A community for special dogs... and their families and caregivers
Jack is critical.
(This is a note I posted to the ME yahoogroups list - I am just too weary to type another update from scratch. Sorry for the repeat!)
Jack the triple-whammy dog recovered like a champ from his thymoma surgery and over the past two weeks has gotten healthier and stronger every day. No MG symptoms (still on the Mestinon though), a few MG symptoms at night but wearing a Pro-Collar helped with that, and he was doing *great* - we were thrilled and so grateful! He's been wanting to go on longer and longer walks, just about tears my arm out of the socket when he sees a rabbit, etc.
But then... yesterday I got home from work and he was listless, wouldn't eat and breathing really hard. I freaked! Rushed him down to OSU and sure enough he has AP. I cannot believe this. He made it through multiple ME misdiagnoses, a dental under anesthesia, being boarded with ME, MG diagnosis, multiple tests and stays at the vet hospital, thymoma diagnosis, radical thymoma surgery under anesthsia, and initial rough period of surgical recovery, ALL of that... and now that he's back to his normal "healthy" self, he gets AP!?!???! I just can't believe it.
The good news is that he is super strong - has been eating like a horse, gaining weight, exercising, sleeping lots - and he is well suited to beat this thing just like he's beaten every other challenge. The bad news is that his oxygen levels were really low last night so they called his situation "critical" and had to immediately sedate and intubate him with nasal oxygen and start an IV with fluids and antibiotics. He looked just awful the last time I saw him. :( The vets walked me through every possibility and made me cry with fear. :( We made the tough decision that IF his heart stopped in the night or IF his condition worsened and required that he be put on a ventilator, then we would opt for euthanasia instead. Basically I had to sign a "DNR" for my beloved sweet Jack... one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. :(
BUT... they said they would call overnight if he got worse, and they didn't call! I'm about to call OSU now to check on him at 8 a.m. and find out how he did. If he responded to the oxygen therapy then I believe he could be on his way to recovery again.
Positive thoughts and prayers are welcome! I am particularly grateful for all of the amazing resources in the Yahoogroups files section, I've been reading them all night/morning long... the success stories are particularly inspiring. :)
Hanging in there,
Lara
aka Jack's mom
http://megaesophagusdogs.ning.com/
Jack the triple-whammy dog recovered like a champ from his thymoma surgery and over the past two weeks has gotten healthier and stronger every day. No MG symptoms (still on the Mestinon though), a few MG symptoms at night but wearing a Pro-Collar helped with that, and he was doing *great* - we were thrilled and so grateful! He's been wanting to go on longer and longer walks, just about tears my arm out of the socket when he sees a rabbit, etc.
But then... yesterday I got home from work and he was listless, wouldn't eat and breathing really hard. I freaked! Rushed him down to OSU and sure enough he has AP. I cannot believe this. He made it through multiple ME misdiagnoses, a dental under anesthesia, being boarded with ME, MG diagnosis, multiple tests and stays at the vet hospital, thymoma diagnosis, radical thymoma surgery under anesthsia, and initial rough period of surgical recovery, ALL of that... and now that he's back to his normal "healthy" self, he gets AP!?!???! I just can't believe it.
The good news is that he is super strong - has been eating like a horse, gaining weight, exercising, sleeping lots - and he is well suited to beat this thing just like he's beaten every other challenge. The bad news is that his oxygen levels were really low last night so they called his situation "critical" and had to immediately sedate and intubate him with nasal oxygen and start an IV with fluids and antibiotics. He looked just awful the last time I saw him. :( The vets walked me through every possibility and made me cry with fear. :( We made the tough decision that IF his heart stopped in the night or IF his condition worsened and required that he be put on a ventilator, then we would opt for euthanasia instead. Basically I had to sign a "DNR" for my beloved sweet Jack... one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. :(
BUT... they said they would call overnight if he got worse, and they didn't call! I'm about to call OSU now to check on him at 8 a.m. and find out how he did. If he responded to the oxygen therapy then I believe he could be on his way to recovery again.
Positive thoughts and prayers are welcome! I am particularly grateful for all of the amazing resources in the Yahoogroups files section, I've been reading them all night/morning long... the success stories are particularly inspiring. :)
Hanging in there,
Lara
aka Jack's mom
http://megaesophagusdogs.ning.com/
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