Apr 29, 2014
CRAZY 23 hours
I have been back from my Mother’s memorial service for only 23 hours. It was more than I expected and I was extremely touched as were many of the speakers. Many many tears were shed. I will fill you in on this another day. I really would like to.
I arrived exhausted yesterday and while I had a lovely soak in the tub, Colin made us a wonderful dinner, then I went to bed. Seems that I missed a mini snow squall while away in Edmonton. Nice! I discovered a lovely wine while waiting for my plane on Monday, but at $9.99 per glass, ouch! Well worth finding a bottle though….Graffigna Pinot Grigio from Argentina.
When I awoke this morning I hit the ground running. So far today we have dealt with a lawyer, a landscaper, our insurance company, our investment advisor, banking difficulties, our accountant, clients, an eye appointment and a Dr’s appointment, and worst of all our vet. Why oh why, all in one day?
Over the weekend Carmeh had many downs and a few ups. This morning after letting her out to do her business I observed how difficult it was for her to climb the stairs up to the house. In fact after struggling with the first two steps she stopped on the third. We carried her in. Seems like she had a spinal issue.
After a few of our urgent calls that kept coming one after another, Colin delayed an appointment with a client and we were off to the vet.
Dr. Susan Wales spent a long time checking Carmeh over. She did test after test and repeated several of them to confirm her findings.
It appears that Carmeh has a bad spot along her spine which is where Susan is pressing in the photo and a VERY bad spot at the hump of her spine, about a hands width higher than the bad spot. She could feel heat rising from it. We had observed from time to time on the Isla that Carmeh was walking slowly and sometimes was reluctant to walk. Since being back home, not even 2 weeks yet, she has had to be carried back from a walk twice as she just stopped walking. When she is good she is great and runs and jumps, even running and playing on the lawn with Colin on Monday. But when she is sore, she doesn’t move, but brave little girl that she is, she has never complained. So she now has two very fragile areas along her spine, likely two discs ready to pop! She needs to be immobilized.
Blood was taken but Carmeh was forming a hematoma so Susan was applying pressure.
Carmeh is now on Metacam, once daily for pain and to decrease inflammation. If there is no change in a few days we will switch to Prednisone. She is also requiring ice packs, on for 10 minutes and off for 10 minutes and if that is not tolerated then heat packs. Bad parents that we are, this has not yet happened as Colin had to go to see two clients and I had an eye appointment and a medical appointment, yes even more to pack into these crazy 23 hours. Sadly I just found out that our GP is retiring in August as he turns 65. I knew he did not like practicing, but had no idea that he was planning on quitting, and sadly he has no replacement. Apparently the clinic has been advertising for over a year with no takers so we are stuck with using the walk in clinic as none of the other Dr’s in the clinic will take on new patients. I have since done an online search and found out that no doctors in this area are taking on new patients. Another hurdle to deal with.
The most important thing with Carmeh is to keep her quiet and calm. She is the one who never stops while Caeli is the one who sleeps. So no walks and no jumping. We have removed all the stools in the house, so no bed, no sofa, only the floor and dog beds to lay on. She is allowed to go down stairs if she can but not up the stairs.
Then we got a call from the vet. Problems with her blood work. Her white cells are low. The blood work has been forwarded to a vet pathologist. Not good news. Results tomorrow afternoon. A very crazy 23 hours indeed.
I will always treasure those 10 minutes taken at a rest area a few weeks ago. She was happy and free.
Interestingly Caeli has been sticking really close to Carmeh these past few hours.
I have a fur baby I have to go ice………hasta manana.
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Oh, dear… hope all goes well, things are not as bad as this blog seems…. made me cry, poor little girl… We SO love our furbabies!!!
Keeping my fingers crossed that Carmeh responds well to the Metacam, and that you get a good report from the vet tomorrow… hugs.
Check out dodgerslist.com – it is a website for IVDD dogs and what and how to treat them. They deal with all breeds of dogs but mainly our doxies. But the blood count is really scary.
Its so tough when these beloved family members are not feeling well. I do hope that she’s feeling much better soon.
Been following your blog for a year, not RV ERS but have a place in Rocky Pt. and can relate to your love of Mexico. Metacam is the saving grace for my dogs, one for Shar-Pei fever, the other for Shih-tsu old age problems. I don’t leave home without it. I’m sure your little gal will respond well and trust your vet to steer you in the right direction.
Here’s hope all goes well with Carmeh and she is feeling better soon.
Fingers crossed!
Awww, poor baby! Doxies do tend to have back and spinal problems but you hate to see it.
Poor baby. Lots of hugs….keep her close. She is not going to like that cold.
It is always so hard when our beloved pets are in any kind of difficulty. Waiting for test results can be stressful at any time but knowing those results may not be favorable brings on an overall sadness. Know what you are going through & wishing you the best outcome………AL.