Leo’s MRI

Hi,

On September 11, 2021, Leo had a choking incident (from a beef knee cap). I had to give him the heimlich maneuver, and after he was breathing properly again, he had his first generalized seizure (loss of consciousness, violent muscle contractions, and incontinence).

It was the most traumatizing day of my life, to think that I was going to lose my son in my hands. I felt his body go from being as tense as a rock to completely limp before seeing him go through his first seizure.

I had hoped that this was the end to my worst nightmare..

 

On September 23rd, he had another seizure while I was at work. A ‘first one’ without an incident prior. I got referred to a animal neurologist by Leo’s primary vet.

At the visit, we agreed that if Leo has another event in the next 10-12 days. We would start him on an anti seizure med, which is a life long medication.

…. And it did happen again shortly, on Monday night October 4th at 12AM, I awoke to my brother yelling out of concern for Leo who was going through the most violent generalized seizure of the three. It lasted the longest and took Leo the longest to recover from. I was devastated.

 

Leo was started on Keppra on October 8th. A medicine he takes every 8 hours (3x a day). With Keppra, Leo was COMPLETELY seizure free (from what we know…) for 2 full weeks.

 

On October 28th, my mom took Leo out for a walk and she described to me what might’ve been a partial seizure. He had a blank stare, didn’t move, and hyper salivated.

 

Yesterday November 11th, exactly 2 weeks from the last incident, at around the same time in the afternoon prior to Leo’s next dose of Keppra, he had another possible partial seizure on a walk.

 

Today, November 12th, at 6 AM I awoke to a scream from Leo. He screamed twice. I turned on the lights and put on my glasses, and there he was having a full on generalized seizure.

 

And just now, at 2:22 PM right before his second dose, as I had it ready to give it to him, he had a more intense generalized seizure.

 

I’ve been in contact with Leo’s neurologist. I have scheduled an MRI for Leo for Tuesday, November 16th. The cost of the MRI is double what I had expected…. the estimated cost of the brain MRI is $3,500-4,000. This will be done just to hopefully rule out any progressive brain disease or abnormality that may be causing the seizures even on the medication. I am praying there is nothing more serious going on with Leo that’s causing the seizures and that a change in medication can be the solution to MUCH decreased frequency of seizures. But this might provide some answers or relief … to know if there’s anything potentially going on in his brain. The MRI won’t cure whatever problem Leo may have, but it can serve as a guiding light to what we may be able to do for Leo (IF there is something more serious going on).

 

I, without a doubt, will pull money from my emergency fund to pay for this. I am not asking for donations to cover the entire cost. I already feel guilty and feel like a terrible mom for asking for help. This is just the beginning of Leo’s health journey, and I will for sure start saving up more so I can continue to give Leo the help he needs.

 

And for those who know me or have been following along my life on my

social media, I recently moved out and my expenses are now much higher, and now picked up a second job on top of my full time job to keep up with my finances.

 

Any amount helps, and please only contribute if you have the means to do so.

Take care of yourself first.

 

Lily