Transcription of Selected Speaker Notes from AVMA - Dr. Shores

OK - I'm brain dead so I'm not going to transcribe Dr. Shores' notes (which are longer than Dr. Dewey's) until later this weekend. But I'm starting this thread so that I have a placeholder and can come back and edit so that the three AVMA speaker threads are adjacent on this forum.

I will say that I felt more favorable toward Dr. Shores' procedure; although keep in mind that I have no personal experience with CM/SM nor have I studied the subject in depth (unlike my experience and many years of study of endocardiosis/acquired chronic valvular disease). I agree with many of Karlin's observations about the pros/cons of each approach that she posted in some recent threads here. Plus just looking at those damn screws gave me a very visceral reaction.

Goodnight to all.

Pat

Looking forward to this transcript when it's done!

Also see my note on the Dr Dewey thread–voice software would make this so much easier for you!

Looking forward for your notes, Pat. We're going to see Dr. Shores on 8/25 for an MRI and surgery. Your posts have been helping ease my worries and give me strength to decide on the surgery. Our main goal is to stop the progression, Corey never yelped or screamed, but he's been scratching since he was 8 mo. old and this past week it has been worsening in the mornings, not everyday though, but still no yelping/screaming. I read on the board that Clare Rusbridge recommended to go for the surgery if the dog show any kind of pain (yelp/scream) and I don't know if I would want to wait until it gets that bad. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, I'm learning everyday about SM from this board.

Gemma & Corey (spoiled rotten ruby) :d*g:

That is just a general perspective from Clare Rusbridge and each dog and its MRI would be an individual case Also it isn't just pain but weakness and other deficits she would include as a consideration, which the average pet owner and vet may not be able to see at all so it is very worth seeing a specialist at this point for that, too. A dog showing signs at 8 months is an early onset dog and such cases tend to be more of a concern -- in which case I think you are right to be wanting to get a more complete picture to decide what to do.

Thanks Karlin, I was afraid that doing a surgery on Corey right now may be too early, he is doing well with the medicines and still playing and have lots of energy, but when I saw him having episodes of scratching it broke my heart and I thought to myself that too early is better than too late. Couple days ago I just realized that during our daily walks he often stumbles on the sidewalk Hopefully the surgery would stop the progression of the syrinx and the deterioration. 8 days away until the day. I'm so anxious, I wish he didn't need to go through all this :bang: