[Gretchielove]

Hi everyone,
Thank you SO much for opening up this message & taking the time to read my post. I would love any & all advice, recommendations. My little 3.5 pound female yorkie is 6 years old & the little love of my life. Her name is Gretchen & she means the absolute world to me. She has been having some health problems over the last year. To make a long, long story very short: she is a little jumper & jumped in between couches last October, missed & fell on her back and immediately went into a seizure like state- completely stiff, eyes fixed. My husband & I rushed her to the ER where she gradually came out of it (after about 5 mins) & it was prounouced a "possible seizure". After that, it took her maybe 4 or 5 days until she acted like her complete normal, energetic self again. All was fine & then in May of this year, she started crying out in pain in the middle of the night & if you tried picking her up she would help out. Also, she developed a left head turn (torticolois) at this time & appeared weak in her extremities. We took her to the ER where she failed her neuro exam & they referred us to a to a neurologist. Gretchen saw the neurologist, she failed the exam (decreased reactions in her extremities. More so on the left side), we did an XR because of concerns of a spinal issue & it was clean. We took her home & again, within a few days she was her complete normal self again. But we took her back to her neurologist again on Wednesday after she suffered what looked like a seizure/collapsing episode last Sunday. She had an MRI & CT completed. Through the diagnostics, they found out that she has Caudal Occipital Malformation Syndrome with secondary spinal cord Syringohydromyelia, an open bregmatic fontanelle & two defects in her skull which is causing inflammation of her cerebellum. The two defects in her skull are basically missing bone fragments which she could have been born with or it could have been a fracture from her fall last October (the latter absolutely breaks my heart to think this could have been prevented) The neurologist thinks surgical intervention is probably the best option but she is getting some other opinions at the moment. She said she would usually use screws for the surgery but is unsure if Gretchen's skull could hold a screw since her skull is so thin. For the COMS she ordinarily would be on steroids to decrease inflammation & pain meds but due to her possible brain injury, steroids are contraindicated. For now, Gretchen is on Gabapentin for pain, twice per day. So basically, nothing is being corrected at the moment & we would need to pursue surgery. We would spend any amount on our baby- we have spent about 5 thousand in the last year to get to this diagnosis & the estimate for surgery was another 4-6k as per our vet. Not to mention, every time she goes under I am terrified of possibly losing her. It’s a lot to take in. It’s been a very tough few days. I was wondering if anyone is familiar with COMS with Syringohydromyelia? & even more so, any skull issues with their babies? I am just devastated by the news. I am thinking of possibly asking another neurologist for a second opinion at a different office but I would hate to upset my current neurologist. Any advice on ways to go about doing this? Thanks so much for your time.

Mandy