Making Momma Worry

Yeah, I'm worrying a little about my Lou.  She's not eating, she's losing weight, but she's also drinking a TON of water and peeing inside the house.  I thought her increased thirst and decreased appetite might be side effects to her Tramadol (pain medication).  We tried cutting back her pain medication for about a day, but then the following night I noticed she was trembling.  So, we decided we might be trying to ween her off the pain medication too soon and resumed giving her two Tramadol in the morning and two more at night.

As for her desire to eat, it's hard to tell if she's just being picky or if she's genuinely not hungry.  Justin and I ate dinner at restaurants almost every night this past week so that the girls wouldn't smell our food and think that they had any food options other than their own dog food.  Despite our brilliant plan, Lexie never seemed interested in eating her own food.  I got her to nibble some dog food a few nights ago, but it wasn't much, and I didn't see her eat again for two whole days afterwards.  Obviously, this started to worry us, so Justin and I decided last night to give into Lexie's "hunger strike," if that's what it was, to see if she'd eat some people food.  If she turned her nose up at the people food, then we'd know there was a more serious problem happening.

Well, after Lexie anxiously gobbled up an entire package of faux crab meat and two slices of American cheese last night, we've determined that she does still have an appetite after all.  Now, the question is how do we get her to start eating dog food again?!?!  We've thought about buying some canned food and mixing it in with her dry food, but you have to remember that Jocie and Sam are going to want to eat the canned food, too, and canned food is more expensive than dry food.  Therefore, we're kind of afraid to "spoil" them on canned food, as well.  Lexie HAS to eat, though!  She's lost so much weight that I noticed her harness is actually falling off of her now.  She also seems kind of weak on her feet.  

Then, there's the issue of Lexie using the dining room rug as her new toilet.  This is infuriating me, but I have no idea what to do!  The couple of times that I've actually caught her peeing on the rug, I've told her "no," rushed her outside, and then praised her like crazy when she finished peeing in the grass.  I just feel bad yelling at her too much because she drinks a TON of water, so I know she must have to pee a lot, and we're not there at all hours of the day to let her out every time she needs to go.  I'm just worried that maybe this amount of thirst, especially coupled with a decreased appetite, could possibly be a sign that something isn't right.  On the other hand, I'm also worried that she might get into the habit of peeing in the dining room whenever she has to go instead of trying to hold it until I can take her outside.

UUUuuuuuuugggghhhhh!!!!!!  

On a better note, her incisions are looking fantastic.  The swelling over her right eye is looking better and better every day.  Here is a comparison of how she looked Monday compared to how she looked yesterday:

You can see how much the swelling has gone down, and also how her eyes are kind of "sinking in" now.  I just wish I could be happier about the healing progress, but for the time being I'm just too worried about everything else.  She does have an appointment to have her stitches removed this coming Wednesday, though, so I plan to talk about all these concerns with Dr. Ellis.  

Switching to Weekly Updates (Plus, a Funny Little Story)

I meant to mention this in my post yesterday, but since there haven't been any major developments or emergencies with Lexie over the past week (thank GOD!), I probably will not be giving daily updates from this point on, unless something out of the ordinary happens, of course.  Instead, I will probably start posting weekly updates about Lou's recovery and adjustment to her new life as a blind Dobe.  This way, I won't wear you out with boring posts like, "Lexie ate, drank, slept, and used the bathroom a couple times today.  Tune in tomorrow to see what exciting things she does next!" 

I will tell you that the swelling above her right eye is now showing definite signs of improvement, which is quite a relief.  Her left eye must have had a tad bit of swelling, too, which I didn't really notice until yesterday.  It's not that I noticed her left eye was swollen, though, it's more like I've noticed that the swelling must be going away because now her left eye is actually starting to look a little "sunken in."  It's a little weird, I'm not going to lie, but at least her incision in that eye looks really, really good. 

Another weird thing I've noticed is that, even though Lexie no longer has any eyes in her sockets, the muscles around her eyes still move sometimes, as though she's looking around.  In fact, when I first noticed this the other night, it was actually quite a funny moment.  (I'm a little embarrassed to share this, but it's too funny to keep to myself.) 

Now, admittedly, I was a bit tipsy when this happened.  Justin and I were having a nice, relaxing evening at home, and I had probably had two or three glasses of wine by this point.  I decided to use the flashlight app on my iPhone to check Lexie's incisions, and when I held the flashlight up to her face, I noticed her eye muscles move.  Obviously, her eye muscles were probably just reacting to the sensation of something being held close to her face all of a sudden, but in my tipsy state I actually thought that she had reacted to the light.  So, I said to Justin, "Hey, are we sure that Lexie can't see anything?"  (Mind you, her eyeballs have been surgically removed.)  Justin immediately burst into laughter, then quickly regained his composure and said, in a very calm and reassuring manner, "I am absolutely, 100% positive."

Okay, okay, so maybe it wasn't the smartest question I've ever asked, but at least it's given us something to laugh about.  :)

Celebrating Red, White, and Lou!

I am so thankful that Justin and I were able to stay home with Lexie today because of the 4th of July holiday.  All of my friends are headed to a big cookout, and I have to admit that I'm starting to feel a little cooped up, but there's no way I'd leave my Lou today.

She's been sleeping most of the day because of her pain medication, but when she's awake she seems happy, despite how awful she looks.  I'm trying to keep her face clean, but it's a losing battle right now.  Her right eye is really worrying me.  I'm not a vet by any means, but it looks to me like she may have busted a stitch or two.  I tried calling MedVet, but they told me the ophthalmology department isn't in today, and Animal Care Clinic is closed today, too (i.e. the one downside to having Lexie's first day home fall on a holiday).  Yesterday, the veterinary ophthalmologist at MedVet told me that it's normal to see some bloody discharge coming from Lexie's eyes over the next several days, but right now it looks like it's just plain blood.  It's not gushing, though, and her incision doesn't look like it's bursting or anything, so I'm hoping to just wait until tomorrow morning to take her to see Dr. Ellis.  If it starts to look worse, I'll take her to the local animal ER tonight.  

The other thing that's worrying me a little is that Lexie hasn't peed all day.  She went out this morning without any problem, but she didn't pee.  For the rest of the day, anytime I've tried to let the girls out Lexie will walk to the back door, but then refuses to come outside.  The last time I tried to get her to go out, just a few minutes ago, she actually started trembling as Justin and I tried to coax her outside.  I'm not sure if it's the temperature that's making her hesitant to go out (it's almost 100-degrees today), or what.  I'm hoping she'll go tonight when it's cooled down.

In the meantime, I've decided to put Lexie's inflatable collar on her to prevent any further damage to her incisions.  (I still cannot believe she was sent home without an E-collar!)  She has been pretty good about leaving her stitches alone, but every now and then I'll catch her rubbing her face on the carpet.  I'm sure those stitches are itchy and uncomfortable, but I'd just rather be safe than sorry.  My poor Lou.  I'll be so glad when she's healed so I can stop worrying!

Background - Part One: It's "Only" Anterior Uveitis

It’s hard to believe it was only less than one month ago (the first week of June, 2012) when I first noticed something was wrong with Lexie’s left eye.   She happened to turn to look at me while her third eyelid was covering her eye, which was something I’d never seen her do before.    As soon as I jumped up to get a closer look, though, her eye went back to normal and she seemed to be perfectly fine.  I thought that maybe it was just a fluke, but it became obvious the next day that it wasn’t.   Her eyes were becoming increasingly red, so I made an appointment at the vet the next morning.  I thought that she was maybe having an allergic reaction to something, or perhaps had been scratched by one of the feral cats that sometime seek shelter under our deck.  I figured the vet would probably prescribe some medicine, which we’d probably have to give her for a couple of weeks, and then Lou would be back to normal in no time.

My boyfriend, Justin, and I took Lexie to see Dr. Ginger Ellis at Animal Care Clinic in Huntington, WV that Saturday.  I could immediately tell by Dr. Ellis’ concerned expression, however, that Lexie’s eye condition was something worse than I had anticipated.  She measured Lou’s eye pressures and was very relieved when her pressures were low, because she said that meant that this was not glaucoma.  After further examining her, Dr. Ellis said she believed Lexie had anterior uveitis, which is an inflammation that affects the front, or anterior, part of the eye.  She prescribed a steroid eye drop to give Lexie every six hours, along with an antibiotic, and told me that Lou’s eyes should start looking better by the next day.  If it didn’t, Dr. Ellis recommended I take her to the emergency vet, since it would be on a Sunday, in order to have blood work done because eye inflammation can also be a sign of something going on internally, like cancer.  I asked Dr. Ellis if we could just go ahead and do some blood work that day, just to save myself a little bit of worry.  She agreed, and thankfully Lexie’s blood work came back normal.

We immediately started administering the antibiotics and steroid drops to Lexie’s eyes as prescribed, but she did not look better the next day.   I didn’t rush her to the ER, though, because her blood work had come back normal at Dr. Ellis’ office.  So, I just continued to administer her medications over the next several days, thinking that eventually they would kick in and she’d start to look better, but she didn’t.  In fact, after a full week of treatment, Lexie’s eyes were starting to look worse.  Her left eye was noticeably worse than her right, but they were both very red, and she was holding them shut most of the time.   However, despite the fact that she was starting to actually look like a blind dog, she could obviously still see because she wasn’t bumping into anything, which I took as a positive sign.

At her follow-up appointment (one week after her initial diagnosis), Dr. Ellis frowned when she saw that Lexie’s condition had worsened, and after giving her a brief examination, she asked if she could refer us to an eye specialist in Ohio.  She said that she was afraid Lexie may be developing retinal detachment and could go blind very quickly, but because Dr. Ellis is not a veterinary ophthalmologist, she said she couldn’t really be sure.  That is why she wanted to make us a referral to a place called MedVet in Worthington, Ohio, which is a three-hour drive from Huntington.  I couldn’t believe we were actually discussing the possibility of my Lou going blind!  I was immediately in tears  because I wasn’t sure I would be able to afford any kind of extensive treatment that Lou may need.  Dr. Ellis and her assistant were both very sympathetic and talked to me about some possible financing options through Care Credit, if it came to that.  Her assistant held my hand and told me that dogs adjust very well to being blind, and told me about how her own dog adjusted very well after he had to have both of his eyes removed.  So, basically, I went home from the vet that day thinking that Lexie was most likely going blind, but still holding out hope that the specialist in Ohio would have better news for us. 

A few days later, my roommate, Ashley, accompanied me and Lexie on our road trip to see Dr. Corbett, a veterinary ophthalmologist, at MedVet.   (Thankfully, I have a very nice boss who allowed me to take some time off from work in order to make the trip to Ohio.)  I was very impressed when we arrived at MedVet because it was SO much bigger than the little old Animal Care Clinic back home.  It felt more like a hospital, which was comforting in a way. 

Dr. Corbett and her vet tech were both very nice.  After a thorough examination of Lexie’s eyes, Dr. Corbett told us that Lexie’s retinas looked fine.  She then went on to explain anterior uveitis to us, which was Dr. Ellis’ original diagnosis, but I still wasn’t 100% sure if Lexie was in danger of going blind.  Finally, I mustered up the courage to ask, “Just to be clear, are you telling me that Lexie is NOT going blind?”  Dr. Corbett replied, “Correct.  She is not going blind.”  Ashley and I both cheered, and Ashley immediately began texting the good news to all of our concerned friends back home as I continued to listen to Dr. Corbett. 

She explained that anterior uveitis can be caused by a number of things, including tick bite, cancer, eye injury, a disease of the internal organs, fungal infection, or it could possibly be autoimmune-related.  She was able to rule out eye injury during Lexie’s exam that day, and I could have paid to have blood work done that would have definitely told us if it was caused by a tick bite, but when Dr. Corbett said that we were basically treating her for a tick bite anyway, I decided to save some money and not order that test.  So, that left cancer, internal organ disease, fungal infection, and autoimmune disorder as the remaining possible causes for her uveitis. 

Dr. Corbett recommended we treat Lexie’s condition as though it was caused by tick bite or an autoimmune disorder.  If her condition worsened or did not improve after two weeks of treatment, then she would order a chest X-ray and abdominal ultrasound to look for cancer, etc.  So, I was told to continue giving Lexie the same steroid eye drops and antibiotics she was already taking, but Dr. Corbett increased their dosages and added another ibuprofen-type medication to her regimen.  She told me that Lexie wouldn’t look better immediately, but after about a week I should start to see an improvement. 

Needless to say, I went home the happiest dog owner in the entire world that afternoon because I had been told by an actual veterinary ophthalmologist that Lexie was NOT going blind!!!!

If only I had known the heartbreak that lay ahead…