Dooley still challenged

[John Popp]

Thanks Della!

Well a new revelation at the vets office. I was asked why I was no longer giving Dooley Amoxicilin as prescribed and noted there wasn't any refills indicated. Some confusion at the pharmacy filling the prescription when they told me Mixing it they would come up with a 14 day supply as opposed to 8 as prescribed. They asked for the statement and even reached out to the vets office. In the end, I was given a 14 day no refill prescription and the intent was to have multiple 8 day prescriptions.

Not sure what all the Amoxicilin does, but it seems to be a staple in the treatment of liver conditions and it's not been in Dooley's program for 10 days now. So I'm hopeful that we see some positive results and will be talking with the IM specialist in the morning.

Also, thanks Rascal for getting me headed in the right direction on the Amoxicilin

 

[John Popp]

Got the morning update on Dooley and he was alert and attentive while being a little difficult to handle. Fortunately they all like to take some time to love up on him and once you reveal some spinach to him you have won a life time friend.

No word from the IM vet yet and if anything was going to go on with an appointment with the surgeon that would be tomorrow.

 

[admin]

Hopefully the seizures will get under control until they can do the surgery... And yes, the surgery is often very successful, so I'm not sure how much longer I would wait. Thoughts and prayers for you guys!


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[John Popp]

Thanks Paige!

Haven't been able to update for a bit.

Dooley is currently doing pretty well. The goal is to increase his stability before surgery. Stability is a very important part of having a successful surgery. The dosage on his medication has been adjusted and we are spreading out his feedings so he doesn't have a big load to process. This has resulted in getting his intake of his meds more consistent as it was mixed with food, as well as getting more food in him without negative effects.

He's also back at home now as the house came back clean with the mold and air quality tests. It's easier on Dooley, his brother and the rest of us. He's still a bit grumpy from his meds, but I think having more success with his feeding schedule has made a huge difference.

Hoping to be bable to speak with the surgeon this week and get on the schedule. I know that everything else needs to be in line, just hoping this will be behind Dooley soon. He truly is a very special boy who no matter how down he is always displays tons of affection for Trish, my sister and I.

More details tomorrow.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!

 

[John Campbell]

Still sending many Prayers... And Believe me... Prayer Works.... Everyone here saw that a little over 2 years ago!

 

[John Popp]

Still sending many Prayers... And Believe me... Prayer Works.... Everyone here saw that a little over 2 years ago!

I remember quite well and I'm so happy Elsa is still here with us.

Slight update, Dooley mad his way up to 17 ozs of food yesterday, are far cry from the pound and a half or raw he was eating each day but more than we've been able to get down him in a day since his diet was changed. He's currently getting 4 feedings a day, 3 with 2oz starters with meds and the other 4 is where the bulk of his food comes in.

We've divided things up like this so we are sure he gets all of his meds in a small amount of food when he is hungry. His treat food, spinach, he gets with his second serving and the bulk of what he gets to eat. His morning feedings we have split in two so he gets an early and late one. The importance is that he never gets a big load of food without having the medicine in his system.

Perhaps the biggest issue we've had is with the Keppra as its really important to be on a stringent plan taking a pill once every 8 hours. It doesn't stay in the blood stream long and even giving it to him on a full stomach doesn't do much to stretch the 8 hours out. So Trish and I have modified our work schedules to accommodate, and I drew the straw of getting up earlier and she does the late shift.

I can currently hear him running on his wheel which always makes us happy. He really needs a much larger one as he can stretch out to the diameter when he's really moving and he gives up on pushing things when he's at the mechanical limits of it. My guess is a 6 footer would be optimum, 50% larger than his current one.

 

[John Popp]

Dooley has had a pretty good week and he is back to about 90% of his weight. We have his daily feelings down to the ounce, 3 meals, 2 courses each, down from 4 meals.

The test results showed the bile acid numbers to be pretty high, but managed quickly when he's getting his Meds as scheduled and not opting out of meals. This is a short term strategy until he is scheduled for surgery and we will speak with the surgeon on Tuesday, and he is up to speed on the case.

The IM doctor reiterated the role of Dooley's asthma in providing overlapping symptoms and taking some of the acute symptom remedies off the table. Still wish I only had her on the case, as we likely would have been 30 days earlier in finding out what was really wrong.

Currently at home Dooley and Dino are like peas and carrots again. You wouldn't have a clue anything was wrong, and Dooley is no longer in the least bit wobbly from his Meds. He probably doesn't have all his strength back, but I would say he is at 80%. Hopefully we can have an incident free time until his surgery.

 

[Patti]

I'm really glad to hear that Dooley is recovering and getting back to baseline. Fingers crossed that he remains stable until the time of his surgery.

 

[Diane]

Thoughts and prayers for Dooley.

 

[John Popp]

Dooley's surgery is scheduled for Wednesday June 22nd. At first this sounded like a long time away to me, although a conversation with the Doctor's office again reiterated how important it is that we get Dooley as stable as possible and acclimated to his new meds. We've had a solid week so far, so Im definitely encouraged.

Just can't wait to have the health of our boy restored and to let him have whole house privileges again.