Patty's Ali - my precious, beautiful angel

[heinzle]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

I'm going to look to some of you experts (Judi, Tami, Karen, etc) in adding in her steroid and work with Ali's body to adjust this weekend. Sigh. I'm trying not to freak out on bgs before I actually have anything to freak out about.

Will be glad to help in any way I can. I'm just so glad Ali's home and in good hands.

[jesse girl]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

high patty i just want to drop a couple thoughts if you dont mind

the key to recovery appears to be the steroids and the hope for it to improve her quality of life and it can be dramatic as jesses cousin scooter

i know with scooter jesse cousin they had to dramatically cut her prednisone dose to find a good maintenance dose she did not need much to keep the cancer at bay

the thing i am concerned with is the anti seizure medication and what a difficult time ali had with the other medication and you knew it just wasn't going to work for her

my thought if you do run into the same problem maybe try to ween off the seizure medication and see if the steroids shrinking the tumor and reducing any inflammation on the brain may in itself take care of the seizure and give a good quality of life for sometime .

you are so in tune with ali so you do know what works and and it doesnt take long for you to figure that out

for me like i said i am not a very clinical person but more of common sense if it makes sense to me i will try it even if the general consensus is maybe the complete opposite listen to your inner self for the answer and use that very good mind of yours to give an answer and of coarse let ali tell you how to move forward she is very smart to

[farrwf]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back - at ER

After the Neuro examined Ali, she was brought back to us and he talked to Patty on the phone as he was still working with another dog.

• He feels pretty strongly that it is a probably a tumor/menigioma and has prescribed treatment using that diagnoses.
• Additionally, we are going to start her on Dexamethasone, a very strong steroid, as an anti-inflammatory to address the tumor.
• Finally, we are adding Pepcid AC as counter to the potential stomach side effects of the steroid.

Can anything be done to confirm the tumor/menigioma diagnosis?

[Margaret Boyle]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

Patty,

I came on today I watched the videos of Ali. I am hurting for you and all you are going through I just want to say I am praying for Ali.

Patty you helped me so much I just want to say you are in my heart and thoughts.

God Bless and Hugs

Margaret

[eastolberg]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

Just wanted to stop by and say I was thinking about you all. Hope for some improvements soon!

[Judi]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

If you need to freak out, just come here. How many of us have you talked off the ledge?

Thanks to all of you guys we definitely found for Jenny that the liquid prednisone was the easiest to adjust and the easiest to cut into twice a day dosing vs. once a day which is the normal protocol.

When she was on once a day it was not lasting 24 hours which wreaked havoc on her blood sugar and her appetite. She became pretty regular on the twice a day dosing. She needed a little more insulin that she does without the prednisone but at least we could give her a consistent dose. (Jenny currently weighs 7 pounds and her pred dose of insulin was 1.5 units twice a day where without the steroid it was 1 unit twice a day)

I know Jenny is a lot smaller than Ali but Ali is the most sensitive girl on the planet so I'm all in favor of the liquid if you can get it. We got it at Walmart. The syringe thingy they gave me from Walmart was too big for Jenny but I had an old one from the vet that I had never used.

I hope the prednisone shrinks the tumor and gives Ali some allergy relief. Hang in there Patty!

[buddingartist]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

Hi Patty

Just dropping in to tell you to hang in there.

I watched the video and I am quite surprised how well she did, considering all that she has been through in the last 2 days, not to mention all the meds that she is on. She reponded well when you asked if she wanted to go inside and knew exactly where to go.

I continue to pray and send positive vibes your way. Extra belly rub for Ali. She is a fighter no doubt about that.

Louise

[Franklin'sMum]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

Hi Patty,

Sending healing vibes for you all. Considering all Ali's seizures and meds of the last couple of days, she seems to be moving quite well. I do hope you see more improvement soon, and that the vision loss in her right eye is only temporary.

[Patty]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

Long day. Our vet visit wasn't until 3:30pm. I kept Ali's paw elevated when laying down and wrapped frequently in a refrigerated washcloth. Doc feels it's a clot from her IV cath that's impairing venous blood return. He's not really worried about it. Said massage is the best treatment.

I have it wrapped in cold again tonight because it's really hurting her. When I touched it she moved her mouth toward my hand as warning. I really think I need to use warmth though to help the clot but it looked so painful I went to the cold first.

I used Humalog + Nph this am due to a hard rise before shot time. Sigh. I'm such a basket case about her shots/bgs lately. Adding Humalog was a no-brainer if she rose 100 points before shot previously. Now I'm afraid of the drops and pushing them further with the Humalog.

Fasting was 370s, rose to 420s and then the Humalog brought her down to 260s. The 7 1/4u brought her down further to 160s this afternoon with a full meal (woohoo!) but because she was dropping into the vet visit I gave the tiniest drop of honey and her insulin just ran out about an hour before shot time rising her 100 points in about 45 min.

I think I mentioned we were supposed to start the dexamethasone today but neuro had also said wash out period was 3 days for the Rimadyl before starting the steroid and it was only 2. Tech said side effect of adding before washout was vomitting and diarrhea. So I waited. Now I wonder if I should have started and relieve the pressure on whatever is affecting her eye. (her occular pressures themselves were both 6 in the clinic). Always second guessing.

So tomorrow we start the steroid. It is an oral pill at 1.5mg. I did ask about the twice daily dosing instead of just AM and was told it's different than using for Addison's type issues. Doc prefers the once daily dosing for what it's being used for.

Her preliminary culture says e.coli and nasal swab was mixed organisms. Final report and sensitivity pending. Hoping tomorrow. She really needs to have this infection addressed.

We took out her Hydroxyzine tonight. Her allergy symptoms are much improved. So that will eliminate one drug with drowsy side effects. And the steroid really replaces allergy treatment as well.

Tim is gone tonight and tomorrow so I'm sure I'll be leaning heavily on you all when I get down .

Jesse girl thanks for you thoughts. My first step in eliminating these drugs that are so hard on her is getting the Zonisamide level up to therapeutic range so I can get her off the Keppra, which is so sedating. Then one day at a time.

Dang, forgot to ask doc about adding a milk thistle type of supplement to support her liver through all this. Though most of her drugs are kidney excreted.

Gotta test her and see how our insulin combo is doing. Pray for me tomorrow in managing her dex addition. I don't know why this freaks me out so much but it does.

Patty

[Franklin'sMum]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

Patty,

Adding the dex freaks you out because it's a new thing. Will it affect her bgs , interactions with other meds, Ali herself, tummy issues? You're drained, and understandably so. You're freaked because you've been watching Ali like a hawk, and maybe you think anything that seems out of the ordinary is going to be a major problem. As I see it, there currently is no 'ordinary'. And there's probably no easy way to know with any degree of confidence which is which.

Just know this, Patty- we're all here for you. Right along side you every step.

Hugs

[Patty]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

Thanks Jane...and you are so right. Sigh.

[jesse girl]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

scooter was on a quarter of a pill a day my brother cut each pill into 4 peaces quite a job he did a great job she is a 30 pound dog a whole pill was to much ime not sure what the symptoms were to determine that and i can ask.

gave it first thing in the morning wrapped in cheese her appetite did increase and she did put on quite a bit of weight but the positive change was quite amazing

i guess insulin needs may go up dont know if it will change the pattern the others may know about that but probably as judi said insulin needs may increase

to me things seem to be going in a positive direction and i believe there is hope for a good outcome

jesse is cheering for ali and hoping for an encounter with a rabbit in the near future

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

You wouldn't be human if it wasn't freaking you out Patty. There is so much for you to juggle all of which could affect her bgs which would be challenging enough if the bgs were stable which they aren't.

I wouldn't second guess the decision to wait on the Dex. All it would take would be one vomit or messy bottom on top of everything she has going on to curse myself for having pushed it. 24 hrs. can't possibly make that much difference.

Hang in there Patty.

[Patty]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

Gah, just lost a long post due to IE restarting. Will try again...

[Patty]

Re: Patty's Ali - seizures are back

I wonder how many mg Scooter's pills were that they split.

Louise, she is definitely a fighter.

Judi, thank you for the comparison in how much insulin Jenny used.

Thanks Elisha!

Margaret, I was thinking of your sweet Lucy as Ali's vaginitis infection came on. They are so brave and handle so much.

Bill, an MRI would confirm the diagnosis. Neurologist would still love one to know for sure but he's fairly confident. If it is a menigioma there's one other drug that could be added to the mix, otherwise the MRI would rule it out.

Thanks Karen!

Barb, she is so stoic. She tolerates so much.

Tara, I know I won't be as graceful as my girl.

Tami, you and Syd are teaching me as well through your challenges.

Thank you Jen. I have an unrelated question for you...what type of meter do you use with Basil? My vet asked if I had any to spare (that's almost like asking Craig ) as he has a client that's struggling with his diabetic cat and is financially strapped.