Border collie Jack passed away on February 28, 2022

[CarolW]

Re: Jack the project!

How very unsettling - on the MRI situation (on the plane one, too!)

Worst, of course, for the dog who had already been anaesthetized! Yikes - and his Human-Family! Glad you didn't get caught in that situation!

I'm sure you'll let us know when Jack gets re-scheduled. Hope he stays quite passably comfortable in the interim.

Oh - you, too!
Thu, 2 Jun 2011 23:51:43 (PDT)

[k9diabetes]

Re: Jack the project!

At the risk of jinxing things yet again, just a quick note to share that Jack's MRI is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

We are due in at 9am and I'd guess the actual MRI will be conducted about 10:30 or so. Then a few hours of recovery and we take him home in the afternoon sometime.

Natalie

[buddingartist]

Re: Jack the project!

Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well.

You and Jack need a bit of luck on your side and you both deserve a break.

Louise

[jesse girl]

Re: Jack the project!

hopefully you will gain some insight with the procedure and a diagnosis

my brother in law has had debilitating back trouble for years and he finally got a diagnosis and a procedure that is supposed to relieve his pain by using a cadaver bone which the doctor said could relieve up to 80 percent of his pain he has been on so many powerful medications his quality of life has not been good for some time

just getting a diagnosis could give a clear picture to treatment and on the road to live a much better life for the whole family fingers are crossed

[CarolW]

Re: Jack the project!

Glad you got the MRI scheduled!

Now we'll all be on eleventerhooks till the results are in. Keeping you and Jack in my thoughts and prayers all day tomorrow - heck; tonight, too!

I'm sure you'll post when you have any news! Unless there's some emergency on the forum, some dog-and-human-parent who requires your instant attention! But DO let us know as soon as you can!

Love and hugs,
Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:55:44 (PDT)

[Patty]

Re: Jack the project!

Hoping the MRI will shed some light on things!
Hugs to Jack
Patty

[pgcor]

Re: Jack the project!

Natalie - good luck this morning. I hope all things will be well with poor Jack.

[peggy0]

Re: Jack the project!

Hope "it" comes shining through so treatment can start!

[k9diabetes]

Re: Jack the project!

We've been home a little while now but it took me some time to get to the computer.

Jack did well and, true to form, stood up in the back of the car the entire 2 hour drive back, looking out the window with as close to his usual anticipation as he could muster. Lots of listing to the side and stumbling around - though he wasn't quite as sedated today as he was when we picked him up after the x-rays.

Tonight I thought he would crash, but he's HUNGRY and we are trying to keep his eating to a minimum tonight - but still have to feed ourselves and the cat - which to him hardly seems fair! Instead of falling asleep in a heap as soon as we got home, he's been more like hyperactive and is just now settling down a little.

The MRI was done around 1pm. I got a call about the preliminary results about 2pm and we opted to do two minor procedures and he was started to recovering about 2:30pm. Then we picked him up at 5pm.

News about the MRI itself in the next message.

Natalie

[k9diabetes]

Re: Jack the project!

The MRI ruled out any bulging discs or pinched nerves and confirmed that the two disc spaces seen on x-ray at the beginning of the lumbar section of the spine have degenerated. Those are the only two that showed degeneration and they show no sign of impinging on the any nerves or the spinal cord.

That was very clear on the MRI images, which I received on a CD... very cool to get the MRI images. You could see the bright white central core of all of the discs except those two.

He did an electrical test on the back leg and didn't find any nerves that failed to communicate signals. And he did a spinal tap - will have the results on that tomorrow but he believes it will come back normal.

They ran an image of the entire length of his spinal cord, neck to tail.

So two degenerated discs but those may or may not be related to his lack of exercise tolerance. They are something to watch and to baby because they could bulge in the future. We still don't really know what's causing him pain but we know that there isn't anything to be fixed.

His recommendation is to, for the rest of his life, keep his exercise moderate. No agility work or flyball - moderate walks with little or no running and jumping - to avoid causing further damage to the discs.

He's not one to speculate. He does not know what is causing Jack's poor exercise tolerance.

I think it's something like temporary back pain I can get that's related to specific types of activities. If I do those activities for any length of time, my back hurts, but it stops hurting once I stop the activity. My best guess is that it's something like that for Jack but that fairly common daily activities can set it off.

I am glad we did it. We got out of it what I wanted - we know there isn't anything that we should do and now we just have to live with and manage it. And keep an eye out for signs that those discs have started to cause problems.

Natalie

[Patty]

Re: Jack the project!

That's good that you have some answers. And that you won't have regrets down the line thinking you could have done something "if only you knew."

At the same time I'm sorry it isn't an "easy fix" situation and that Jack will have to continue with the restrictions to find comfort.

Glad the process itself went well Natalie. Glad he's finally settling down!

Patty

[CarolW]

Re: Jack the project!

Glad you finally have the information you need - great job on managing that, Natalie!

You must all be beat. Sorry about the exercise restrictions - not uncommon in dogs, though. Hope Jack gets through life in reasonable comfort - that's likely to be so, with you and Jeff caring for him (any pun intended).

Hope you're getting some sleep - I'm about to do that myself.
Mon, 20 Jun 2011 22:17:29 (PDT) late to bed as usual!

[bgdavis]

Re: Jack the project!

Glad that Jack doesn't have an extreme problem with the discs. But sorry that you can't 'fix it' and will be in that daily management mode again.

Bonnie and Angel Criss

[Soaphie & Sydney's Mom]

Re: Jack the project!

Natalie - are you certain that you are a vet?

Glad you ran the tests and know where you stand. You are such a good dog mom.

Thanks for everything you do for us!

Tami, Soaphie and Syd

[k9diabetes]

Re: Jack the project!

Biggest problem we have right now is that Jack has three shaved patches that he just won't leave alone. The one on his front leg especially - where the IV was - it's red and inflamed and we are having a hard time keeping it covered but dry. Plus he scratched the one on his side... not sure what that was for - and he has a mohawk on the one on his back where they did the spinal tap because he can just reach the fur on the edge of it.

The worst one is the leg - I finally gave up trying to keep a barrier on it because it wasn't staying dry enough and put a whiplash-style anti-lick collar on him. He's taking it better than I expected.... if I can get it to thoroughly dry out I may be able to go back to the bandage for a while.

Natalie