Dollars for Penny: Help her fight!
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Week of 3/14:
I noticed Penny favoring her back leg and limping a bit. I figured she'd jumped off of something too hard or something else to have aggravated it. I thought she might have a dry paw pad so I put some salve on it and covered it with a sock to see if that would help her. I decided to watch it for a few days and take her to the vet if it persisted.
3/18:
Penny was still favoring her leg and starting to act very lethargic. I wondered if she was in pain so I took her to my regular vet. Upon examination, the vet suspected a spinal injury (causing her leg to exhibit neurological symptoms) so he did an X-ray of her spine. He thought she might have hemi-vertebrae and sent us home with pain meds with instructions to go to a vet hospital if Penny got markedly worse.
After I paid her almost $400 bill, I sat in the parking lot of the vet's office and looked at little Miss Penny in my front seat. She looked at me with her big brown eyes and something just didn't seem right. I did what anyone would do in a hard situation...I called my mom. I told her what the vet said but expressed further concern that Penny just "didn't seem right." My mom told me that there would be no harm in getting her checked out for a second opinion and to trust my intution. With that, I made the decision to take her to the OSU Emergency Vet Hospital which was about a 15 minute drive away.
I arrived at the OSU vet with tears in my eyes as Penny at this point had begun to drool and was considerably more lethargic (keep in mind this happened within the 15 minute drive from my regular vet). I carried her in my arms and checked in at the vet hospital. They asked me if it was an emergency and I remember I nodded and tried to hold back tears as I said, "I think it's a neuro problem."
A vet student in blue scrubs came out to the lobby immediately and asked me a few questions. I remember jumbled phrases: I thought her leg was hurt, It was just a few days, Took her to her regular vet, He thought it was a spinal injury, She just doesn't seem right, I've never seen her this lethargic, She's drooling so much and never drools. The tall, blonde haired vet student was very kind with me and asked if she could take Penny back to triage for an examination. All I could do was nod and try to hold back the tears.
The rest of the day at the vet hospital happened very quickly. The emergency vet team called me into an exam room (no Penny in sight) and said they suspected a problem in Penny's brain. They said it was likely one of two things: 1. a brain tumor or 2. encephalitis. I was completely shocked but tried to pay attention to what they were telling me. (Hurt leg, spine problem, now a maybe fatal brain tumor?!).
Penny's case was transferred to the neurologist who met with me in the same room (again without Penny in sight). They asked for immediate consent to do a spinal tap and MRI (and quoted a cost of about $2000). They said it was important to do it right away to figure out if they could save Penny. I signed the form right away.
I went home, tried to eat something and sleep a bit, and then was called back to the vet hospital for her diagnosis: Immune-mediated encephalitis (this was the preffered diagnosis over the brain tumor as that would not have been treatable). Penny's immune system, for no known reason, started attacking her brain. They told me they would start treatment right away (high dose steroids) but warned me that some dogs don't respond to treatment and to prepare for the fact that she might not make it. I drove home that night without Penny and felt a huge tightness in my chest worried about my poor pup.
3/19:
Penny stayed the night in the ICU and I was surprised to get a call the next morning from the neurologist telling me that Penny was looking good and could come home.
Now for the part I wasn't expecting: Penny was completely blind in her left eye, had mild paralysis on her right side, had focal seizures overnight, and was "circling" to the right based on where the lesions were in her brain. I had no idea she had gotten that bad. I thank God that I didn't just give her pain meds and take her home as suggested by the first vet. She had a large, furless spot on the back of her head from where they'd done the spinal tap. They also showed me the MRI of her brain where they pointed out spots that had brain lesions and swelling.
I was told she would need high dose steroids, anti-convulsants for her seizures, and antacids to protect her stomach from the medications. With thankful and fearful tears in my eyes, I snuggled her hard that night and kissed her on her bald head, where she'd had her spinal tap just the day before. And where just beneath, her immune system was attacking her healthy brain tissue.
3/20:
Penny's symptoms were improving but she was still "circling" to the right and could not walk in a straight line. Still no vision in her left eye.
3/23:
I think that Penny is having another seizure and rush her to the vet hospital. I'm told it's a form of myoclonus (muscle twitching-video below) which she could have permanently because of her neurological damage. The vet suggests doing chemotherapy since Penny is already there. Penny didn't have cancer but the chemo would work to suppress her immune system to keep it from attacking her brain.
3/24-4/14:
Dealing with side effects of steroids is the most challenging part of Penny's journey. Her neuro symptoms are gone (still no vision in her left eye) but she's constantly hungry, thirsty, agitated, and having accidents in the house from all the water she drinks.
I'm happy her neuro signs are better and am just trying to manage her 3 times daily medications and her new "normal." (Thankful I'm in nursing school with all of the med management I've needed to do!). Picture below is her saying, "Hey! I know you fed me 3 minutes ago, but can a girl get seconds, puh-lease?!"
4/15:
I take Penny in for her 2nd round of chemo (every 3 weeks until the neurologist thinks she is in remission) for which I usually drop her off in the morning and pick her up in the evening. But I got a call from a vet tech around noon. "We found a lump." My throat tightened up. They found a small lump on her back leg and wanted to biopsy it, I consented. They called me back and confirmed it: it was a mast cell tumor . "Cancer?" It's a form of cancer that can be benign or malignant. The neurologist recommended immediate removal and referred me to Soft Tissue surgery. I picked up Penny from her chemo treatment and came home with an unexpected traveller: a diagnosis of a mast cell tumor. I get her home and force snuggles upon her to help my heart from breaking yet again. Penny doesn't seem to know or care much about the news, she just wants to wiggle out of my grasp and eat her 7th meal of the day (and some peanut butter, of course).
4/20:
Penny is deemed as an eligible candidate for surgery and I'm told the surgeon will need to remove 1 inch in all directions of the tumor to get "good margins" to insure the best prognosis. They want to keep her in the ICU during her stay because of her neurological issues and history of seizures.
4/21:
I sit on pins and needles until I get the call: Penny made it through surgery and is recovering well. No seizures noted as she recovers from anesthesia and her neurological symptoms are under control. I let out a huge breath of relief and was told I could pick her up in about 24 hours as they wanted to monitor her in the ICU until then.
4/22:
I'm finally able to pick Penny up. I'm alarmed at how big her incision is but I try to remember how happy I am that she's safe and made it through her surgery. They tell me we won't know anything about the severity of the tumor or if they got "clean margins" for 5-7 days (the time it takes pathology to analyze Penny's tissue). I give her a big hug and try to kiss her even though she's got a big blue and pink cone around her cute little head. Even with brain disease and a recent surgery, she wants to make best friends with everyone (and every dog) in the lobby!
(Tomorrow 4/23):
Penny's 3rd birthday! I never thought we'd be here at such a young age. Neurological disease, blind in one eye, seizures, tumor surgery, and now potentially cancer. I am so blessed for each day I get to spend with Penny. She lights up every room that she wiggles into and still passes as a puppy at her petite 15 pound size (pushing 18 pounds since starting steroids that make her ravenous. Might need to lay off the peanut butter snacks!). She's such an angel and I want to do everything I can for her and that's where I humbly ask for your help.
First, if you're a pet owner, read these signs that your furbaby could be having neurological issues . I wish I knew what to look for as I keep blaming myself for not catching her neuro issue sooner (even though a vet missed it!). If this helps even one other dog get help before it's too late, Penny and I would be thrilled!
Second, if you have the ability, I would be forever grateful for any dollars you could spare for Penny's vet bills. We're totaling around $4,000 dollars right now with no sure amount of her cost of care going forward. Each time she goes for chemo (every 3 weeks) is about $300. Her tumor removal surgery was $800 and she might need additional tumors removed in the future. I have run through most of my savings and unfortunately I'm a full time student so I don't have any source of income to pay for much more vet care for Penny. I've paid what I can but now Penny needs your help.
We're hoping to raise $2,000 to cover the cost of Penny's most recent mast cell tumor removal, MRI, chemo treatments for her brain disease, medication costs, and vet exam fees. Any amount helps! Any donations that go above Penny's cost of care will be donated to the French Bulldog Rescue Network .
She'd be forever grateful for any donations or prayers for recovery and health.
Love and wet kisses,
Penny (and her servant and peanut butter snack-giver,
Natalie).
I noticed Penny favoring her back leg and limping a bit. I figured she'd jumped off of something too hard or something else to have aggravated it. I thought she might have a dry paw pad so I put some salve on it and covered it with a sock to see if that would help her. I decided to watch it for a few days and take her to the vet if it persisted.
3/18:
Penny was still favoring her leg and starting to act very lethargic. I wondered if she was in pain so I took her to my regular vet. Upon examination, the vet suspected a spinal injury (causing her leg to exhibit neurological symptoms) so he did an X-ray of her spine. He thought she might have hemi-vertebrae and sent us home with pain meds with instructions to go to a vet hospital if Penny got markedly worse.
After I paid her almost $400 bill, I sat in the parking lot of the vet's office and looked at little Miss Penny in my front seat. She looked at me with her big brown eyes and something just didn't seem right. I did what anyone would do in a hard situation...I called my mom. I told her what the vet said but expressed further concern that Penny just "didn't seem right." My mom told me that there would be no harm in getting her checked out for a second opinion and to trust my intution. With that, I made the decision to take her to the OSU Emergency Vet Hospital which was about a 15 minute drive away.
I arrived at the OSU vet with tears in my eyes as Penny at this point had begun to drool and was considerably more lethargic (keep in mind this happened within the 15 minute drive from my regular vet). I carried her in my arms and checked in at the vet hospital. They asked me if it was an emergency and I remember I nodded and tried to hold back tears as I said, "I think it's a neuro problem."
A vet student in blue scrubs came out to the lobby immediately and asked me a few questions. I remember jumbled phrases: I thought her leg was hurt, It was just a few days, Took her to her regular vet, He thought it was a spinal injury, She just doesn't seem right, I've never seen her this lethargic, She's drooling so much and never drools. The tall, blonde haired vet student was very kind with me and asked if she could take Penny back to triage for an examination. All I could do was nod and try to hold back the tears.
The rest of the day at the vet hospital happened very quickly. The emergency vet team called me into an exam room (no Penny in sight) and said they suspected a problem in Penny's brain. They said it was likely one of two things: 1. a brain tumor or 2. encephalitis. I was completely shocked but tried to pay attention to what they were telling me. (Hurt leg, spine problem, now a maybe fatal brain tumor?!).
Penny's case was transferred to the neurologist who met with me in the same room (again without Penny in sight). They asked for immediate consent to do a spinal tap and MRI (and quoted a cost of about $2000). They said it was important to do it right away to figure out if they could save Penny. I signed the form right away.
I went home, tried to eat something and sleep a bit, and then was called back to the vet hospital for her diagnosis: Immune-mediated encephalitis (this was the preffered diagnosis over the brain tumor as that would not have been treatable). Penny's immune system, for no known reason, started attacking her brain. They told me they would start treatment right away (high dose steroids) but warned me that some dogs don't respond to treatment and to prepare for the fact that she might not make it. I drove home that night without Penny and felt a huge tightness in my chest worried about my poor pup.
3/19:
Penny stayed the night in the ICU and I was surprised to get a call the next morning from the neurologist telling me that Penny was looking good and could come home.
Now for the part I wasn't expecting: Penny was completely blind in her left eye, had mild paralysis on her right side, had focal seizures overnight, and was "circling" to the right based on where the lesions were in her brain. I had no idea she had gotten that bad. I thank God that I didn't just give her pain meds and take her home as suggested by the first vet. She had a large, furless spot on the back of her head from where they'd done the spinal tap. They also showed me the MRI of her brain where they pointed out spots that had brain lesions and swelling.
I was told she would need high dose steroids, anti-convulsants for her seizures, and antacids to protect her stomach from the medications. With thankful and fearful tears in my eyes, I snuggled her hard that night and kissed her on her bald head, where she'd had her spinal tap just the day before. And where just beneath, her immune system was attacking her healthy brain tissue.
3/20:
Penny's symptoms were improving but she was still "circling" to the right and could not walk in a straight line. Still no vision in her left eye.
3/23:
I think that Penny is having another seizure and rush her to the vet hospital. I'm told it's a form of myoclonus (muscle twitching-video below) which she could have permanently because of her neurological damage. The vet suggests doing chemotherapy since Penny is already there. Penny didn't have cancer but the chemo would work to suppress her immune system to keep it from attacking her brain.
3/24-4/14:
Dealing with side effects of steroids is the most challenging part of Penny's journey. Her neuro symptoms are gone (still no vision in her left eye) but she's constantly hungry, thirsty, agitated, and having accidents in the house from all the water she drinks.
I'm happy her neuro signs are better and am just trying to manage her 3 times daily medications and her new "normal." (Thankful I'm in nursing school with all of the med management I've needed to do!). Picture below is her saying, "Hey! I know you fed me 3 minutes ago, but can a girl get seconds, puh-lease?!"
4/15:
I take Penny in for her 2nd round of chemo (every 3 weeks until the neurologist thinks she is in remission) for which I usually drop her off in the morning and pick her up in the evening. But I got a call from a vet tech around noon. "We found a lump." My throat tightened up. They found a small lump on her back leg and wanted to biopsy it, I consented. They called me back and confirmed it: it was a mast cell tumor . "Cancer?" It's a form of cancer that can be benign or malignant. The neurologist recommended immediate removal and referred me to Soft Tissue surgery. I picked up Penny from her chemo treatment and came home with an unexpected traveller: a diagnosis of a mast cell tumor. I get her home and force snuggles upon her to help my heart from breaking yet again. Penny doesn't seem to know or care much about the news, she just wants to wiggle out of my grasp and eat her 7th meal of the day (and some peanut butter, of course).
4/20:
Penny is deemed as an eligible candidate for surgery and I'm told the surgeon will need to remove 1 inch in all directions of the tumor to get "good margins" to insure the best prognosis. They want to keep her in the ICU during her stay because of her neurological issues and history of seizures.
4/21:
I sit on pins and needles until I get the call: Penny made it through surgery and is recovering well. No seizures noted as she recovers from anesthesia and her neurological symptoms are under control. I let out a huge breath of relief and was told I could pick her up in about 24 hours as they wanted to monitor her in the ICU until then.
4/22:
I'm finally able to pick Penny up. I'm alarmed at how big her incision is but I try to remember how happy I am that she's safe and made it through her surgery. They tell me we won't know anything about the severity of the tumor or if they got "clean margins" for 5-7 days (the time it takes pathology to analyze Penny's tissue). I give her a big hug and try to kiss her even though she's got a big blue and pink cone around her cute little head. Even with brain disease and a recent surgery, she wants to make best friends with everyone (and every dog) in the lobby!
(Tomorrow 4/23):
Penny's 3rd birthday! I never thought we'd be here at such a young age. Neurological disease, blind in one eye, seizures, tumor surgery, and now potentially cancer. I am so blessed for each day I get to spend with Penny. She lights up every room that she wiggles into and still passes as a puppy at her petite 15 pound size (pushing 18 pounds since starting steroids that make her ravenous. Might need to lay off the peanut butter snacks!). She's such an angel and I want to do everything I can for her and that's where I humbly ask for your help.
First, if you're a pet owner, read these signs that your furbaby could be having neurological issues . I wish I knew what to look for as I keep blaming myself for not catching her neuro issue sooner (even though a vet missed it!). If this helps even one other dog get help before it's too late, Penny and I would be thrilled!
Second, if you have the ability, I would be forever grateful for any dollars you could spare for Penny's vet bills. We're totaling around $4,000 dollars right now with no sure amount of her cost of care going forward. Each time she goes for chemo (every 3 weeks) is about $300. Her tumor removal surgery was $800 and she might need additional tumors removed in the future. I have run through most of my savings and unfortunately I'm a full time student so I don't have any source of income to pay for much more vet care for Penny. I've paid what I can but now Penny needs your help.
We're hoping to raise $2,000 to cover the cost of Penny's most recent mast cell tumor removal, MRI, chemo treatments for her brain disease, medication costs, and vet exam fees. Any amount helps! Any donations that go above Penny's cost of care will be donated to the French Bulldog Rescue Network .
She'd be forever grateful for any donations or prayers for recovery and health.
Love and wet kisses,
Penny (and her servant and peanut butter snack-giver,
Natalie).
Give $50 to help get this fundraiser to its goal
Organizer
Natalie Hamel
Organizer
Columbus, OH
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