Roller Coaster

5/11/2012

There is only one way to describe the journey we have been on the past month and that is a roller coaster ride.  Just when you think you have hope, you get knocked down again and somehow find hope once more.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.

Oscar returned to Columbus for his one month post-op visit.  The surgeon removed his stitches and the incision is barely visible.  Oscar's hair has almost completely grown back and he is starting to look like himself.

When Dr. Harrison tested his deep pain reflex, the reaction he was hoping for still wasn't there.  However, Oscar did seem to show signs of discomfort although Dr. Harrison couldn't say for sure if he was actually feeling deep pain.  As a result of this, Dr. Harrison told us to give Oscar another two weeks to show signs of recovery.  He made sure to emphasize that until Oscar could feel deep pain, he had zero chance of recovery.


He went outside for a longer period of time when we got home to enjoy the warm weather. No blanket necessary today.

On a positive note, Oscar is starting to bear weight on his hind legs when we support his back end for balance.  When he is in this position on all fours, Oscar's tail immediately begins to wag which is so exciting to see.  He is so incredibly happy to be up instead of laying down or sitting. 


I wanted to see if the tail wagging was an encouraging sign, so I began to "Google" this and came across an article from 2009 documenting a clinical trial done on a paralyzed dachshund in England.(Link to article)  The clinical trial removed cells from the lining of the dog's nose and the cells were injected into his spinal cord eventually allowing him to walk again.  I was so excited to find this article that I immediately began a search to locate the professors named in the article that conducted the clinical trial to see if they were still conducting similar trials or new of anyone that might be in the USA.  I was able to track them down and sent each of them an email.  Unfortunately, one was undeliverable and returned immediately.  I went to bed without hope that the other email would go through.  Afterall, the article was three years old.

Questioning Myself

5/7/2012

Every single day since the surgery, I have questioned myself and our decision to proceed with surgery instead of putting him down.   I question myself during every load of laundry, every minute I spend with Oscar instead with my children, every four hour round trip to Columbus.  I question if all the money and time invested was worth it or just a huge mistake.

As if questioning myself isn't bad enough, I can tell everyone we tell about Oscar and his situation thinks we are crazy and made the wrong decision.  Of course, no one has the guts to say anything, but it is obvious by their body language and what they don't say.  It is even worse when someone comes to our home and sees Oscar trying desperately to get from point A to point B using only front legs. 

At the end of the day, my husband and I are on the same page.  He is happy, he is (otherwise) healthy and until we have reason to believe there is no hope of a recovery we will keep doing what we are doing.

Outside adventures

5/05/2012

The medicine Oscar took to cure his infection worked quickly and he is acting more like himself.  He is no longer satisfied sitting in a tub the majority of the time and is voicing his opinion.  While I work, he spends most of the time on the floor next to my desk on top of blankets, towels and more pee pads.

I get him outside as much as possible, but taking two children and two dogs outside by yourself isn't the easiest thing to do since Oscar can't walk and Grant just started to walk.  To make things easier, I whipped out our double stroller put Oscar in the back and Grant in the front and pushed them around our backyard. 

When the husband came home, I took Oscar outside by myself.  He was feeling extra energetic and was trying to walk around our backyard by using only his front legs while his back legs dragged behind him.  To help him out, I bent over, lifted up his back legs and he immediatel took off running.  Thankfully, we live in the country and no one could see me waddle while bent over holding up Oscar's hind legs.  I kept it up for as long as possible, but it wore me out long before it wore Oscar out.  He was SO incredibly happy to move again! 

Kisses

4/30/2012

Oscar continues to have diarrhea and the over the counter medicine didn't do the trick.  Mark agrees to take him to our local vet for a check-up.  The vet indicated Oscar has a fever and a severe infection.  He gives Oscar two shots and sends him home with two additional medicines to be taken for the next week.

On a positive note, Maya laid next to Oscar for the first time in three weeks!!!!!  She was asleep and didn't feel me move her from one side of my body to the other where he was laying.  As soon as she was up against him, Oscar immediately began to "kiss" her and couldn't stop cleaning her head.  I was so emotional seeing the two of them reunited. 

Two Weeks and Counting

4/27/2012

Two weeks post-op and Oscar continues to have diarrhea.  We made another drive to Columbus for an additional check up. The surgeon's office suggested I give him heart burn medicine since his diarrhea could be a result of the steroids he has been taking.  I am hoping the medicine will work quickly, but am doubtful it will.


Dr. Harrison (the surgeon) checked Oscar's deep pain reflex and did not get any movement in his hind legs.  Until he has a deep pain sensation, he will remain paralyzed.  Dr. Harrison did indicate the jury was still out on his long term recovery and to not give up hope. 

I left feeling completely defeated.  Our local vet indicated we should know if the surgery worked within 3-4 days, we are currently at 14 days.  The surgeon still states if he doesn't walk in one month he never will.  We are currently halfway through the given time period.  I feel as though we are running out of time.  As I drive home, I begin to wonder what we will do if he isn't walking in another 14 days.  My eyes fill with tears at the mere thought of putting him down.  I push those thoughts out of my head and begin to stroke his head and scratch his ears as we drive home.

On a happy note, I succesfully emptied Oscar's bladder by myself!!!!!!! I never thought in a million years I would be excited about being able to do this, but I am!

Explosive Diarrhea

4/20/2012

Apparently two loads of laundry per day wasn't enough.  I am now officially up to three loads of Oscar laundry per day.  He has been having diarrhea all day.  Not sure what it causing it; however, he has acquired a taste for his own feces.  At this point, I think the diarrhea is caused by the fact that he is eating his diarrhea.  Not sure how to break the cycle since most of the time he has his accidents when he is unsupervised in the bathtub.

It has offically been one week since his surgery and he has been a trooper.  He is used to spending 100% of his time by my side during the day while I work and in our bed underneath the covers in the evening.  To go from that to being in a bathtub more than 23 hrs/day has got to be tough.  Despite it all, he hasn't cried or whined to get out which is surprising.

He still gets so excited whenever he sees us.   He lost the ability to wag his tail, but his eyes say it all.  They totally light up when we walk into the room. 

Follow-Up and Fresh Air

4/16/2012

Oscar went back to the surgeon in Columbus this morning for a follow-up to his surgery 3 days prior.  The surgeon was happy with his incision as it showed no signs of infection.  He did indicate that it was still too early to tell if the surgery would be successful which went against what our local vet initially told us.  The surgeon did try to manually express his bladder since we weren't having much luck at home.  Oscar did resist the pressure and held his urine in.  The surgeon was happy with this since it did indicate he had some bladder control which meant some of his nerves could be working. 

April weather in Ohio is hit or miss.  On occasion we will be fortunate enough to have a warm day.  By this point, Oscar has been cooped up in a bathtub for 3 days straight.  In the evening when we took the children out for some fresh air, Oscar joined us.  It was still slightly chilly so we wrapped him up to help him stop shivering.  He was grateful for his time outside, but it was obvious he wanted to go in after only 10 minutes.

Maya (his sister) still wants nothing to do with him and avoids him like the plague.  I will bring her over to him and she immediately runs off.  I would give anything for them to lay side by side like they did all day, everyday prior.

Prayers Of A Child

4/15/2012

Oscar continues to remain in the tub, 99% of the time.  We do let him out multiple times per day to empty his bladder; however, he attempts to walk with his front legs and we want to minimize his movements at this point.  Not to mention he has no bowel or bladder control and the accidents are severe and frequent. 

In the tub, Oscar does not like to lay directly on the pee pad; therefore, I put them underneath the top layer of towels.  His is constantly having accidents and I change his bedding about once per hour.  I am doing approximately 2 loads of laundry just for him not to mention all the additional laundry a family of four makes. 

Between working full time, taking care of two children a paralyzed dog, running a household, keeping up on chores and spending time with my husband I am exhausted at the end of the day and begin to question if we made the right decision or made a $3000 mistake. 

I am grateful for the fact that I work from home which allows me to give Oscar the around the clock care that he requires at this point.  I am not sure it would be possible otherwise.

At dinner, Elaina prayed and she said a special prayer for Oscar.  As a mother, it just melted my heart to hear her innocent voice say, "Dear God, please bend down and heal Oscar's legs and help him to walk again."  While I want Oscar to walk so badly, I now want Oscar to walk to show my daughter that God heard her prayer and answered. What a perfect opportunity to teach her the power of prayer.  Not sure if God answers "pet prayers", but I am sure he heard her sweet little voice tonight.

Day One Post-Op

4/14/2012

Oscar had a restful night thanks to a sedative the surgeon prescribed.  Our goal was to keep him as comfortable as possible while limiting his ability to injure himself further by moving.  Since we did not have a kennel of any sort, I set up a makeshift bed in our guest bathroom tub.  I laid as many blankets/towels, etc as I could possibly find to make it as comfortable as possible. 

Due to the injury, Oscar lacked the ability to control bowel and bladder function.  The surgeon's office showed Mark how we should manually express his bladder to eliminate the urine.  After 15 minutes of unsucessful attempts, I called the vet tech at her home and had her walk me through it.  Again, I was unsucessful.  Since our vet was 45 minutes away, I called a local vet here in town whom we had never seen just to ask if they would be able to assist/teach me how to express Oscar's bladder.  Thankfully, they agreed and we were there within 20 minutes.  $20 later, Oscar was officially empty. 

All day, Oscar mostly slept in the bathroom tub.  He would show excitement in his eyes whenever we would go in and spend time with him.  Mark (my husband) did have a little success emptying his bladder.  What we weren't able to get out, Oscar trickled periodically throughout the day.  Over expansion of his bladder was a real concern since it literally could rupture and cause life threatening injuries. 

All day I felt torn between spending time with Oscar in the bathroom and spending time with my two children.  It seemed as though someone always needed me at the same time.  Mommy guilt hit when my 3 yr old daughter came in and asked me to read her books.  I knew she was missing mommy; however, I also knew Oscar needed me at that point too.  His sister, a 6 year old dachshund with whom he was inseperable with prior to the surgery wanted nothing to do with him.  It broke my heart since it was obvious he was lonely and his best friend was neglecting him.

It wasn't until today that I had an opportunity to really look at his incision.  22 stitches and approximately 10 inches long. 

Friday The 13th

4/13/2012

I am NOT a superstitious person; however, this day forever changed our family. 

At approximately 3:00 am, Oscar started to whine from underneath our bed.  I got up to check on him and immediately realized something was wrong.  He was trying to get out from underneath our bed; however, neither of his hind legs were working.  Our vets office didn't open until 9:00 am so I was unsure of what to do.  Little did I know, time was of the essence.  In addition to his hind legs not working, Oscar couldn't put his head down.  He kept holding it up in the air which broke my heart.  He wouldn't lay down either, he insisted upon sitting.

Fortunately, I have Fridays off work and was able to drive Oscar to our vet's office which is approximately 45 minutes away.  Thankfully, my father agreed to watch our two children (Elaina 3 yrs old and Grant 1 yr old) while I took Oscar to the vet.  The entire way down I cried uncontrollably because I felt he wouldn't be coming home with us and the 45 minutes we had together in the car would be our last.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not cry easily.

Once I arrived I immediately knew we had a major situation on our hands.  Our vet immediately confirmed without any x-rays that Oscar was suffering from interveterbral disc disease.  To put it simply, a disc that separates the vertebrae in his spine slipped and was compressing his spinal cord causing hind end paralyzation.  She asked me to put Oscar of the floor and when he tried to move his hind legs dragged completely behind him.  Her face told me what I already knew.  Her words confirmed it, "This isn't good."  The entire time I was fighting back tears when she explained we had two options.  1) Put him down.  2) Drive him to Columbus for emergency spinal cord surgery.  Our vet explained the surgery has a low success rate, but we should know within just a few days if the surgery worked. I immediately agreed to surgery and she tried to contact the surgeon.  Unfortunately for us, the surgeon had two offices (Dayton and Columbus) and was in Dayton that day.  He wouldn't be able to make it back to Columbus until 6:00 pm to see Oscar. 

I drove Oscar back to my parents, picked up the children and then proceeded home to cry some more and take care of Oscar.  In the meantime, I indicated to some of our church friends the situation and two came over to pray for him and offer me their support.

At 4:00 my husband came home and drove Oscar to Columbus for a surgical consult.  I was unable to go as I had a previous commitment to take senior pictures.  When Mark was gathering up blankets, etc I ran out to the car and just held Oscar while crying since I felt he wouldn't be returning home.  I was afraid the surgeon would advise us to put him down.

Shortly after 6:00, Mark called saying the surgeon met with Oscar, confirmed he had IVDD, surgery at best would be 50/50 and if he doesn't walk within 1 month he never will.  Surgery would cost over $3,000; however, it if was our only hope I was willing to pay it without hesitation. 

A few hours after that, Mark called saying Oscar came out of surgery and they were both headed home.  I was surprised since I figured Oscar would have to stay there for a few days considering the magnitude of the surgery.  The surgeon did incate he didn't see any visible damage to the spinal cord (it wasn't blue) which did encourage me slightly. Shortly before midnight, Mark and Oscar were home.

Red Flag

4/12/2012

Oscar continued to seclude himself (again nothing out of the ordinary) in the morning.  His appetite was great and we didn't feel there was any reason to contact our vet. 

It wasn't until the afternoon around 4:00 that I noticed the first red flag.  When I let him out to use the restroom, his right leg didn't work when he went down the back porch steps.  Once he was on the grass everything was normal and he went about his business.  When he tried to walk up the steps to come inside, neither of his back legs worked.  I picked him up, brought him inside the house and once inside he walked on all fours like nothing was wrong.  Since our vet was closed for the evening by the time my husband, Mark, came home from work we decided to wait it out to see how he would act the next day since the nearest emergency vet clinic was 2 hours away.

In the beginning

4/11/2012

Our 7 year old male dachshund, Oscar, began acting a little odd, but nothing out of the ordinary and certainly nothing that would indicate something was seriously wrong.  Oscar started to isolate himself underneath the beds in our home and just wanted what we refer to as "Oscar Time."  About twice a year he gets in these weird moods where he wants to be left alone and within 48 hours is back to his normal self.  We felt at this point that it was nothing more than that.

Purpose

I've created this blog to document the story of our dachshund, Oscar, and the journey we have been on as a family of four humans and two furbabies.  My goal is to encourage and inspire other dachshund owners with dogs suffering from intervertebral disc disease to never give up hope.

Our three year old daughter, Elaina, has a book titled Talk Oscar, Please!  I found it completely appropriate to name the title of this blog Walk Oscar, Please!