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Madison diagnosed through MRI with SM

Oh....that is excellent news!!! So glad everything went so smoothly. Keep us posted on her, I sure think about her a lot.
 
Bridam said:
Good to hear. If you ever go to the dog park by Whiterock, let us know and we'll get our girls together with your cav.
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Would love to meet up with you some time when Madison is feeling better. Hopefully, she'll be up to it by the time Spring has "sprung". :)
I don't usually go to the Whiterock dog park as I live in Addison and we have a couple of parks. But Mia and I would make the trip to meet little Madison. :)

So glad to hear she's doing better!:rah:
 
Hi! Been away for a while so just catching up on things now. First and foremost :hug: you, your wife, unborn baby and Madison are very much in my thoughts right now, I am very glad to hear that the surgery went well and will watch the thread for progress reports on your very special girl.
:xfngr: For a speedy recovery for Madison.:luv:
 
Thinking of you and Madison and keeping our fingers and paws crossed for a successful result. Please do keep us updated.
 
Update:

I picked Madison up from GCVS on Saturday. Although Dr. Abramson was off, I was pleasantly surpised to find that she came in just to see Madison off (indeed she had come from a marathon and was still wearing her running gear).

I have to admit, I was a little shocked at first to see Madison. I knew what to expect but it was still a little hard to see her for the first time. Her entire head is shaved and she has a 7 inch incision running from the top of her head to the bottom of her neck that is stapled up. Additionally, her entire right side is shaved and there is another small incision for her shunt near her belly. Dr. Abramson reminded me that it's just a bad hair cut that will grow back.

Another thing that surpised me was that Madison didn't seem too excited to see me at first. She seemed a little out of it. But, on the car ride home, she started going crazy in her crate so I pulled over and took her out for a minute. She apparently snapped out of it and decided she wanted me to rub her belly! My baby was back.

Now that she's home, she's restricted to a cage for one month. We can only let her out three times a day for 5 or 10 minutes. She is on a host of medications including Prednisone, Pepsid, Tramadol, Cephalexin, and Phenobarbital. We'll be tapering these shortly. After two months she can sleep with us again.

She's never been in a crate, so she's going crazy and barking a lot. I had to sleep on the floor next to her last night to keep her calm. She's also shaking a little when she's on her feet and has some back spasms. Generally, however, I'm surpised at how well she's doing considering she had brain surgery less than a week ago. Her staples come out in a week and then we have a follow-up at GCVS in a month.

Here is a video of her from today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8UJXW0qI6A

Thanks for all your support and I'll update this thread as appropriate.
 
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It's so nice to know that Madison is home and I was surprised at how active she was! What a wonderful daddy she has that will sleep next to her on the floor to comfort her...she is a very lucky girl to have such love. I hope all continues to go well for your precious little one. Thanks for the update :flwr:
 
A little teary after watching that. You're a very kind couple. Looks like she had a great coat on her, hope it grows back soon. She's very cute.

A big :hug: to you, you've been through a lot haven't you.
 
Oh bless her little heart!!! :hug:You guys have been so strong for her. Your courage is truly admirable. Thank you so much for posting that video. Hopefully that will be a bit of encouragement for future patients.

Please keep us posted on her recovery. I think about her all the time and after seeing that video she will be in my thoughts even more.
 
Cathy T said:
Oh bless her little heart!!! :hug:You guys have been so strong for her. Your courage is truly admirable. Thank you so much for posting that video. Hopefully that will be a bit of encouragement for future patients.

Please keep us posted on her recovery. I think about her all the time and after seeing that video she will be in my thoughts even more.
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I think it's important for people to realize through pictures or otherwise just what is involved with these surgeries. I'll take more pictures and videos as well as post more information on her recovery (fingers crossed). As you can tell from where we started at the beginning of this thread to where we are now, we owe a lot to you people and to others facing this in the future.

On another note, Dr. Abramson is reducing the phenobarbital because we think it is giving Madison the shakes.
 
I think it's important for people to realize through pictures or otherwise just what is involved with these surgeries
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Absolutely!! On quite a much more minor scale....I had seen pictures of what a dog looked like after patella surgery so when I picked up my Shelby I wasn't nearly as blown away by her appearance. Still cried my dang eyes out....but can't imagine how I would have reacted had I not been prepared.
 
Karlin said:
Thinking of you today. :xfngr:

I'm always interested in any videos done of symptoms, post op images, or personal case studies for my SM site. Most people find hearing about real cases and experiences to be especially helpful. :)

I have been planning a case study section for a while.
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I'd be happy to send you a copy of her mri, reports from Dr. Abramsom (maybe I should check with her that it would be okay with her to share), as well as updates on her treatment plan, post op pictures, etc. I think that information would be helpful. Unfortunately I did not get pre op video of her behavior but the other videos (not the serious one) are pretty representative.
 
Reading this thread with interest and with hope for a successful outcome. Thank you sharing. We all need to learn. We also need to pressure breeders to do the right thing and start screening not just for MVD but for SM as well. :hug: to you and to Madison.
 
Don't be worried at ALL, the fur does grow back! In our (Bianca's case) now everything looks tip-top except her long hairs which started from the top of her ears are now only about 1 1/2 inches long-- and getting sloooowwwwlly longer...:rolleyes: but here's a before and after photo to make you feel better. I'm so glad everything went well with the surgery!!! (our neuro said Bianca was a 'textbook' case, as well, so I am sure that ALSO bodes well for you since Bianca is doing so great--knock on wood--after surgery).
Post-op day 4 when we were able to bring her home (the shiny thing is a Fentanyl patch)
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Here she is 4 1/2 months later, at a gelato shoppe.

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Here's a somewhat better picture of the top of her head:
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You're doing GREAT, Madison! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!!:paw::paw:
 
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