A rollercoaster ride...
Its been a long, long night for Trixie and I. What a roller coaster ride we've been on...
It started off yesterday morning, when we picked Trixie up at the nighttime vet and were told that they had to constantly administer valium to her because just as soon as it would wear off, she'd seize again. When I went to visit her around 9:30pm on Tuesday night, she was cold to the touch and shivering. I told them I thought she was cold, and they assured me I was wrong, she was having pre-seizure movements.
So, Wednesday morning, when Dan went to pick her up, she was still shivering. Trixie is cold natured, even for a chihuahua... she climbs under my shirt to snuggle when its 90 degrees outside and a breeze hits her. Low and behold, as soon as Dan gets her into the heater-toasty truck, she immediately stops shivering and is totally relaxed. We both transport her to the day vet, and speak to him about our own feelings and what we viewed her behavior to be. Dr. Balozi agreed to watch her, took my list of meds from my parents house to research, along with the knowledge that we now know that my dad had indeed dropped a Marinol tablet (yes, marijuana synthetic-- for his cancer and appetite-- for those who are keen on meds). He thought it had fallen away under the refridgerator. However, as resourceful as Trixie is, I do not put it past her to have dug the darn thing out. So, we leave her at the vet for the afternoon.
At lunchtime, I check back in on her at the vet's office. She is sleeping peacefully.... no sedation, no seizures. Just some light feet paddling movement, which Dan & I believe to be her trying to stand up (she has a catheter in her front leg). Good news for sure. By afternoon, I am stuck at work, so Dan runs down to pick her up (I can't tell you how wonderful he is handling this whole situation... he's definately done wonders to balance my panicky anxiety attacks). She had a light seizure-like movement they suspected, that she had flipped herself over in her cage, so they sedated her again so she would not harm herself. Dr. Balozi agreed that the best thing would be to take her home and keep her under constant observation. He gave Dan a syringe of Valium just in case she had a bad attack. The nighttime clinic is right up the street, so I felt good about keeping her home knowing help was a mere minute away and we had Valium on hand to calm her. And so my neverending night began...
She was still pretty loopy, but started to move around a little around 11pm, enough to have wet all over Dan not once but three times (bless his heart). Dan had taken the first shift, while I prepared clean towels and blankets for her and got ready for my turn. I took over for awhile, calming her and petting her when she started to stir. Her motor skills were absent, she couldn't hold her head upright or walk on her own, yet she still tried to muster the strength to stand up. Around 1am, I couldn't stay awake any longer, and my shoulder was killing me from balancing her head, so Dan took over for awhile. He called for me at 3:30am again... she had been awake, looking around and trying to walk. She couldn't move her front legs, nor hold her head up, but she shuffled her hind feet as Dan helped her across the floor... headed straight for her #2 spot. She didn't quite make it, but her bowel movement was also a good sign. That energetic episode had her pretty drained, so I took over. She was having small eye/mouth twitches throughout the night, but rubbing her tummy kept her calm and stopped them quickly, so she made it to morning with no sedation. Dan took over at 6:30am so I could shower, and then off to the vet we went...
Dr. Balozi was off, so Dr. Meyer saw her first thing. She was looking better, but the minute that we laid her on the table away from us, she started twitching more violently than before. Dr. Meyer said that it was obvious that the best place for her was home with mom, so back to the house we went. I had to go into work to finish a presentation for a 10am meeting ,Dan stayed with her while I was gone. When I got back at 10, he headed off to work as I used an eye dropper to give her pedialyte. She had begun the twitching more frequently, and a little more forceful, so I called Dr. Meyer, and he instructed me to give her 1/2 cc of Valium to calm her. She didn't like that too much. But she was out again, and so was I for about an hour. I laid nose-to-nose with her so that I could feel if she moved. Dan came back around 1pm to bring me lunch, and stayed with her while I ate, but work called and I had to run back to the office (grrr.) I had been researching on the internet while I ate, and was upset again, because seizures lasting 5 minutes or longer constant (not clustered or repeating with breaks) can cause brain damage. We have no clue how long her Tuesday seizure had lasted, all that I know was that she was alone from 9:30-12, and that the sheet was wet when I found her. I worried that her loss of motor skills might be a bad sign. In the hour and a half that I've left the house to be stuck here at work, Dan calls me to tell me that Trixie is up and spazzing out trying to walk. Her catheter is preventing her from doing a good job, but she is holding her head up and won't hold still. She had tired him out from helping her walk... he had to call his brother to help him get her to the vet to remove the catheter. I do not know what caused the sudden change in her condition, but I will take good news any day...
Now, its just a day at a time. I'm hoping this is a positive step forward for her, and will be burning the midnight oil again tonight.
Thanks for the many emails and messages of support... I haven't had time to answer them, but your prayers are appreciated.
Love and puppy kisses,
Trixie & Erica
It started off yesterday morning, when we picked Trixie up at the nighttime vet and were told that they had to constantly administer valium to her because just as soon as it would wear off, she'd seize again. When I went to visit her around 9:30pm on Tuesday night, she was cold to the touch and shivering. I told them I thought she was cold, and they assured me I was wrong, she was having pre-seizure movements.
So, Wednesday morning, when Dan went to pick her up, she was still shivering. Trixie is cold natured, even for a chihuahua... she climbs under my shirt to snuggle when its 90 degrees outside and a breeze hits her. Low and behold, as soon as Dan gets her into the heater-toasty truck, she immediately stops shivering and is totally relaxed. We both transport her to the day vet, and speak to him about our own feelings and what we viewed her behavior to be. Dr. Balozi agreed to watch her, took my list of meds from my parents house to research, along with the knowledge that we now know that my dad had indeed dropped a Marinol tablet (yes, marijuana synthetic-- for his cancer and appetite-- for those who are keen on meds). He thought it had fallen away under the refridgerator. However, as resourceful as Trixie is, I do not put it past her to have dug the darn thing out. So, we leave her at the vet for the afternoon.
At lunchtime, I check back in on her at the vet's office. She is sleeping peacefully.... no sedation, no seizures. Just some light feet paddling movement, which Dan & I believe to be her trying to stand up (she has a catheter in her front leg). Good news for sure. By afternoon, I am stuck at work, so Dan runs down to pick her up (I can't tell you how wonderful he is handling this whole situation... he's definately done wonders to balance my panicky anxiety attacks). She had a light seizure-like movement they suspected, that she had flipped herself over in her cage, so they sedated her again so she would not harm herself. Dr. Balozi agreed that the best thing would be to take her home and keep her under constant observation. He gave Dan a syringe of Valium just in case she had a bad attack. The nighttime clinic is right up the street, so I felt good about keeping her home knowing help was a mere minute away and we had Valium on hand to calm her. And so my neverending night began...
She was still pretty loopy, but started to move around a little around 11pm, enough to have wet all over Dan not once but three times (bless his heart). Dan had taken the first shift, while I prepared clean towels and blankets for her and got ready for my turn. I took over for awhile, calming her and petting her when she started to stir. Her motor skills were absent, she couldn't hold her head upright or walk on her own, yet she still tried to muster the strength to stand up. Around 1am, I couldn't stay awake any longer, and my shoulder was killing me from balancing her head, so Dan took over for awhile. He called for me at 3:30am again... she had been awake, looking around and trying to walk. She couldn't move her front legs, nor hold her head up, but she shuffled her hind feet as Dan helped her across the floor... headed straight for her #2 spot. She didn't quite make it, but her bowel movement was also a good sign. That energetic episode had her pretty drained, so I took over. She was having small eye/mouth twitches throughout the night, but rubbing her tummy kept her calm and stopped them quickly, so she made it to morning with no sedation. Dan took over at 6:30am so I could shower, and then off to the vet we went...
Dr. Balozi was off, so Dr. Meyer saw her first thing. She was looking better, but the minute that we laid her on the table away from us, she started twitching more violently than before. Dr. Meyer said that it was obvious that the best place for her was home with mom, so back to the house we went. I had to go into work to finish a presentation for a 10am meeting ,Dan stayed with her while I was gone. When I got back at 10, he headed off to work as I used an eye dropper to give her pedialyte. She had begun the twitching more frequently, and a little more forceful, so I called Dr. Meyer, and he instructed me to give her 1/2 cc of Valium to calm her. She didn't like that too much. But she was out again, and so was I for about an hour. I laid nose-to-nose with her so that I could feel if she moved. Dan came back around 1pm to bring me lunch, and stayed with her while I ate, but work called and I had to run back to the office (grrr.) I had been researching on the internet while I ate, and was upset again, because seizures lasting 5 minutes or longer constant (not clustered or repeating with breaks) can cause brain damage. We have no clue how long her Tuesday seizure had lasted, all that I know was that she was alone from 9:30-12, and that the sheet was wet when I found her. I worried that her loss of motor skills might be a bad sign. In the hour and a half that I've left the house to be stuck here at work, Dan calls me to tell me that Trixie is up and spazzing out trying to walk. Her catheter is preventing her from doing a good job, but she is holding her head up and won't hold still. She had tired him out from helping her walk... he had to call his brother to help him get her to the vet to remove the catheter. I do not know what caused the sudden change in her condition, but I will take good news any day...
Now, its just a day at a time. I'm hoping this is a positive step forward for her, and will be burning the midnight oil again tonight.
Thanks for the many emails and messages of support... I haven't had time to answer them, but your prayers are appreciated.
Love and puppy kisses,
Trixie & Erica
Posted by Erica Ortiz on Thursday, December 08, 2005 at 3:18 PM | Permalink 
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