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Waiting on a MRI
- Thread starter Reptigirl
- Start date
Margaret C
Well-known member
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him and you.
I hope you manage to get a little sleep while you wait for the results.
Chamberlain
Well-known member
Thinking of you and hoping the results are good news! Get some rest while waiting!
Sydneys Mom
Well-known member
Good luck to you both. Sending good thoughts your way.
Karen and Ruby
Well-known member
Good Luck Shannon, and of course to little Blitz too!!
You aren't alone what ever the results may be xx
You aren't alone what ever the results may be xx
Reptigirl
Well-known member
Well the vet student just came to give me an update. Blitz is waking up okay and will be ready in about an hour.... Not so good news about his heart. Said he is in the early stages of CVD. (is this MVD?) On top of the heartworms he also has a murmur. Said it was still faint so not a huge concern YET. He as expected has the Chiari like malformation. The vet student was not sure if Sm was present. Waiting on the neurologist and cardiologist to speak with me.
Remind me again how old he is..........
Yes - CVD is chronic valvular disease - I actually prefer that term to MVD (mitral valve disease). Other terms are endocardiosis, degenerative valvular disease, acquired valvular disease. I assume that he had an echocardiogram instead of or in addition to an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG).
I'll be interested to hear the recommendations for treating the heartworm disease. I seem to recall that you have already been addressing the wolbachia and using a heartworm preventive to reduce the load. You should get a very accurate idea of the amount (load) of heartworms, etc. from this exam. I was fascinated to learn at AVMA that there is actually a procedure to physically extract heartworms from the heart versus using medication to kill the worms. Amazing!
Hang in there; I know it's been a really long day,
Pat
P.S. Are you at Texas A&M?
Yes - CVD is chronic valvular disease - I actually prefer that term to MVD (mitral valve disease). Other terms are endocardiosis, degenerative valvular disease, acquired valvular disease. I assume that he had an echocardiogram instead of or in addition to an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG).
I'll be interested to hear the recommendations for treating the heartworm disease. I seem to recall that you have already been addressing the wolbachia and using a heartworm preventive to reduce the load. You should get a very accurate idea of the amount (load) of heartworms, etc. from this exam. I was fascinated to learn at AVMA that there is actually a procedure to physically extract heartworms from the heart versus using medication to kill the worms. Amazing!
Hang in there; I know it's been a really long day,
Pat
P.S. Are you at Texas A&M?
Sydneys Mom
Well-known member
Sorry about the news. Did you speak further with the neurologist and cardiologist ? I know all this is devistating news to hear. I was in the same position last week when the cardiologist told us that Sydney was in early stage congestive heart failure. The cocktail of meds they prescribed seemed to have made a difference this past week. Hopefully, your drs. will be able to give Blitz some relief. Please keep us updated.
Reptigirl
Well-known member
Wow after a little rest most of yesterday has turned into a blurry memory! Yesterday we woke up at 4 am. We were on the road a little after 5:30 am. We didn't get back home until 10:30pm! Thankfully by boyfriend took a nap while I was waiting on the results and he drove us home. I never would have made the whole trip alone. It was exhausting!
As far as the results go. They have become a little blurry already and I'm still waiting on the full report to be sent to me. I got most of the results relayed to me from the vet students. It was so confusing having different people talking to me. Too many different things for my mind to process!
He does have VERY sever CM & SM. The malformation of his skull has really squished the cerebellum. The nero was also talking about some small bone pushing into the brain at some point in the back. The syrinx was much larger then I was prepared for. It started somewhere near the back of the skull (start of the spinal cord) and continued to where the MRI cut off. Although it was one long syrinx it was all different sizes. Some of it was still relatively thin but at it's thickest point it was taking over more then 50% of the spinal cord. He didn't give me an exact #'s but said "It is believed that dogs that have a syrinx taking over more then 25% of the spinal cord are expected to be in some pain and dogs like this where it takes over more then 50% are expected to be in sever pain".
Also he believes he is having small focal seizures. He said they were nothing to worry about just a minor tick that is common in the breed. Blitz sometimes goes into small fits licking his lips/air. The neuro observed it and said it is very minor "Fly catching".
As far as his heart is concerned. The vet said not to worry too much about it. He is 4 years old and it's not uncommon for them to start showing CVD at this age. He said it is just starting and nothing to worry about YET. He does want him checked by a cardio every year and said if it progresses rapidly medication will be needed. He said his murmur is still faint but definitely present. He said the right side of his heart is enlarged. He "has quiet a few" heartworms and they were VERY obvious. He said the heartworms are the likely reason his heart is enlarged.
The Neuro wanted to keep him into immediate surgery for his CM/SM TODAY. Being I was so exhausted and overwhelmed I felt that I really needed time to process all this information. The neuro was very unhappy with my choice and let me know that at any given time he may hit a point of "no return". At least now he said the surgery has a chance of helping. He made sure to stress that I am walking a fine line trying the medication. I feel terrible but I really was not expecting such a terrible MRI visit. I told him I wanted to take him home and try medication and think about it. I told him I DO want to do surgery but not TODAY.
I was sent home with Gabapention (sp?) instead of lyrica. He said this is probably going to be more helpful because of his focal seizures. He has started him on 50mg every 8 hours. If it doesn't work he said we can try lyrica. He also sent home Priolsec OTC. He gets 1/4 of a tablet daily. He said there was 2 more medications we can add on if this is not helping him. I can't remember the names but one was a steroid.
As far as his symptoms. They do seem to be progressively getting worse.. Maybe when he first got here he was too scared and he had so many other issues the CM/SM was not as obvious. He can be normal for days with only very minor scratching. Sometimes he can be nearly symptom free for nearly a week. Then when an episode hits they are getting worse. They have been lasting from 12-48 hours. His main symptom during an episode are excessive scratching at the same location (always the left ear). When it comes on suddenly he can scratch 100's of times within an hour. During these episodes he may have any or all of the following: hind leg weakness, inability to jump, doesn't want to move, walk or play. Some times when he doesn't want to move or walk he looks like he is in pain. Then when the episode passes he is back to playing, running, jumping and acting like a puppy. Once the episode passes the scratching is very minor and almost non-existent.
My main problem is I'm not sure WHAT to treat First. The Heartworms or the SM? Both are going to require many weeks of COMPLETE kennel rest. When Blitz is normal he has as much energy as Flash. SO if he get's both treatments back to back that is 12-14 weeks of COMPLETE rest. I'm thinking he should get the SM surgery FIRST but I don't know.
Still feeling exhausted and mentally overwhelmed with this decision.
As far as the results go. They have become a little blurry already and I'm still waiting on the full report to be sent to me. I got most of the results relayed to me from the vet students. It was so confusing having different people talking to me. Too many different things for my mind to process!
He does have VERY sever CM & SM. The malformation of his skull has really squished the cerebellum. The nero was also talking about some small bone pushing into the brain at some point in the back. The syrinx was much larger then I was prepared for. It started somewhere near the back of the skull (start of the spinal cord) and continued to where the MRI cut off. Although it was one long syrinx it was all different sizes. Some of it was still relatively thin but at it's thickest point it was taking over more then 50% of the spinal cord. He didn't give me an exact #'s but said "It is believed that dogs that have a syrinx taking over more then 25% of the spinal cord are expected to be in some pain and dogs like this where it takes over more then 50% are expected to be in sever pain".
Also he believes he is having small focal seizures. He said they were nothing to worry about just a minor tick that is common in the breed. Blitz sometimes goes into small fits licking his lips/air. The neuro observed it and said it is very minor "Fly catching".
As far as his heart is concerned. The vet said not to worry too much about it. He is 4 years old and it's not uncommon for them to start showing CVD at this age. He said it is just starting and nothing to worry about YET. He does want him checked by a cardio every year and said if it progresses rapidly medication will be needed. He said his murmur is still faint but definitely present. He said the right side of his heart is enlarged. He "has quiet a few" heartworms and they were VERY obvious. He said the heartworms are the likely reason his heart is enlarged.
The Neuro wanted to keep him into immediate surgery for his CM/SM TODAY. Being I was so exhausted and overwhelmed I felt that I really needed time to process all this information. The neuro was very unhappy with my choice and let me know that at any given time he may hit a point of "no return". At least now he said the surgery has a chance of helping. He made sure to stress that I am walking a fine line trying the medication. I feel terrible but I really was not expecting such a terrible MRI visit. I told him I wanted to take him home and try medication and think about it. I told him I DO want to do surgery but not TODAY.
I was sent home with Gabapention (sp?) instead of lyrica. He said this is probably going to be more helpful because of his focal seizures. He has started him on 50mg every 8 hours. If it doesn't work he said we can try lyrica. He also sent home Priolsec OTC. He gets 1/4 of a tablet daily. He said there was 2 more medications we can add on if this is not helping him. I can't remember the names but one was a steroid.
As far as his symptoms. They do seem to be progressively getting worse.. Maybe when he first got here he was too scared and he had so many other issues the CM/SM was not as obvious. He can be normal for days with only very minor scratching. Sometimes he can be nearly symptom free for nearly a week. Then when an episode hits they are getting worse. They have been lasting from 12-48 hours. His main symptom during an episode are excessive scratching at the same location (always the left ear). When it comes on suddenly he can scratch 100's of times within an hour. During these episodes he may have any or all of the following: hind leg weakness, inability to jump, doesn't want to move, walk or play. Some times when he doesn't want to move or walk he looks like he is in pain. Then when the episode passes he is back to playing, running, jumping and acting like a puppy. Once the episode passes the scratching is very minor and almost non-existent.
My main problem is I'm not sure WHAT to treat First. The Heartworms or the SM? Both are going to require many weeks of COMPLETE kennel rest. When Blitz is normal he has as much energy as Flash. SO if he get's both treatments back to back that is 12-14 weeks of COMPLETE rest. I'm thinking he should get the SM surgery FIRST but I don't know.
Still feeling exhausted and mentally overwhelmed with this decision.
I'm so sorry that you have gotten this news, but I'm glad that you were able to get this thorough work-up. I'm sorry that you are struggling with this decision, and I don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes.
Regarding the degenerative valvular disease, I completely agree with the cardiologist that I wouldn't worry much about it and would simply follow up in order to assess progression. I also agree that this is fairly common for a 4 year old Cavalier.
I would really want to move quickly to treat his heartworms. Read the post I made about pulmonary artery hypertension which is a result of heartworm disease. It requires expensive medication (Viagra) and can be very debilitating to quality of life.
I know that this sounds quite radical, but if you decide to do FMD surgery right away, I'd ask for a consult with the cardiologist and the neurologist together and ask about concurrent treatment of the two problems. I think that the treatment could at least overlap somewhat even if not done at the exact same time. In the stage following the heartworm killing treatment, there is a danger of the dead worms clogging the heart and lungs and causing breathing problems so this would likely be a risk factor with anesthesia. But perhaps if you decide to do FMD right away, they could start heartworm treatment shortly after surgery. If you decide to wait on FMD they could start HW treatment right away and within a few weeks you'd have the option to do FMD. But again, I would not want to wait if he has a high heartworm load (also because of the concurrent MVD). You didn't say what the cardiologist recommended as far as what kind and when to do heartworm treatment.
I can't offer much opinion regarding the SM and FMD decision as I've just never been there.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and Blitz,
Pat
anniemac
Well-known member
I'm so sorry Shannon :cry*ing:I saw the post on Facebook last night and was waiting for you to share. As far as surgery goes, I have a friend that got MRI results and had surgery the next day and it seemed like a lot to go through. She lives in same town and maybe she felt ready but you were put through a lot and what does a day or week make that much of a difference. Personally I wonder if it is ok to put a dog under two days in a row but obviously two neurologists suggested that.
There is so much to decide, like what type of surgery? Do they do cranioplasty etc. which I know you have already asked questions about on another post. You said you already know that surgery is his best choice but you have a lot of things to think about like the heart etc. You need emotional strength and so does Blitz so I am so sorry and hope that people can give you advice about what to treat first. Poor Blitz. He is lucky to have a mom like you for saving him
There is so much to decide, like what type of surgery? Do they do cranioplasty etc. which I know you have already asked questions about on another post. You said you already know that surgery is his best choice but you have a lot of things to think about like the heart etc. You need emotional strength and so does Blitz so I am so sorry and hope that people can give you advice about what to treat first. Poor Blitz. He is lucky to have a mom like you for saving him
Reptigirl
Well-known member
Just wanted to share... So happy Blitz has no idea of his diagnosis. This was this morning when I got up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHE9bVEHkR8
Its TERRIBLE quality cause it's from my phone and they were all moving. But near the end you can see he is still happy and enjoying his favorite toy :razz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHE9bVEHkR8
Its TERRIBLE quality cause it's from my phone and they were all moving. But near the end you can see he is still happy and enjoying his favorite toy :razz:
Zumie05
Well-known member
Oh dear I am so sorry to hear this terrible news 
Despite all his health problems, you have still given him the most wonderful home and chance at a happy life filled with love. In his pictures he is always smiling, and looks so much better.
To be honest, I would not have gone into surgery TODAY either. That is just too quick of a decision and not enough time to process it all. Regardless, you are doing what you think is best and that is what matters most. Keep us updated on how Blitz is doing on meds.
Despite all his health problems, you have still given him the most wonderful home and chance at a happy life filled with love. In his pictures he is always smiling, and looks so much better.To be honest, I would not have gone into surgery TODAY either. That is just too quick of a decision and not enough time to process it all. Regardless, you are doing what you think is best and that is what matters most. Keep us updated on how Blitz is doing on meds.