Not a "Happy" New Year

[SweetCody]

She is crashed out on the couch now and the smoosh is ripe for kissing!

I bet that was lovely.....I'm sure that smoosh got some of the best kisses ever. lovicon


I feel for you the emotional roller coaster you have been riding the last couple of weeks. I don't have any sage advice or even any experience to share or help with...but I do feel so for you and Cami. I am sending a fresh stream of prayers to the Big Guy upstairs for Cami's precious heart. Also for you and all her doctors so that you may have to strength to get through this all....and hope to find something that will continue giving Cami a good quality of life.
Hugs to you today group .....and wiggles to Cami from Cody and Aniah.

 

[Cami]

Yet another update....

Cami had an EKG, an echo and her BP taken today.
Heart function is "static" meaning that nothing has changed. This is good news in as far as it didn't decrease but it hasn't improved which is what we were hoping for. There is still a possibility that the systolic function will get better but if no improvement after a couple of months she will be where she will be. Only time and further testing will give us answers.

Her BP was perfectly normal. Her rhythm was irregular with frequent premature beats (intermittent single VPC's).

The left ventricle has normal wall thickness translated to mean that she is not in congestive heart failure however it is mildly dilated in diastole and moderately dilated in systole. Left atrium is moderately dilated.

Right ventricle has a mild decrease in systolic function.

Valves (aortic, mitral and tricuspid) show mild regurgitation and low velocity insufficiency. All are moderate and are not "abnormal" enough to present any problems "currently".

Two new meds will be starting tomorrow (Pimobendan & Solatol) adding to the other two she has been on for the past couple of weeks (Mexiletine & Diltiazem). Doc said to give them to her tonight but hubby and I talked and decided to wait until tomorrow. Both can cause lethargy that we would have to report and she is WORN OUT from her 4 hour ordeal today. We knew she just needed to come home, eat and REST. We wouldn't have any idea if it was from the meds or her overexertion from today's vet visit.
I think we made the right call. She is asleep upside down on the couch now without a care in the world.

Pimobendan (Vetmedin) will be given at 7.5mgs twice per day. Will help to make the heart muscle pump stronger and to support systolic function with the initiaon of yet another new drug for her--Solatol.

Solatol is to be given @ 40mgs twice a day. Hopefully this drug will help to decrease the frequency and severity of the irregular heart rhythm (both SVT and VPC'S).

Minus any issues she returns in 1-2 weeks for a reevaluation. EKC, blood work, echo, BP reading and holter.

In the after care notes they have the following under exercise....and I quote....
"Judicious exercise restriction. LET YOUR PET SET THEIR OWN LIMITS. No forced exercise."

Um. SHE IS A BOXER!!! HELLO!!
So we had to have a chat about that! LOL
I can see a good majority of other breeds setting their own limits but a Boxer? Seriously? Come on people!

The doc laughed when I said that we would still be policing her and that she was still in cardio rehab.

We came away with what the collective goal is.....
To get Cami stable enough that she has a good quality of life and that she feels good more often than not. Also told that she will never be "normal".

What is normal? As long as she keeps wiggling the nub in the mornings before her eyes are even open I will be happy. As long as she continues to get THAT look her in eyes just as she is about to have a Boxer burn, I will be happy. As long as she continues to stay stubborn when she wants something or paws at me and whines....I will be happy. As long as she feels comfortable enough to lay upside down showing her privates to God and everyone with her jowls hanging backwards and nearly covering her nose....I WILL BE HAPPY.

She will continue to be monitored around the clock. I do have to leave her for up to 2 hours at a time for work during the day and it literally kills me to do so but I am so very fortunate that my work schedule can accommodate her needs.

The cardio said that "Cami was very fortunate to have us as owners".

Not so.

We are the fortunate ones. She has been and continues to be our everything.

 

[johann]

I think you and Cami are both lucky to have each other.

I hope the new meds regulate her heart a bit more and that she continues to enjoy life and act like a boxer.

 

[Murp.mm]

Poor Cami has been through so much and such a brave soul. Not to mention the roller coaster that you've been on. I'm keeping you and her in my prayers. Hugs.

 

[RoxiesEcho]

I think you and Cami are both lucky to have each other.

You took the words right out of my mouth! Keep up the good work Cami - keep fighting your way through this!

 

[Cami]

UUGGG!!

I keep feeling like we are taking one step forward and then two steps back!
This evening Cami had what I can only describe as a panic attack. I know that dogs don't really have them but she was displaying some odd behavior.
She did this on Sunday evening as well but to a lesser degree.
She was perfectly fine today, slept a lot but that was expected after visiting with the vet yesterday.
I gave her the two new meds at 10:20 am. Watched her for any signs of side effects. Nothing.
Thinking that she made it through the initial doses so everything would be fine.
Tonight she had a bit of an upset tummy. Or at least displayed her typical upset belly behavior. She started smacking her lips and then headed for the back door. She wanted grass except the grass is covered in snow. Hubby shoveled the snow off the grass near our patio so she could get to the grass.
Then she started that hacking cough-like thing where it seems as if she is trying to get something out that might be stuck in her throat.
Inside-Outside. Over and over.
During one of her trips inside pacing around the house I grab a hold of her and felt her heart beating extremely FAST and erratic. I know that feeling their heart beating through their skin isn't anywhere near an accurate way to check anything but it was not normal feeling at all.
Checked her pulse using her femoral artery. It was so fast that I had a hard time keeping up with the counts.
Best I could guess was that it was at least 200bpm.
Finally get her to lay down and I start massaging her. Just rubbing her with slow strokes trying to calm her down.
Funny thing is that by this time she was calmer and just lying down yet the heart was still freaking out.
Then I notice that her head was jiggling (hard to describe). Like maybe someone with Parkinson's might do. We had to watch her very close to see it but it was there.
I mentioned to hubby that I have seen her do that before only I didn't believe my eyes previously and it was so short lived that I thought I might have imagined it. He confirmed that he too had seen it before.
Put a call into the ER to see if any of the cardio docs were on staff tonight. Thankfully one was who had been on Cami's case but not her primary.
Relayed the info to her via a tech and was told to hold off on giving the 2nd dose of the new meds this evening and that they would discuss the situation with her cardio first thing in the morning. I am to wait for their call however they don't feel that the new meds are the culprit as it had been 9 hours since introducing them.

Hubby and I think that perhaps her heart was beating too fast and it had a chance to have more VPC's and or SVT's. That initiated her panicky behavior.

She is resting now and heart beat seems to have slowed down a bit. Pulse is normal. Breathing is normal.

If the new meds have to be stopped I don't know what we will do since the other two we have been giving are not working as well as they had hoped, hence adding new ones. Hopefully this is just a bump in the road that she will get over.

Going to be another long night watching her sleep.

 

[auntthelm]

I just read your thread from start to finish. What an emotional roller coaster. I am sending positive, feel better vibes to Cami and (((((hugs))))) to you and your hubby.

 

[SweetCody]

Oh no...how trying this has all been. Sending out some fresh healing vibes to Cami and as always keeping you and Cami in my prayers.

 

[Holden's Mom]

So sorry to read your last post about Cami. I don't know if this has any value, I just read it about 10 minutes ago and thought I would post for you to read. It is about heart health in humans, but mentions and shows actual pictures of heart and arteries in animals. At least it is worth a read, and a mention to the cardiologist.

The Man Who Cured Heart Disease With a Natural Molecule, 20 Years Before Cholesterol Drugs! by Bill Sardi

I will keep Cami in my thought and prayers. And you as well.

Pam and Autry

 

[Cami]

Cami did fine overnight and I managed to doze off on a few occasions!
I had time to do a lot of thinking and came to a possible conclusion.

The reason for the new meds was that the original two (which she is still taking) wasn't offering as much control for the rhythms as they wanted. The results of her holter showed periods of time, up to an hour, where she was having a fast heart rate and SVT's.

I *think* this may have been what was happening last night. With only one dose of the new meds there was no way for them to have had any therapeutic benefit yet.

The only difference was that we didn't NOTICE when it was happening with the holter on. I couldn't feel through the vest and she didn't do the panicky thing.

Now I feel HORRIBLE and that perhaps if I had started the meds the night before AND had went ahead and given her the dose last night (should have been her 3rd) that we might have been closer to gaining some better control.

I'm terribly bad about asking the doc questions right out of the gate. Today when they call I am going to hold my tongue and see if they come to the same conclusion. Of course if they don't I will then interject the info!

They say that being a caretaker is filled with many emotions, similar to being on a roller coaster. I say that is a load of POO. Roller coasters are FUN (at least they were in my youth!). Instead the emotional turmoil just plain sucks.