Nola had a major tonic-clonic seizure on November 17, 2011. That seizure caused either a brain aneurism and/or a stroke. We are not sure because due to costs and location, an MRI was not performed. Nola stopped eating for almost an entire week and had to be carried outside and back inside again. Due to the symptoms and the nerve issues that she was having in conjunction with this (knuckling of her paws and the inability to control her back legs), the vet felt that Nola had some pretty major swelling of her brain. The vet and I discussed things for a very long while and decided to do a 'last ditch' steroid round and see if that turned her around. If after 48 hours she was still not eating and not able to get around, we decided that it would be time. We chose a hefty shot of dexamethasone, which is a strong, but fast (and short) acting steroid supplemented with prednisone. Nola was also very anemic, which could be contributed to many things, bleeding in her brain and not eating being the two most likely causes.
After the vet visit, I took Nola home and went back to work. When I came home from work, the sight that I saw when I opened the door made me fall to me knees and weep. Nola was up on her own feet and gave me a VERY watered down of what used to be her normal greeting. I grabbed her up, held her, and just cried. It was the first time in over a week that she had gotten up on her own. She even ate a little bit of cottage cheese that night.
After a week, Nola went back to the vet for a follow up. She was finally eating better and able to get around a bit better. The vet was very impressed with her turn around and drew some blood to run a CBC panel on her. Well, we got some very disturbing news with that. Her red blood cell count was still very low, but her white cell count was through the roof. The vet prescribed some antibiotics and we discussed iron rich foods to supplement Nola's diet, chicken livers being what the vet suggested (EWW!).
(I should also mention that before Nola had the huge seizure, she had been having some recurring infections, both ears, UTI, right ear, respiratory. The first ear infections were so bad, she had to have emergency 'surgery' to clean them out and inject an anti-inflammatory directly in them. The ear infection came on so suddenly that it was literally one minute they were fine and less than 8 hours later they were completely inflamed.)
Nola, a few days after her stroke/aneurism. Notice her shaved ears and blank stare.
Well... Apparently chicken livers are a delicacy here in the mountains of Virginia... It took me going to three different markets before I found some. Which, was a waste, because believe it or not, Nola would not touch them. So, I ended up just giving her some of my spinach, which I chopped up and mixed with some cottage cheese. She loved it (and so did Bella!).
The next week, Nola went back to the vet to check her CBC panel again. This time, her red blood cell count was still low, but higher than it was the previous week. However, her white blood cell count had completely bottomed out. She had absolutely no immune system.
Her WBC count bottomed out near the end of November. Since then, she has been on Immunoregulin shots twice weekly to try and boost her immune system. She has also been on about 10 different types of antibiotics to try and fight infection after infection. During the middle of January, Nola lost control of her bladder functions for about 3 weeks. During that time, she also had more trouble controlling her back legs and fell several times a day. We stopped going to the vet weekly, and increased our time between visits gradually to once every 3 weeks.
Over the past 2 weeks or so, she has regained control of her bladder and has had no leakage issues in almost a week and a half. (YAY!) She is still having a lot of issues with her back legs and has started to knuckle her front paws again, but not as often as she was before. Nola has also snapped at me twice over the past week and a half. For a dog who seriously has no idea that she has teeth, that was a major development. The first time, she grabbed my pants and tore a hole in them. The second time, she managed to grab my calf, but luckily did not break skin. I did get a pretty nasty bruise, though. She has also started to chase her tail almost every time that she gets up. She started to do that about a month ago, but it has steadily gotten worse and more frequent. She has also started to grumble and moan for no apparent reason.
Nola and I had our last vet visit on Friday. The vet and I talked for a long time about everything that has been going on. The vet feels that the brain tumour is growing and causing more pressure on her brain. She warned me that things will probably get worse regarding her behaviour. So after a long talk about options, it was decided that we would take Nola off all treatment except the phenobarbital. We talked about treating the infections as they occur instead of doing a blanket treatment and trying to boost her immune system. The shots had not helped so far, so I felt stopping them should not be an issue.
I know that it is only a matter of time before Nola's time is up. But I want to make the time that she has a stress free as possible. I want her to enjoy life as much as she is able. I also want to make sure that I know when it is time for her to leave this world. It is a fine line that we walk as guardians to such amazing beings. I know that I would never be able to forgive myself if I gave up too soon or if I did not act quickly enough.
I am sorry that I do not have a more uplifting post or better news. But I know that most of you love Nola and have been curious to know how things have been going. I apologize for not updating more or sooner, but I know that you guys understand the heartbreak that I have been going through. Nola sends her love to each and every one of you. And so do I.
