Diary, a few thoughts and comments leading up to the scans

Monday 11th June

OK it's the day before now! Spoke to the Midland Club secretary this afternoon who informed me they have 75 dogs being MRI'd in total! :yikes: That is incredible! They must be feeling very pleased right now :D
Chestergates call me to confirm how many dogs I am taking and what time slot I have been alloted, mid-afternoon, so will be very testy in the morning, my family have been warned!! icon_blshing Have got the girls papers ready to take with me, checked the route out on the satnav and written it down too as the satnav can suddenly decide to not work if the weather is too warm, something to do with having heat deflective windows in the car and they block the signal?? :huh:
Visit my parents and tell them no titbits in the morning for Tasha, Dad thinks this is a bit mean as "She's only being sedated" but instructions are given and I hope he sticks to them!! I make final arrangements for Mum to bring Tasha over and help look after my kids whilst I am gone, so that parts sorted now!

Have a chat with Nikki on the phone, helps to take my mind of things, Thanks Nikki!!

So I now have a pile of DVD's by the bedroom TV (in case I can't sleep!) one very clean dog in the kitchen, a full tank of diesel and the directions, guess it's T minus 1 and counting now!!

Owing to the time of my MRI's and the fact that I have a long drive there and back I won't be online until late evening, I am supposed to be at a committee meeeting (Youngest daughters Pre-School) tomorrow eveing, guess it all depends on traffic! But will most likely post on here before I go out again, so watch this space OK??

Wish us luck!!

I'm on pins with you, Cathryn, as I've booked Monty's annual, tomorrow. I know he has mvd, but he is nearly 12 and will need some teeth out, but he also has a problem with an anal gland (it's errupted outwards, but I only found out by chance, as he isn't licking, biting or rubbing his rear)..

Hello Cathryn,
You will not read this before you leave for Chestergates but I wanted you to know that I am thinking of you & hoping the news is all good when you return.
I also want to say how much I admire what you are doing. I really do hope you get the results you deserve.

The Midland Club are certainly to be congratulated for the way they have responded to their members concerns about SM.

Thank you for the kind words about Monty & my article in the Eastern Counties Club magazine. He was a wonderful dog &, as you said, I found I could not stay quiet when he developed SM symptoms.
Unfortunately too many owners and breeders are still treating syringomyelia as a dirty little secret & so it continues to spread throughout the breed.
Best wishes,
Margaret Carter

Will be thinking of you today Catherine and wishing you the best of luck, I know how your feeling it's not an easy decision, but of course the best one

Have a safe journey :)

Cathryn, thinking of you and hope it all goes OK & that the journey is not too horrendous. Good luck:xfngr:

Cathryn,

I know you won't get this until you get home tonight, but I want to wish you well today. You and your girls are in my thoughts. :flwr:

Firstly Thank You all for your kind messages both public and private, they have been lovley to read and have helped a great deal!!

I have posted the results in their own thread, check them out!!

Today has been, how can I put it? Hellish? OK here goes!!

Yesterday Chestergates rang and asked if I could possibly get there any earlier? I told them what time I was leaving and I was there for 2:30 (My appt was 4pm) they were running very late by then, I had had a long chata that morning on the phone (Thanks for your advice! You were right!!) and knew they often ran late. I was informed that they were indeed running very late so I went and hunkered down in the back of the car with the girls, I had found a lovely shaded area so it was nice and cool in there.

Time went by very slowly, they have their usual caseload to deal with too I know but it really was getting ridiculous, I have written about the times the girls went in and their results in another thread so check that out! But I did not get away until 8:25pm!! I got home at 9:45pm!! Too late really to drop a still very drowsy Tasha back at Mum and Dad's, she has ended up spending the night here, Bless her!!

I have finally had something to eat and done the new thread on here, please excuse if a bit all over the place, I am chronically tired and need some sleep!!

Will come back to this fresh tomorrow!!

Best Wishes

The day after!!

Wednesday 13th June

Dad has picked Tasha back up and was both horrified and fascinated equally by her scan pics, obviously he is worried about her now, but as she is asymptomatic and obviously under no duress there is no real need for him to worry, I have told him what symptoms to look out for, should they arise we will have her referred back to Chestergates and she can start on an appropiate course of treatment.

I have made an appointment for tomorrow morning with my senior vet so that I can show him the scans and the results, we shall see what he makes of those, I have asked my parents to attend this appt too as one of the dogs concerned is theirs, it will look a bit odd 3 people waiting to see the vet with a big brown envelope and NO dog!! :lol:

Lastly I have decided that I shall be sending the scan sheets of to be graded properly so shall be contacting Clare Rusbridge at Stonelion with regards to having that done, so I guess more waiting on that!

Oddly I am not feeling very upset, still in a state of "limbo" I guess, I wanted to know and I was apparantly right that these line bred girls would have problems if I was going to have any, the real shame is that I cannot MRI the dog that I "doubled" up on as she went to the bridge some 18 months ago :(

Long term plans right now are to MRI any and all potential breeding stock, I have checked the list on the parent club site of centres offering the "reduced cost scheme" and see there is a centre only about 25 miles away from me, I shall get in touch with them soon as I shall certainly be MRI'ing Crystal once her litter is weaned from her, Darcy too will be MRI'd prior to being used at stud.


Thank You all for your wonderful messages of support once again, I don't view this as the end of my line, merely the beginning of a hopefully stronger line for the future!!

Cathryn i think that u are so brave and strong for going through with the MRI's and i really think that "I don't view this as the end of my line, merely the beginning of a hopefully stronger line for the future!!" is the right way to think!

Quote:

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I don't view this as the end of my line, merely the beginning of a hopefully stronger line for the future!!

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That is so beautifully put and is such a good attitude. :flwr: As more and more dogs are scanned, more choices will emerge of possible studs and breeding bitches and directions to shape lines. Keep in mind that one does not need to ONLY breed two A dogs; Clare and Penny have stated this clearly in the proposed breeding guidelines and this was reaffirmed by all the neurologists in London in 2006: if a dog isn't symptomatic and has syrinxes and has good genes that you wish to conserve, then the dog should be bred to an A, but doesn't need to be an A itself. At the moment there are not enough A dogs to keep important genetic diversity, either, so it is crucial to breed some affected dogs back in and work towards hopefully decreasing the probability of affectedness.

I also felt strangely in limbo following my scans. I thought I would be more upset but the results weren't what I had expected at all -- I had thought Jaspar would come back with SM diagnosed and Leo was the obvious clear. It was the other way around. Maybe I was just too taken aback at the time to process the news. But on the other hand, I felt a huge sense of relief once they were done, even though the news on Leo was not good. But now I knew what I was dealing with and was able to start some early treatment. I of course hoped he would not become symptomatic, but he did by age 2.5 or so. He remains mildly symptomatic and easily managed at this time on a mix of gabapentin and cimetidine.

The thing to remember is that there are options and that you are now able to move forward with knowledge, even if there are no clear answers.