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09-21-2006, 01:07 PM | #31 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seal Beach
Posts: 5
| Gme I am new today to this forum! My beloved three year old yorkie "Speakers" was diagnosed with GME in January. I am trying to find if anyone has knowledge of the progression of this disease and what the "end" might look like, ie. seizures, vomiting, not eating, lethargy or what?? Please help I am beside myself with grief over what has happened to him. His story and what he has been through would horrify you all. Thank you so much. Sharyn |
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09-21-2006, 01:14 PM | #32 |
YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas
Posts: 3,065
| Sharyn, Sorry to hear about your baby. Have the vets said if it was the generalized, localized or ocular form? From the web: Granulometous meningoencephalomyelitis (GME) comes in three forms: localized, generalized and ocular. Localized GME refers to the fact that a discrete area of the brain is affected. It can cause problems in a single activity or more generalized problems, depending on the exact area of the brain involved. Generalized GME means that there is wide involvement of the brain tissue (diffuse damage). There are usually signs of several neurologic problems occurring at one time with this form of the disease. Ocular GME affects the eyes, causes blindness and may or may not progress to one of the other forms. Localized and ocular GME have a better prognosis than generalized GME. Dogs with local or ocular GME may live for years. Localized GME is often responsive to corticosteroids for very long times, as well, so the dog may have a good quality of life in addition to a longer life. Ocular GME doesn't seem to respond well to treatment based on limited experience with it -- but most dogs adjust to visual impairment pretty well so this may not be an important issue. Unfortunately, generalized GME has a poor prognosis. The symptoms will sometimes resolve, or nearly resolve, pretty rapidly with therapy but it is necessary to continue using immunosuppressive medications, usually corticosteroids, life long. In most cases, the disease will become unresponsive to medications within a few weeks to several months and most pet owners opt for euthanasia when the signs become progressive and stop responding to therapy. When paralysis is present the most likely areas of the brain to be affected are the brain stem, but the cervical spinal cord can also sometimes be involved in the disease process. If the brain stem is involved, some dogs will be severely depressed or can even become comatose, if the response to therapy isn't good. The differential diagnosis list for GME is pretty short. It can be confused with other forms of encephalitis (infectious, toxic) and with cancers affecting the brain. Hepatic encephalopathy can look a lot like GME but usually there are obvious signs of liver disease which make it possible to distinguish that toxic effects of liver disease are causing the neurologic signs. There is no sure way to diagnose GME other than biopsy samples of the brain, which isn't a common procedure in veterinary medicine. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis can be helpful in ruling out other problems and hinting at GME. Computerized tomography (CT) scans or MRI scans can help rule out cancer and can help in identifying focal (local) areas of brain involvement. Both local and generalized GME usually have to be treated continuously and treatment can not generally be withdrawn without a recurrence of symptoms. Generalized GME is almost always fatal. In most cases the prognosis for generalized GME is poor, but I have gotten at least one letter complaining that I was too pessimistic in my opinion of GME, based on a case in which one person's dog had been living with the disease well controlled for over a year. It is usually necessary to use high doses of prednisone or other corticosteroids to get the symptoms to resolve but it is sometimes possible to use lower dosages for maintenance. An effort should be made to see if a lower dose will control the signs once they are well under control. Radiation therapy has been reported to help in a limited number of cases of GME. I hope that this information is useful to you. I understand that sometimes people subscribe when they really want to hear better news than this. We will refund the subscription price under these circumstances if a request to do so is made. Mike Richards, DVM |
09-21-2006, 01:31 PM | #33 |
YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas
Posts: 3,065
| I was looking through some holistic treatments for GME and I found this: 1/2 cup Organic cottage cheese (low fat)(or yogurt) 2 Tbsp. of flaxseeed oil- 1 1/2 Tbsp. of freshly ground up flaxseed (coffee grinder works fine) enough water to make it soft Give a heaping teaspoon twice a day. Can be mixed with food. To be eaten daily. Flaxseed is an anti-inflammatory so that is why it probably helps. It is also said to have anti-cancer properties. |
09-21-2006, 01:33 PM | #34 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seal Beach
Posts: 5
| Gme Hi, Initially it was diagnosed as localized and after his seond chemo dose, his MRI showed great improvement in the lesions in his brain. Unfortunately, it was in giving him the third (and wrong dosage) that started a series of events that led him to (supposedly) needing a liver biopsy to determine why his liver enzymes and bile acids were so high. Mind you, he survived the dosage of chemo (mean't for a dog the size of a german shepherd) not eating for two weeks and tetering on the edge of death. The horrendous mistake led to extremely low white and red blood cell counts. I gave him daily injections of epogen and neupogen to increase those counts and that along with many visits to a holistic vet for nutritional, herbal and homeopathic support really turned him around and he was almost back to his old self. He continued to have weekly blood tests to monitor his values and it was during one of those results the end of June, that indicated that his liver was in trouble!! As I mentioned the biopsy didn't go well and he bled internally and had to be revived, transfused and put in an oxygen cage to recover. Since that time, he has deteriorated to the point where he lost alot of weight, the use of his hind legs and now this week, his front legs have grown weaker and he has been spitting saliva off and on, not eating or drinking off and on and generally looking "sick." This is a nightmare! |
09-21-2006, 01:38 PM | #35 |
YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: El Paso, Texas
Posts: 3,065
| I am so sorry for what you both have been through. On the blue line - click the word Search and put in GME - it looks like we have had a couple of members with this diagnosis. |
09-21-2006, 01:45 PM | #36 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seal Beach
Posts: 5
| Gme Thank you for the support. Before I joined today, I spent hours on the site reading and wasn't able to find out exactly what happened toward the "end." I will check some more. |
09-21-2006, 01:50 PM | #37 |
Yorkie Kisses are the Best! Donating Member | I;m just seeing this thread for the first time and want to say that I really hope little Abbie continues to stay seizure free - what a horrible thing to see for you and you really acted fast - you should be commended on that ! So many people find out after the fact when something could have been prevented - so your fast acting probably saved her life.... I've never witnessed one up close and never want to but just want to wish you ALL the best and was very glad to read it wasn't LS.....that's good news. and Sharyn - I'm so sorry to hear about Speakers having GME - there really is quite a bit on this site to read about it - all the best to you too ...I hope you can find the answers you need and he starts getting better....that's very sad to hear. Edited to add -I just found this - http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...&highlight=GME
__________________ Last edited by red98vett; 09-21-2006 at 01:53 PM. |
09-21-2006, 02:12 PM | #38 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seal Beach
Posts: 5
| Gme Thank you for the kindness. I did actually read that thread! I sure hope and pray that one day someone will find out how to stop this horrific disease if it is caused by poor breeding or whatever. |
09-21-2006, 02:17 PM | #39 |
Little Bit & Buttons Donating Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: US
Posts: 2,160
| Just wondered what the outcome was for Abbie. Its been such a long time. Also prayers for Speakers and Mommy. What a horrible situation to be in. God bless you both. |
09-21-2006, 02:37 PM | #40 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seal Beach
Posts: 5
| Thank you You are all so kind...this is a very special forum. |
09-28-2006, 03:05 AM | #41 |
Donating Yorkie Yakker Join Date: May 2006 Location: Palm Harbor, FL
Posts: 119
| Abbie doing well Hi everyone, just wanted to update you on Abbie since so many of you offered your support when I was in the middle of a crisis I'm happy to say that Abbie is healthy and happy. She is now about 7 months old and has not had another seizure. She has been to the vet several times and continues to get a clean bill of health. She is just as precious and wild as we had hoped. Thanks again everyone |
09-28-2006, 04:59 AM | #42 |
Donating YT 30K Club Member | Thats's wonderful!!
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