This morning, I called and spoke with the student vet assigned to his case. She said it had been 24 hours and Syd had not had any other seizures. She said he now had not gotten up on his own at all and did still have the urine catheter in him. She said he had pooped on his own, but they firm and easily picked up and he wasn't soiled in any way. I asked her if they suspected the OS had mets to his brain or spine (knowing what we went thru with Shayla when she suddenly became paralyzed where she lost not only the use of her back legs, but her knowing when she had to pee or poop), was he still able to pee and poop on his own with our help in holding him up. She said yes, he had the ability to do so himself. She said we could come and get him anytime to take him home. She said he was being quite vocal. While on the phone with her, I heard a dog barking in the background and I asked if it was Syd and she said no, but he was the other whining vocal sound. I listened and could hear Syd being vocal because he wanted petted, so she had someone go over and pet him and he became quiet and content! That boy of mine!
When we arrived, the student vet said he had been eating fine since we left yesterday and had even started giving her kisses! But he still hadn't tried walking at all. She gave us the meds and said we could take him home to see how it went over the next few days. They went and got him and while coming down the hall, he was quiet. When they rounded the corner and he scanned the room, he was quiet until he saw us and started wagging his nub and whining loudly and trying to get up. We loaded him into the van and we left. We went to Sonic and got him some ice cream and water and headed home. On the way home, he put his head on a pillow and fell sound asleep. Just outside our town, we saw storm clouds and they issued a tornado warning for our county and it was headed for our house. We arrived back home just as it started heavily raining but we were able to pull into the garage. My husband wanted to keep Syd there in the van in case we had to leave since there was a report of a tornado on the ground 3 miles from us headed our way! The storm took another turn, but it then became hot and humid. Syd was panting very heavily and felt warm. We put a fan on him, then decided to get his wagon and pull him up the ramp into the house. We got inside and just left him on the wagon for about 30 minutes until we got his bed around in the kitchen. We fed him and he ate about half of his normal ration. We then moved him to his padded foam bed and put a fan on him. Another storm came past and cooled it down a little. Syd still couldn't move his back legs at all but could get up to an upright position lying down. He mainly laid his head on a pillow and would try and pull himself up, but laid back down horizontally. My husband went and got some fried chicken and as our custom, we give some leftover meat to the dogs. My husband went over to feed Syd and he got himself upright in a lying position in .03 seconds! He tried several times to move his back legs and they moved, he just couldn't get them up under him to push his body up. So he has been laying there on his bed all night. We put some wee wee pads under his lower body in case he had to potty before we took him outside. He kept looking at the water bucket, so we gave him a little water to satisfy him.
Looking at him tonight, I told my husband we probably should have made that decision while up at K-State to send him to the Bridge. My husband, who has always been one to be the doubter here, said that we needed to give him a few days to let him get accustomed to being back home and maybe he would get his strength back, that we had to give him a fighting chance first. I kept thinking that if it got worse tonight, that we could euthanize in the morning, but then realized it would be his 9th birthday tomorrow and I didn't have the heart to send him to the bridge on his birthday, unless he was suffering in pain. Since he doesn't appear to be in any pain, I can only hope for a miracle.
So we are taking it one day at a time. Tomorrow, on his 9th birthday, he will have hamburger and steak and whatever he wants to eat. My husband took off vacation as did I so that we can spend all day with him. We will continue the meds for a few days and if he isn't better by next week, we will probably be freeing him from the intolerable cruelty of OS. I knew in my heart he probably would not make it to his year annivesary of dx, but never dreamed he might not make it to his 9th birthday! Now I am happy that he is still alive and alert and vocal, but am saddened too knowing his days are probably numbered, unless a miracle occurs. Thanks for all your heartfelt thanks and support, despite your own recent losses. Please continue to pray for Syd that he either gets better or gets sent to the bridge peacefully. And once again, thank everyone for their warm thoughts and prayers. |
