Sunday, September 2, 2012

August 31st

Rissa had an event - stroke like to me last eve. I was here when it happened. It was awful to see, she was in pain, had no clue where she was or what was going on, blinded, could not walk... I did get an aspirin into her within minutes and sat with her. just so scary. I had help and moved her to the living room so I could sit with her. Eventually she calmed and wasn't in as much distress, her pupils became less dilated, she had some vision but was leaning and did not seem to recognize her right side. I would have brought her to the emergency vet to be put to sleep if she was suffering. She seemed to improve as the night went on - still could not walk. I knew that I would have to take her if she could not walk. I dreaded making the call and just as I was about to dial the phone - she got up and walked to me, went out to pee.... I was in shock as I had tried to walk her with a sling just 30 mins before. A friend that is a PT and has a side passion for animal PT was able to piece together and came up with a diagnosis.... something called FCE (fibrocartilagenous embolism) a doggie stroke but it is not vascular like humans - it is in their spinal column... AND - they can make a full recovery... wow... and how close was I to euthanizing her?? Mega support from friends and my Facebook community of lab folks during the first 24 hours. Denise (the PT/friend) made a home visit to see Rissa at about he 24 hour mark. She was very happy with her level of functioning as some dogs are paralyzed for days to weeks. I got some instructions and gentle exercises to help the nerves start up again, raise her food bowl etc...  What a week!

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