Quote:
Originally Posted by Britster  I'm tearing up just reading this. I'm so so sorry. My heart is broken for you.
Was this a fast acting disease? It seems like he just started having issues a few months ago right? What were his initial symptoms?
This isn't fair. I'm sorry there are no other better words. |
It all happened so fast. Aug 1st, we were celebrating his 10th birthday. A week later, he started having trouble walking. He had a checkup, his vets thought it was inflammation, arthritis from his LP, or a slipped disk. They sent us home with meds, and a health certificate clearing him for travel.
Mid August, we were hosting a family reunion on a beach in Mexico. Kaji was there, sunbathing on the beach or by the pool. He never left my side.
By Aug 30th, he had an MRI to determine the cause of the tremors he started having a week after returning from our trip. Soon after, we received the diagnosis of immune mediate encephalitis. His brain was so swollen, the neurologist was surprised he was still able to stand. We immediately started an aggressive course of treatment to try to get a handle on the situation.
Soon after, we had results of a bile acid test. Kaji had liver issues. This limited our ability to pursue many treatments, as his liver was, and had been his entire life, not working properly. It wasn't bad enough to be caught or noticed during his wellness exams, but now that we would pursue heavy treatment, they looked at his liver closely before prescribing meds. His LP didn't make it easier for him to be mobile. In other words, a lot of the ailments that affect yorkies was found right here.
There were a few times that Kaji showed improvement, only to decline in other areas. His encephalitis was persistent, no matter what we tried. He's now a shell of what was my baby. He's lost so much weight, and he is a little limp noodle. He can't even hold his head up. It breaks my heart to see him this way, instead of that happy go lucky guy that would go crazy whenever we drove up to his friends houses. That would hike, or run with his friends, that would sniff the air as he rode shotgun, or snuggle with me as we watched tv. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye tomorrow.