Me and My Big Mouth

You couldn't plan for it... I make a post on here and then within an hour off I go into a seizure on my new bed. Dad had to come and mop up which was pretty easy with the new bed. Then he prepared the living room so if I went into one at night I wouldn't go crashing into stuff.

Just typical.

Walking my Legs Off

Well things are going well since the last round of seizures. I guess we're waiting on the next cluster as it's over due. But let's not worry about that until it happens. A bit of a medication increase in the KBr to 5 x 325mg tablets twice a day and still with 180mg Epiphen twice a day - that's 8 tablets! Then dad's also got me on 1500mg of Glucosamine HCL too - and that tablet is huge.

Now that Blaine's found a girlfriend who also has dogs in their family he's always taking me out for a walk with them. Sometimes I can be gone all day when he's away from college. I then have to sleep off all the fresh air as soon as I get home. In fact sometimes it's taken a couple of days for me to recover. But I can't complain I getting out an having fun with other dogs.

Since getting the new bed I'm now able to stay on it without sliding off. I still use all my other places for naps around the house, but the bed is still for my main snooze.

Seriously... WTF?

Well we're not having a good few weeks :( After the last horrible cluster we thought we'd get some time to recover. Seizure monster has other plans though. For the past week or so I've been having chompies - they've returned! Haven't seen them for a while and now I get them about every 4 hours. Afterwards I am a bit disorientated and have done some daft things like run under dads desk and the ironing board and kitchen table.

We were also running low on KBr so dad called the local vet as the one near home had treated me last. No way could he get through. So he called the vet near his work and they were under the impression we'd moved vets. What they didn't understand was that when dad's at work it's easier for me to go to the vet with him there, but the last big cluster happened at home so a closer vet made sense.

With that finally resolved they then had to get my notes from the local vet and they had as much difficulty getting in touch as dad did. They called dad on Friday and explained a few things that gave him more reason to question the way vets practice.

Turns out that the local vet who we paid for blood tests did a standard blood test for trying to find a physiological reason for the seizures. Not a test for Pheno or KBr levels in the blood. Huh? So the vet said this didn't make sense, we did that several years ago and it's in the notes that they sent to the local vets.

By now you may realise dad makes vets earn their money - we have to as we're not wealthy. We do research and ask questions - so when dad specifically asked the local vet for the results of the Pheno and KBr serum levels and they said they were well within the tolerance range to be able to increase the dosage, they weren't referring to the results of the blood test they had just taken, but to a previous one that was in my notes from the vet near work.

Well that's just not on. We just spent £80 on a blood test that told us nothing and the vet didn't use to base an accurate opinion on. Suffice it to say we won't be going back.

But onto lighter things. Dad bought me a new mattress to keep me off the cold floor and give me some comfort. He bought a waterproof one from Tuffies so it could even be hosed down following a messy seizure. But the trouble is that it's a bit big - it won't fit in my oval bed and it's a bit slippy. After I've been on it a while mum and dad will find me on the floor with my paws on it after I've slipped off it. So dad went and got creative. Bought some wood and made a frame to help me stay on it. It's a bit "industrial" but it'll do the job.

Bouncing Back

After a terrible weekend it looks like we're through the worst of it. I'm still a bit hyper and my toilet training hasn't fully returned - a mop and bucket always on stand by. But the usual signs of getting it together showing themselves. The biggest tell of them all is going upstairs, which I did at 5:30am this morning, after I'd woken dad up with a bark to let me out to the toilet. I followed him up about five minutes later.

Start the New Year with a Biggie

Well the first cluster of the new year turns out to be big and nasty. Started on Thursday with a few seizures, then into early Friday morning with a couple more overnight.

Again there's something different going on. After the thrashing and weeing and dribbling I'm still in the seizure but now my teeth are chattering like I'm cold. I'm all stary and the muscles on my head are pulsing like I'm chomping without opening my mouth. I'm sure if Dad had let me up I'd go off all pacing around, but he makes me sit and lie down until it's over and I calm down enough to pretty much sleep it off.

But on Friday we got big seizures about every hour and they were usually triggered by some event like the kids or mum coming in and I'd stare at them and go into seizure. Early Saturday morning I must have had one in the night as the kitchen was covered in wee, poo and water from my bowl. A lot of tidying up needed. But on Saturday they seemed to have stopped, but left me with quite some issues.

I couldn't stand up easily and when I did it was like I either didn't know how to walk or it was like trying to walk on a ship in a big storm. Legs all star-fished out and trying hard to keep my balance. So most of the day dad left me lying down in the front room. Every so often he'd make me stand and go to the toilet in the garden, which wasn't easy with the ground all moving about.

Sunday things are definitely better. I can stand and walk around much better, but it's like everything is new and strange to me. Dad took me down the park for a bit of a walk. I spent the time sniffing the grass like I'd not seen it before or standing just catching the wind in my face. We didn't walk far, just enough to get some air and get my legs moving.

I'm still far from being myself, but I'm sure I'll get there over the next week or so.

Been a Long Time Coming

Just over a week ago I surprised everyone by having a seizure. Well that in itself isn't a surprise. The unusual thing was that it was a one off. So we were puzzled and waited for the rest of the cluster to catch up as it always does.

A week went by and nothing! Dad even went away to a concert (Excellent Concert - Stone Sour at O2 Academy Brixton) which is usually a sign that he's off work and it's time for the cluster to come out.

Well today it's caught up with me. Mum was off work today and spent the day cleaning. So that's the cue for slobber and pee everywhere and the seizure monster gets released. I guess at least it's before Christmas so we might stand a chance of it all being done with long before the holiday.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Big Walkies.

Nothing really big going on at all. Haven't posted on here in a while, which again is a good sign. No seizures to report - so life is good.

Dad took me out today and I thought we were off to the woods. But instead we stayed local and went for a walk around the canal. I think it was a bit too far though as on the way back I was walking at a snails pace. Now, since I've been home I've done little else but sleep - oh, apart from eating dinner that is.

Back to the Vet

After the vet phoned dad with the results of the blood test - no big surprises, the KBr and Epiphen levels are well within the therapeutic range. The vet also said she was reluctant to increase my dosage on either drug as I'm taking a relatively high dose already. The risk is we then start getting negative side affects that outweigh the required effects of the drugs anyhow.

So the outcome was another blood test. This time a more general set of test to investigate liver and kidney function. Just to be sure that they are metabolising the drugs properly to make sure that even though the drugs are in my blood that my body is making proper use of them. As the vet is otherwise at a loss as to why the drugs aren't as effective in seizure control as she thinks they should be.

So we got there in plenty of time even though dad left late. When we saw the vet it was the same routine. They took me away from dad and off into a back room to take the blood. They had some trouble getting enough as they wanted quite a bit for these tests. So they took some from my neck too. So I have a nice bandage on my leg for an hour and a shaved part on my neck.

I'm sure dad wonders why they take me out the back to take blood, maybe he thinks they're vampires?

Edit: Here's what they shaved on my neck!

At the Vet

Blood test day!

We got there in plenty of time and sat in the waiting room, which was pretty empty. Dad weighed me (50.4kgs) and the chart on the wall said "Is your dog the correct weight?". Looked up R for Rotweiller and is has Male 50kgs, Female 38.5kgs... hmm, do I look fat? No way am I 10kgs+ over weight.

Whilst at the vet I lay on the floor waiting, behaving as good as I always do. A young lad of about 8 years old showed  an interest in me and dad said he could come say hello and that I was friendly (if his mum was OK with that). He came over and gave me a great big fuss. I lay my head in his lap and rolled onto my back whilst he stroked me. Who's the big bad scary Rottweiler then?

I think the vet must have a special note in dad's file, like "Smart Arse", or something. They were really nice and made doubly sure they explained everything - it's only a blood test! The vet bill is itemised to death too. I suspect because he complained about never getting the results.

Here's the items on the bill, each with individual prices, have they been reading my blog?

1. Battlab Bromide
2. Phlebotomy Procedure
3. Courier Collection
4. Lab Consumables
5. Interpretation and reporting
6. Battlab Phenobarbitone Levels
7. Courier Collection
8. Interpretation and Reporting
9. We will 'phone' you with the test results

So does that look like a sarcastic invoice or is it just me? lol. Not that we're bothered how it is meant, we're only interested in the results and how they are interpreted. For all that it came in as expected to the best part of £85 (£28 worth of interpretation, the rest in lab fees etc.)

But remember dad's a smart arse? Well the thing is he remembered when we got home that although they have the blood and they are going to interpret and report - they didn't ask when my last dosage was, so how are they going to know how to interpret the results without that important bit on information? It wasn't done deliberately as some kind of trial, dad just didn't think about it until tonight. I guess we need to call them and give them that info.

It's Monday!

Yes it's Monday, so what's all the fuss?

Well if I were to say I was writing this from upstairs... could that be a clue? Well upstairs until today has been a scary off limits place since the seizures. Going upstairs on my own is a sign that things are pretty much back to normal!

Dad got in from work and made a fuss of me. Then went upstairs to change. When he was up there I simply followed him up on my own with no encouragement.


Acting the fool today, so I must be about there.