Sunday, February 7, 2010

Alert

Did someone just walk into the kitchen?!?

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Solsey Update

I am always a little hesitant to give a Solsey update because things change so fast with her, but, knock wood, this last week and a half Sol has been doing very well. The new meds definitely seem to be helping.

Granted, she still coughs, but it is not constant and is much more manageable. Since none of the medicines will completely eliminate Sol's cough we have come up with our own little gauge over the last few months. Here are a few of the things we look for:

• Does she cough when she is sleeping or does she wake up because she is coughing
• Does her coughing prevent her from settling
• Does she have her "help me" eyes on? Her eyes tell it all.

Needless to say with Sol feeling better we all have been feeling better. In addition to relying strictly on the medicine we have been trying to find other things that we can do that help her feel better. Walks seem to be one thing that fits the bill. Not just pouch walks, but walks where she actually has to walk.

For about a month, we stopped walking Sol because of her cough. We tried to keep her as still as possible thinking that would help her cough. A month of her leading an almost sedentary life just exacerbated her arthritis which took a toll on her mobility. Plus, it didn't seem to be helping her cough at all. So, about a week ago, we decided to try and get in one little walk with Sol each day. We walk at her pace and we don't go too far. Right now, we are just walking to the mailbox and back. We have a community mailbox, so it is about 5 houses away. The first time we did the walk it took her a little over 15 minutes. Her record was walking 6 sidewalk squares without stopping. Her rear end was wobbly and she coughed a bit in the beginning. But by the time we arrived at the mailbox her cough had subsided and she was breathing well, for her at least.

Each day for the past week, we have walked to the mailbox twice a day. We go for our first walk right after lunch and our second walk in the evenings. In just one week, Sol has shaved over six minutes off her time. Last night we did the walk in about 8 minutes. As she is feeling better she is exploring more, straying from the sidewalk to smell the grass, light poles & tree trunks, so I don't think her time is necessarily reflective of her pace anymore. She coughs for a bit in the beginning, but then she settles into a rhythm and her cough subsides. And the best part is that her cough is significantly less for the hour or two after her walk. That is just the icing on the cake.

Last night when I grabbed her harness off the hook by the door to get her ready for her walk, she ran over to the door. She couldn't wait to get suited up and get on her walk. In just one week, her mobility has drastically improved. In fact, there was a noticeable difference just after a few days of walking. Plus, I think we are both feeling better. She likes getting out for the fresh air and smells and I cherish the time out and about with her.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Driving Miss Solsey

On Saturday morning we took the pugs for a walk at a nearby park. Sol walked a bit & then rode in her pouch for a bit and then finished up by walking some more. When we got back to the car, I sat her on the seat while I buckled in Benjamin, Henry & Luna and she made herself quite comfortable.

We also started a new set of coughing meds on Friday night. She was doing well for a while and then all of a sudden her coughing was back. Not as bad as it was around the holidays, but it was still constant. So, last week we were trying different dosages and we also went back on the antibiotics in hopes that things would get better. Nothing really seemed to be having an impact so we stepped up to a "harder" cough suppressant. This is pretty much our last option so I am hoping that it works. In some ways I think it is working better, but in others I don't think it is working at all. I am going to have to give it a few days to know for sure if it is working any better. I am just keeping my fingers crossed hoping that this new medicine does the trick, otherwise there really isn't anything else we can try.

Meanwhile, we have been taking Solsey on a lot of walks in her pouch and taking her out for as many car rides as we can. She is at her happiest when doing these things. Seeing Solsey enjoy life brings a huge smile to my face.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Wintry Weather

You can file this under Things that Rarely Happen in FL. On Saturday morning we had a nice sleet/snow mix going on outside. Of course it didn't lay because the ground was still pretty warm, but it was still an odd sight to see the wintry weather here in FL.

Of course the pugs had to go out to go potty in the morning and they were quite surprised to hear the sleet and see the white stuff. It was funny to see the snow laying on the back of the pugs. It didn't photograph well on the fawns, but the snow showed pretty clearly on the back of Sol.

The only pug the snow didn't gather on was Luna. She ran out, did her business and then high tailed it right back into the house. That girl is from Miami. She doesn't do wintry weather.

If you're intersted, I have posted other, non pug related, wintry weather shots on Flickr.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

A Little Bit of Hope

First let me say how very grateful I am for all your support and well wishes. It really means a lot to me and helps me remain positive and keep on keepin' on during the difficult times.

I had a very nice conversation with Sol's specialist at AVS. The results of Sol's cytology and culture came back and showed no signs of cancer/tumor or infection. Meaning the excess mucus is a result of inflammation. Inflammation that can most likely be managed through the right combination of medicine. That was a huge relief! It was actually the first time we got good news from a test like that.

The specialist did caution me that it may take a bit before we discover the perfect combination of medicines and dosages that work best for Sol, but I assured her I was up for the challenge. We have lots of experience in figuring out the perfect treatment with Luna and her eye drops. (More on Luna's eyes is coming soon. She went for a checkup yesterday).

We also talked for a bit about Sol's quality of life and really what we could expect in the future. She explained that as long as Sol is not coughing non stop like before, the cough sounds a lot worse than it really is for Sol. Constant, prolonged coughing obviously takes it toll on her, but a little spell here and there is not terribly uncomfortable for her. Which is good because the cough sounds horrible.

The main warning signs that things are taking a turn for the worse are fainting and bluish coloring of her mucus membranes (tongue, gums, etc). This to me is the scary part. I can't even imagine what I would do if Sol fainted. Fainting and the blue coloring are signs that she is not getting enough oxygen and the airways are completely closing. And then the specialist casually tells me that Sol did better than they expected coming out of her anthseia from her scope because most dogs with a collapse like hers have quite a bit of bluish coloring when they come out of sedation, but she had none. That little tidbit of information simultaneously made me feel better and worse at the same time.

I specifically asked her about life expectancy because at this point I want to sorta have an idea. I have been living the last two weeks as if it is day to day and that is really taking a toll. The specialist confidently said that with the right combination of medicine Sol has a good 6 months to a year. Obviously this is not a guarantee nor is it a cap, but it is a guide. And frankly, even though it isn't a long time, it was longer than I had thought.

So, the main things we will need to be on the lookout for is an increase in the coughing, fainting and bluish coloring. The fainting and bluish coloring scares me. I hope we never get to that point, but I guess it is good to know what to expect.

So for now, I'm going to try not to think about fainting and I am going to focus on what is important. Things like car rides, walks in the pouch and spaghetti.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Trachea Collapse

When we picked Sol up from her scope appointment at AVS we got to see pictures of her airway taken with the scope. I thought I would share the pictures with everyone as I think they give a pretty good idea of what the specialists can see with the scope.

Below is a grouping of three separate pictures taken by the scope. The two pictures on the top are of the area of Sol's airway where it branches off to her lungs. The third picture is from the middle of the trachea. You can see a slight collapse in the third picture, but the first two show just how bad the collapse is by her lungs. The airways around the branch should be circular. I have highlighted the collapsed areas as best as I could in the annotated picture below. Obviously the circles are not drawn to scale, but you get the idea. The airways should have a circular shape rather than an oblong shape.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Getting Back in the Swing of Things

Wow! So my intention to update the blog last week with pictures of all the fun the pugs were having with G-Ma & G-Pa didn't work out at all. That's not to say the pugs didn't have fun with G-Ma & G-Pa. They had a blast, but Solsey had a very rough week that at one point had us thinking she would not be here to celebrate Christmas or her Gotcha day with us.

I'm not really even sure where to start. There were so many ups and downs and twists and turns last week, that I decided to hold off updating everyone. Plus, I didn't want everyone to worry and I didn't really have much free time to stay on top of blog updates.

On Friday (12/18), I called our vet to give him an update on how Sol was doing on her new meds to help with her cough. Sadly, she was not doing any better at all. This prompted our vet to ask us to come in on Tuesday to do a scope of her throat. Our vet wanted to check around to make sure there were no growths. This was a logical next step considering Sol's history of oral cancer.

In the days leading up to her scope appointment, Sol's coughing became constant. She was alert, hungry and acting like her normal self, but she was coughing with every breath. She wasn't sleeping through the night and neither were we.

When we arrived at the vet's office, he was surprised at how much she was coughing. To help alleviate the cough, he gave her a shot which sedated her. In a matter of minutes I had a sleepy puppy in my lap that for the first time in a long time was not coughing.

Our vet performed the scope and called us to discuss his findings. He found no tumors in her throat, but another chest x-ray revealed that Sol's trachea was fully collapsed. Looking at that x-ray was the hardest thing. We had seen other x-rays that showed a narrow trachea, but this x-ray really hit home how severe the collapse has been.

While doing the scope, the vet said that Sol had a lot of mucus in her airways. The mucus was very cellular and because of that and Sol's history it was sent out for testing.

Then the vet did something that really made me nervous. He suggested that we take Sol to AVS in Maitland (veterinary specialists in our area) and that we do it on Wednesday. He even called and made the appointment for us. Never before had my vet pushed to get a test or an exam done so quickly. The holidays were throwing a real wrinkle into making sure we got Sol taken care of.

Sol was tired and groggy when we brought her home from the vet on Tuesday. But her sleepiness helped her remain calm and not cough. However, around midnight things changed and one of the worst nights began. Sol started a coughing fit that went on for hours. We had a pill that we could use to sedate her if a fit started, but it did not work. There was nothing we could do to help settle the little girl. At around 3 AM we were thinking a trip to the emergency vet was in order. At this point, we were afraid that their only suggested treatment to us was going to be to put Sol down. We certainly weren't ready for this, but we knew that Sol could not go on with the chronic coughing.

The appointment with the specialist kept weighing on us and we really wanted to hear what the specialists had to say about Sol's condition. After a few more panicked hours Sol finally settled. We settled shortly after that and about a half hour after that the alarm went off and we started on our way to Maitland for our 8 AM appointment.

Sol couldn't eat before her appointment, but she was one hungry little pug in the morning. She was coughing a lot, but she was also zipping in and out from the yard to try and get breakfast. For having such a serious condition she had so much spunk. It was breaking my heart, because a large part of me thought that we would not be bringing Sol back home with us and the last thing I wanted was her not to get breakfast.

In the waiting room, we clung to her like it was our final moments with her. After our consultation, the specialists wanted to do a full scope on Sol. This is similar to the scope that our regular vet did, but would be able to go much farther than her first scope.

The main reason for doing the scope is to find exactly where Sol's collapse was happening. This is very important as it determines treatment options. Basically, there are three points of failure. The larynx area, the middle section of the trachea and the section of the trachea were it splits to the lungs. If the issues were with the larynx or the part of the trachea where it branches to the lungs then Sol would not be a candidate for surgery and the condition would be considered terminal. In some cases in can be managed for a bit with medicine, but the condition is still terminal.

We nervously agreed to have the scope done because we thought knowing exactly where the collapse was happening would be beneficial.

The scope revealed that Sol's collapse was not only happening throughout her trachea, but also at the section where it splits to her lungs. This means that she is not a candidate for a stint and that our only option is to try and manage things with medicine. So far, we have not been very successful in managing things with meds, but the specialist got us started on a new course of meds designed to help suppress the cough and get rid of the excess mucus that is giving Sol a hard time.

Our hope is that the mucus is exacerbating the collapse and that if we get that cleared up we will be able to manage the collapse for a bit with medicine. Ultimately, the condition is terminal and we will need to keep reevaluating Sol's quality of life to make sure she is comfortable and not struggling too much to breathe.

The antibiotic treatment will be completed this Friday and we will head back to our vet next week for a re-check. At this point, we have noticed a huge improvement from our panicked night last week, however, I'm not sure it is enough to say that Sol has a good quality of life right now. But the good news is that the specialists warned us that we would not notice much improvement at all until 7 - 10 days and we have not hit that mark yet.

We will have to cross that bridge when we come to it, but right now we are doing everything we can to make sure Sol is enjoying life. Sunday night, she went for a walk in her pouch and didn't cough a single time. And last night we took a little car ride and she smelled around while the Benjamin, Henry & Luna ran around the tennis courts. She didn't cough very much at all while we were out and she was so very happy to look at all the site while we drove around.

We are taking it day by day and moment by moment right now. Doing all that we possibly can and doing our best to do what is best for Solsey.