kibble and this morning she ate half a cup of baked chicken. She would have had more but I ran out. The next breast is thawing.

Baah One, Baah Two, Baah Three

Sophie is home. She ate a few cookies, walked around the house and put herself in the second bedroom. She counted a few sheep and that was it.

Zzzzzzzzzz. 'Nuff said.

Well Rested

Heard from the vet earlier this morning that Sophie has been resting well with them. She still has not eaten much, though she is showing interest. They are going to take some blood today, run a CBC and also test her cortico steroid level. They want to rule out the possibility that she is not producing it on her own. She has been on prednisone, a steroid, in a low dose for a year which is why it might be possible her system stopped making it - or is starting to stop.

They are going to keep her today, we will get her at 4:30 unless we hear otherwise. I'm going to spend the day turning the house into a zen sanctuary, removing all stimulus from her home environment. There will be nothing but dim lights, soft music and scented candles - chicken pot pie scented candles. :)

Heard from the Vet

I just heard from the vet. Sophie has been sleeping for the past 6 hours. I asked if they put her on a new medication of did she just give up.

"We think she just gave up." It was about time! Poor thing was exhausted. The doctor said not to bother her since she is resting comfortably, and breathing regularly. They put some food in with her but she was just too tired to deal with it.

They will keep her overnight and call us in the morning with a status report. Hopefully if she has any more strange behavior to get out of her system she will do it there, for them.

Sophie is Back at the Vet

Sophie didn't sleep at all last night. The magic we hoped for Xanax to bring her only lasted about an hour. She panted all night and paced in the small bathroom we had her confined to. I stayed with her and tried to calm her, but she has something else going on. She was trembling (which often means pain) off and on and had a little trouble breathing through her "blow hole".

The vet called this morning to ask how everything was going and got a story she didn't expect. She said to bring her in and she would have the surgeon look at her and get some other opinions from her colleagues. We discussed all the options for poor Sophie Ann Marie Mary Louise Theresa Christine, new pain meds, different sedative, etc. I was willing to try anything, but I was quite nervous about putting her on yet another medication, taking her home and having yet another symptom or behavior pop up. The vet offered to keep her over night, maybe two, to try to get her in a better place. As much as I miss her right now, I'm glad she is with her medical team. They can run an IV and give her fluids and nourishment as she still have eaten next to nothing.

I am very grateful for Joey.

Trip to the Vet

Veterinary Medical Specialist opens their doors at 8am for emergency drop offs and is open for business at 8:30. Roy had the phone dialing at 7:59am. We were getting an appointment for Sophie to see her vet. Today.

We had a bit of a trying morning just because Sophie is on the move. I want to say she is agitated, which she is, but I think she is also just Sophie and she is aggravated about all this sitting around. It is not a coincidence that it is the pool she continues to circle around. She could just as easily go out to the grass on the side yard.

It should be mentioned here that Sophie has been in the habit of walking in VMS and immediately demanding a cookie from Geoff who is usually at the desk there. Today was the same. He smiled and gave her a cookie, which she ate, and in unison Roy and I said "She hasn't eaten in 5 days Geoff, don't stop feeding her."

We told her story to the vet and said "Fix her" and "Help us" and "Feed her". They are all so nice there. They took Sophie in the back, the cooked up some chicken for her they looked at her stitches, they cleaned her wounds. They noticed that when they tried to feed her she would take the food, chew it and spit it out and concluded that part of the problem may be that her throat was irritated from the anti fungal medication. They mixed up a concoction of a pepto bismol-like medicine and dash of lidocaine to coat and soothe her throat. She ate a little after that, not much really.

We talked with them about the screaming and wailing, stating we really didn't want to give her those meds anymore. We were told yesterday that benedryl was an option, but I know from experience that it does nothing for or to Sophie. But today we were sent home with the magic pill: Xanax. Sophie is on a very low dose and it seems to be just what she needed. She is in and out of naps, but mostly just hanging out on her bed.

Quick funny story... You can imagine Roy and I talking with (well at, really) the vet this morning. We are talking over one another and shouting out every minute detail (because it might be important), correcting one another and completing each other's sentences. I look like the mother of a new born (no sleep) and Roy is detailed in his account of how upsetting it was to watch Sophie screaming, wailing and pacing. So the vet reveals Xanax is the plan - we have a thousand questions - she tells us to break the pills in 1/2 and start with that dose. We can always up the dose to a full pill if we need to, blah, blah. Then she looks Roy square in the face and says, "And if it doesn't work for her, you can take it."

Crying Over Kibble

Take yesterday's To Do list and apply it to this morning. Though this morning she shoved the kennel (we use it to barricade her in our bathroom) out of her way to get outside for the bathroom break. She is very, very thirsty and is taking us out frequently to see what's happening with the hose.

But now we can add to the list medication and kibble. When we first had her out this morning and she was drinking from the hose we were able to get most of her medications down between drinks. She was gracious and took a nap after her exercise so that I could take Joey up to Pulgas Ridge Park for some off leash romping.

When we returned Sophie was starting to get agitated again. She had walked Roy around the yard several times, hose break each lap. She would lie down, but only for minutes at the most. I walked her around for a while and asked Roy to bring out her water bowl and kibble bowl. She showed some interest in her bowl, then we heard "crunch". Roy and I looked at each other, "Did you hear that?" Then another "crunch". I started crying.

The routine became: walk around the pool, stop at the hose, stop for 5 kibbles, walk around the pool, hose, kibble. She took a 10 minute nap, but now she is on the move again.

Agitation

Sophie began to get agitated again late this morning. Thankfully she did not start to wail, but she wouldn't stay still. She was very determined that she wanted to walk around outside.

We took her out, around the pool (I actually think she wants the pool to be opened so she can swim), stopped at the hose for a drink then out to the side yard. She stopped by the hose out there too and slowly put herself down. She rested in the shade for 45 minutes or so with Roy out there reading a magazine. I ran up to borrow a x-pen so we can fence Sophie off. I was only gone 30 minutes or so, but that was enough for Roy to call and say "get back, she won't relax".

On advice from the vet, we gave her another half sedative and I sat with her until she dosed off. She is resting now.

This is not easy.

The "To Do" List

We have always said that Sophie is the smartest one in the house. She proved this to be correct again.

This morning, after a good nights sleep, Sophie walked us outside. Bathroom break: check.

Then she walked us over to the hose and wouldn't move until we turned it on for her to drink. Water: check.

Then she walked us around the front yard, into the back yard and around the pool, twice. Exercise: check.

Then inside for a nap.

Sophie is a total champ and is, and will always be, my hero.

Now if I can just get food and meds on that list...

Signs of Life

After last nights hours of wailing and screaming, we were actually pretty delighted that this morning Sophie was sleeping really hard. Her eyes were rolled up in her head, she was snoring and she seemed in a relatively comfortable position. We tiptoed around the house trying not to wake her for fear the wailing would start up again.

We checked on her periodically, but she was really zonked. We finally drew the line at 10 am. That was the time we would roust her, make her walk around give her more medicine, water, food, whatever we could get her to take. At 10 am she was still zonked. We looked at each other, worried, but thinking it's good that she is resting. And she is in her kennel so she is safe.

Another hour goes by, and another. Roy draws another line in the sand: 2pm. If she isn't starting to wake up by then, we are calling the vet. 2pm came and still no effort by Sophie to lift her head. By now Roy and I have worked ourselves into a pretty good panic. Is she in a coma? She hasn't had anything to eat or drink since she got home, is she dehydrated? To what degree is her AIHA involved? Her inner eyelid was up and covering her eyes, was she going blind? Does she have neurological damage?

We call and leave a message with the on call vet at VSA. Yesterday, our messages got us a call back within 15 to 20 minutes, but this afternoon it took a good hour. You know us, we put that hour to good use. We revved up our panic. We practiced lifting the kennel. We measured the kennel, measured the back of my car. Measured everything again. Called my dad - he came over (THANK YOU!!!). Packed up Sophie's meds in a bag. Packed a dinner for Joey. And otherwise prepared to take Sophie to the ER. My dad was great. He checked her out and explained what concerned him and what didn't. What pain medicines can do and how long they can stay in the system. He checked her eyes and thought they were reacting OK. He generally helped us gain some control of ourselves and the situation.

When the doctor called, he and Roy spoke for a while. He had Roy do a skin test to see if Sophie was dehydrated - she wasn't. If you know Roy you know that he asked lots of good questions and restated the answers to be sure he understood. We learned a lot (again - this vet is fabulous) and when we hung up we felt pretty certain that Sophie was either extremely exhausted, heavily medicated due to the patch on her ankle (oh yes, the patch, we forgot about that) or both. We were told to force her to get out of her kennel and walk even if only for a few steps.

That's what we did. We got her up and helped her hobble across the room to a throw we had waiting for her. She has been on that blanket for the past few hours. She has started to open her eyes a little be more. When they are open, she seems to follow our actions around the room. She has adjusted herself a few times and just a few minutes ago she stood up and headed for the back door - she wanted a bathroom break.

She is again resting on the blanket. She still has had nothing to eat or drink nor has she had any of her meds. We will reassess in the morning.

This is hard

I only do well with my own pain. When Roy had his kidney stones it was so hard to watch him experience those waves of pain. He at least could talk to me; tell me that a wave was coming, and leaving and when it was time to tackle a nurse for more morphine.

Sophie can't do that. She can't say "Hey, the pain meds seem to be wearing off, let's load up another one." All Sophie can do is scream when it hurts and I don't handle that well. She is panting and whining, wailing and screaming. Picture a polar bear calling her cubs that are a half mile away. That's wailing. And I'm not allowed to give her the pain medicine in any less than 8 hour intervals.

Last night was rough. Sophie wailed, and screamed until at least 11pm. We called the vet (again) to ask what we can do for her. He said definitely no more pain meds 'til morning and it was possible she was simply over medicated and that was causing the wailing. He said to put her in her kennel, cover the kennel with a blanket and ignore her. WAY easier said than done, but we did it. It took a few hours and a few visits from us to say "It's OK" but she finally was able to sleep.

Sophie is still sleeping this morning. I can't really give a report on how she is, since she hasn't done anything but rest. Rest is good.

Sophie is home

Sophie is home! We were able to pick her up Saturday morning first thing. The nurse carefully explained to us all that she had been through, what meds she is on will be on and when to stop what. I took lots of notes.

They seemed pleased with how she is recovering from the surgery. She clotted well on her own so she did not need a blood transfusion. She is still producing material that she is blowing out her nose. That will diminish as she heals, but I don't think it will ever completely go away.

You can click the picture above to see that her head is shaved from above her "eyebrows" down to her nose. She has a line of stitches that goes from between her eyes down her snout to her nose. She has two holes in her forehead. Those used to have the tubes that were used to administer the anti fungal medicine. She came home in an Elizabethan collar and a sling to assist her rear half with walking. We are supposed to keep her in a small room with walking only allowed for bathroom breaks for two weeks. Our vets have said several times in different ways that THEY MEAN IT. Sophie's got a reputation. So do we.

We got her home, let her walk in the yard for 5 minutes for some relief and then straight to bed. We have her in our rumpus room with the windows slid open so she can enjoy the breeze from outside. She has repositioned herself a few times, but is now resting and watching our every move. I am sitting on the floor next to her and will be for the next few days.

Joey was delighted to see Sophie. She wiggled and waggled around, but knew immediately that Sophie needed her space. She is very interested in what Sophie is up to, but she is also being respectful.

Sophie is "Hanging Out"

We got a call this morning from the vet's nurse updating us on Sophie. She did fine overnight and is still resting this morning. She is on lots of pain killers and is probably a bit loopy. She will be taken for a walk around noon and her anti fungal treatment is still planned for this afternoon. We will know later today if she is coming home or will spend another night.

But right now, she's just "hanging out" in her kennel (which is a good thing - better than panting or whining).

Props should also be given to the littlest labrador. Joey has stepped up her game in the past few days. She has decided Frisbee is pretty darn fun - so is chasing down the flat soccer ball. And she snuggles in extra tight when mom buries her head in the pillows.

Surgery is Done

We just heard from the veterinary surgeon and Sophie did well. They cleared both nasal passages of all the fungus (I'll spare you the details of THAT - ever see the movie "Face Off"?). Thankfully, the CT scan was accurate and the fungus had not reached the brain. The fungus is apparently a lot like bread mold, ew. She also put in the tubes that, tomorrow, will be used to fill the nasal passages with anti-fungal medicine.

She is in the process of waking up and getting her wits about her. She is not completely out of the woods yet, there is still a chance that she will need a blood transfusion and with her AIHA (anemia) this is extremely dangerous and potentially life threatening. Cross your fingers that this afternoon's lab tests show she doesn't need a transfusion.

If all goes well, we can bring her home as early as tomorrow. She will have a shaved face with stitches from between her eyes down to her nose and a BIG collar to prevent her from rubbing her face. She is looking at a two week recovery with the collar then we'll see what's next.

We had the surgeon assess the severe limp and take x-rays too. We don't know anything for absolute certain, but it appears to be "lower back pain" - who among us doesn't have that? We will try to treat that with anti inflammatory medicines while focusing on recovering from today's surgery. We might have to revisit that issue later.

So. In short, Sophie is not completely in the clear, but she is doing as well as can be expected right now.

Whew.

Surgery on Thursday

We spoke to Sophie's vet late this afternoon about her test results. She confirmed that Sophie's fungus is Sinonasal aspergillosis not disseminated aspergillosis. That's the first bit of good news as the disseminated aspergillosis is much farther reaching and has poor treatment outcomes.

As stated before she recommends surgery for Sophie's condition and I'm trying not to flip out over the fact that she "insisted" that we do it Thursday if we feel that is our best course of action. The implied urgency is what is upsetting to me. However it is understandable when the doctor explains that this fungus has already invaded Sophie's septum and it is important that it not be allowed to reach the brain. The CT scan did not indicate the brain had been invaded. That's the second piece of good news.

We have an appointment to meet with the surgeon Thursday morning and presumably we will leave Sophie for surgery and at least one overnight stay (if we don't leave Sophie it is because we decided not to go ahead with surgery). What we know right now is that they will saw open her skull to literally scoop out the fungus and apply medication. At that time they will also insert two tubes in her head that will be used to administer more medication. The surgery is delicate and intensive and will take several hours. Sophie will stay over at least one night, and perhaps a second one depending on her experience after the procedure.

One reason they will keep Sophie is that it is common for air to leak through the fracture in her skull which causes her head to fill with air - not dangerous, but upsetting to see. Once home we will have to watch her carefully for the first week for the possibility that another anti fungal treatment is needed. Fingers crossed, after two weeks will be back to the Sophie that existed before the fungal infestation. That sentence right there is the entire reason we will go through with this.

Although we are hopeful, optimistic and full of questions for the surgeon we are both very nervous. We had the same high hopes when we took Sammy in for her surgery years ago and that ended in great sorrow.

There's a Fungus Among Us

All things considered, Sophie is OK.

Sophie has been having a nasal discharge for a while. It was clear when it started (meaning likely an allergy), but recently it has become green, brown and red and smelly. Her breath as been really bad too. When we took her into see her specialist for her anemia we reported this (which we had before) and we all agreed it was time to put her under, do a CT (to check for tooth/root problems) and do a scope of her nasal passages too if the CT suggested it was a good idea.

So Sophie got scanned and scoped (and her teeth cleaned and toenails clipped). It appears she has a fungus growing in her nasal passages (aspergillosis) all the way up to her frontal lobe. Apparently we all encounter fungi in our environment everyday, but her compromised immune system (due to her AIHA) couldn't fight it off. She will likely need surgery next week to fully remove the fungus as it is too high up to be treated any other way. The surgery will mean opening up her skull to completely extract the fungus and medicating the area. I'm not liking the idea of that at all, but if we don't treat her, the fungus could eat her brain.

Right now she is groggy, and bleeding a little from her nasal biopsy. But her attitude is good, she is eating and she is drinking. So all things considered she is OK. The hardest part is her rear left leg got hurt somewhere in the process of the scans and scopes so she as been walking on only three legs. Her scans and samples have been sent out to be read and tested. We should know more Tuesday or Wednesday (holiday weekend).

I, on the other hand, am a mess. I think I will go completely grey this weekend.