RIP Boston

We brought Boston into our vet on Friday. At that point he was no longer eating, very stiff, and appeared to be in a lot of pain. We brought him in earlier in the week feeling he had hurt his back, but it was now becoming clear that wasn't what was going on. Our Vet admitted him. Over the next few hours - through Saturday, she did a chest x-ray and several tests - including the liver test, urine and any other rare disease. The x-rays showed fluid on his right shoulder and center chest, but his heart, lungs, spine, hips etc were all clear. So we were going with the idea that he was stung or bitten by a spider. She started anti-biotics.

On Sunday he was more swollen. She decided to start him on prednisone as well. He still wouldn't eat so he was also on a IV bag.

Yesterday morning he started coughing. We decided to do an ultra sound. It didn't show any masses anywhere, but did show some small areas of fluid in his lungs. He was laying down for a few days, unable to get up.

We started leaning towards the Lymhederma diagnosis. We decided to try to bathe him and he started bleeding from his nose. We were then rushed to a 24 hr Emergency hospital in Torrance.

Upon arrival, he was tested for clotting - which came back positive and took another chest x-ray. This chest x-ray showed massive fluid in his chest and he was obliviously struggling. At this point his nose is bleeding and he is coughing blood. They put him on oxygen and did their best to stabilize him over night with pain meds and fluids. Leaving him last night was not easy. We knew he would be touch and go all night. Around 1 am his heart rate went from being very high to very low where it finally stopped at 1:30am. They did attempt CPR, but it was unsuccessful.

Brent and I are obliviously trying to make sense of all this. He went from being a completely normal, healthy dog to one struggling to walk and then losing him in a few days. Nothing makes sense. I am doing my best to focus on the good times we had, the new life we tried to create for him and the fact that he is no longer in pain. Whenever someone (human or animal) leaves this world, we struggle for the whys and that is where we are right now. We are trying to make his life worth something but not allowing this to happen to another dog - and that means finding out how he died.

Below is one of my favorite moments with him, his first trip to dog beach. He wasn't sure how to get catch the tennis balls without fully submerging his face in the sand. Boston is one of those dogs we will compare all dogs too - forever in our hearts.

Boston was admitted

This is a quick update, since we don't have too many answers yet. Boston started having trouble on Tuesday - started walking funny and couldn't get up or down very easily. We took him in that night and upon originally assessment, thought he hurt is back. We started him on anti-inflammatory and was sent home. Wednesday showed no progress up or down. On Thursday he took a turn for the worse. He no longer would eat and could not get himself in an out of the house. On Friday he was admitted. He's had some xrays which showed inflammation of this right chest and shoulder. His lungs, abdomen and bones/spine/hips all looked good BUT his blood panel was way off and is a cause of concern.

He is still there, still won't walk, took in a little water but still unable to eat much. He's on an IV drip just trying to keep him comfortable. Our vet has sent a list and array of samples off for testing, we are hoping to get some answers and we can start treating the right thing.

Keep Boston in your thoughts. More updates to come.

Neurologist

Boston has a successful appointment; in terms of success, we think it was! On a basic assessment, he passed basic neurological function tests, so there was no cause of alarm. We were very happy to hear that. We did get rejected from pet insurance, so if they said he needed an MRI, would of cost us close to $1500! Of course we would have done it, but very happy we don't.

The plan is to up his medications. The Doctor advised us of adding in Potassium Bromide (http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Bromide.html). It is a much safer epilepsy drug treatment. He will be front loaded with the drug for the next few days to allow his blood levels to stabilize faster. We will then bring him to a normal dosage. He will continue to take the Phenobarbital. If he is able to go 6 weeks without a seizure, we are going to explore moving him 100% to the Potassium Bromide. That is what i would like, but it's truly up to Boston and how his body handles everything.

This past weekend we watched the Horns defeat UCLA at the Rose Bowl. It was Greg, Lara, Tim, Brent and I - such a great group!!
Here are a few pictures:

Texas Game

Next stop, Neurologist...

Boston has had a seizure (or what we think are seizures) on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday of this past week. Each of them about the same. He always knows they are coming and we too know the signs. We are taking him to see a Neurologist, Dr. Hanson, on Monday of next week - it was the earliest we could both get there (Brent and I). We will keep you posted after the visit.

I went in for blood work about a week ago and it all came back within normal range! Next step for me will be full body scan in Decemeber.

Think about it....

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
- Charles R. Swindoll

Quick Boston update

He does not have Addison's - so we are going to continue on treating him for Epilepsy. He has been having seizures, even being on Phenobarbital, so if that continues, we have to bring him to a neurologist. That decision we will not know for a while...want to try to stabilize him on his meds and see how his body adjusts.

Time to Catch Up

I will do my best to cover a lot with not too many words! I enjoy pictures more, so I am sure you do too!

First, July 16, 2011 - my cousin Sean marries Liz in New York. It was such a wonderful wedding for such a wonderful couple!







Next up, my cousin Meaghan comes to Cali to visit. Talk about an action packed trip. We took her into LA - did the Rodeo Drive, Hollywood mini tour....


San Diego Beaches (of course dog beach too!) and met up with some of our great friends Tim & Lara...






A little Long Beach....




Had such a good time! Wish they all lived closer so we could have more days like that!!

I just flew back from Salt Lake City, UT. I was out there for work. Was a great educational trip - love being surrounded by experience and really get out there to tell the world what our company is all about.

New with Boston -
I went to the vet today and we are starting to explore something other than seizures. Somethings was a bit off on his blood panel - no the basic, but the more detailed white counts. Not going to lie, I heard white blood cells and my heart stopped, not sure if the vet was wondering why I was smiling. All I could think of was don't say the "C" word and when I didn't, I just kept smiling. He is going in for a ACTH test on Friday to test his cortisol levels. We are testing for atypical Addison's disease which occurs when the adrenal glands fail to produce enough hormones to keep the body functioning normally. If the test is positive, we will be taking him off Pheno and moving him to low doses of Prednisone. The test should help point us in the right direction. Bottom line, I want to treat the right disease and help get Boston to a happy & normal life.

I did find this website, so if you are interested in learning more: http://www.addisonsindogs.com/

This is an adorable picture Brent sent to me, post a bike ride with Boston, while I was out in Utah. Happy Monday!