10/01/11 - I got back home today from a week away, traveling for work. Every time I come back from being away, I realize how much my bond with Reo strengthened due to her SARDS diagnosis and treatment. I feel like she is my miracle child - so proud of her for sticking with everything we've done to and for her!
Reo looks good! I was a little worried that she would gain weight or something while I was gone. Even though I write down every detail concerning her meals, it seems that Sean and I have slightly different ways of preparing her food. But, no worries this time! :)
However, she seems to have had a little regression with her vision. She is definitely having trouble in dim lighting, or moving from bright light to dim. I'm not sure why this happened, but it is a little worrying to me, especially because we are seeing the ophthalmologist next week!
Sean ran out of sardines while I was away, and our normal grocery store was out! She was sardine-less for about 3 days, which meant that she didn't have a dietary source of adenosine, but that is the only change we can think of.
Duh...after talking to Caroline, she helped me realize that there was another huge change that we were overlooking - I was gone out of town for a week!! This of course would be stressful to her (emotionally and perhaps physiologically) and cause a spike in estrogen and a retinal seizure that could affect her vision intermittently.
10/03/11 - We saw Dr. Lanz today for Reo's acupuncture. She commented that Reo's pulses were "awesome", and she looked good! Dr. Lanz got to witness Reo's vision regression when she first arrived, however, as Reo was woofing at Dr. Lanz's arrival, yet was walking into surrounding furniture and walls. Strange, indeed! Then we tested her with some cotton, and she did really well, following it around and as it dropped to the floor - who knows what is going on? The ophtho appointment on Wednesday will be interesting, at the very least!
In preparation for the stress of the ophtho appointment, I bumped up Reo's daily Medrol by 50%. She is getting 1.5 mg once a day today - Friday. Hopefully this will help her cope a bit better with the stress of the ERG and ocular ultrasound.
Stay tuned later this week for visit details! I'm so excited, but quite nervous!! :)
In March 2011, our Miniature Pinscher, Reo, suddenly went blind and was diagnosed with SARDS (Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome). We were given no hope for vision recovery, but through research, perseverance, love, tears, and a lot of luck, we brought our dog back from a serious illness, and restored some functional vision in about 5 months! This is our story, our journey...and we hope that by sharing our story, we can help other dogs diagnosed with SARDS!
BLOG DISCLAIMER
**DISCLAIMER** Please note: I am not a veterinarian, and the purpose of this blog is solely to educate, provide resources, and share Reo's story. In this blog, I will present research and information on the theories of SARDS to which I subscribe, along with my own narrative. If you think your dog may have SARDS, or adrenal exhaustion/Plechner Syndrome, please seek veterinary care right away!
If you are just beginning your SARDS education, I suggest you start with the blog post from August 22, 2011 entitled "SARDS Resources". If you'd like to know our trials, tribulations, and joys from the beginning, start with "But first...Reo!" and click chronologically on from there.
If you would like to read my suggestions as to how I would approach treatment for a newly-diagnosed dog, check the November 16, 2011 post "If I had another SARDS dog" (and then read my blog more fully for appropriate context).
Though we have decided to suspend Reo's retinal protection supplements in September 2012 (see September 16, 2012 post "Decision for Reo") due to the fact that she had very little remaining vision, I am still strongly supportive of our treatment approach, and know that it changed Reo's health and longevity in a positive way. Feel free to comment and ask me any questions - I am happy to help if I can!
Update: Reo became an angel on October 21, 2014. She had a profound kidney infection, causing acute kidney failure, and she was unable to recover. The contributing factors to her decline are covered in my February 16, 2015 blog post "Farewell to Reo".
Though I do not regularly update this blog any longer, much of the information is still relevant (though some of the links may be out of date). Feel free to join the conversation at "SARDS Dogs United" on Facebook.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
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