Been a long time

Wow, been ages since I came and updated this.

Mainly because there's been so little to say. Things have been going as they always have. Seizures still kicking around at about once a month. But that's nothing new. That said I turned 11 years old yesterday, happy birthday to me. The seizures really are nasty horrible things, but so far I've the strength to handle them. Takes some getting over as I get older, I have to sleep it off a bit more.

Late last year dad weaned me off the KBr completely. It's been no change at all for the seizures in terms of frequency or impact. So I guess it did little for me and only drained dad's wallet faster. After telling the vet that's what we'd done he was surprised, but couldn't argue with the fact that they obviously did nothing for me.

The vet still wanted to do blood tests. They do this every visit. I'm convinced it's just a way of topping up their revenue as the results are never meaningful. Dad explained that I'm an old girl now and it's a bit too late to be worried about any impact the epiphen may be having on my liver and there seemed less of a point to checking that the levels of the drug where still at a medicinal value in my blood.

Nothing's changed. No more regular, less regular, bigger or lesser impact - they're just seizures. We just deal with it these days.

Ahh well time for another trip to the vet

Nothing bad, just the regular medication review so we can buy another prescription and get sold some more blood tests.

This weekend I had another cluster. First time for a while really. The seizures were unpredictable as ever. Most of them were the jump up and run blindly into walls type. These are the worst as getting mum or dad to catch me before I clatter into things is almost impossible. I flooded the living room by knocking over a full mop bucket that was stood by for the seizures.

Dad had to work from home as I started having seizures through Monday and into Tuesday night. So on Tuesday night I was so hyper I was up and down stairs constantly. Then pacing around the bedroom until Dad finally gave in and took me downstairs and stayed with me. All I wanted was him to be there so I could sleep. I don't think he slept too well on the sofa as he then took the day off to catch up with some sleep.

As we'd run out of tablets dad had arranged a visit to the vet on Tuesday anyhow. So I got a bath before we went and then he had to help me into the new car. So much for it being a bigger car. The rear floor is higher off the ground and that means the roofspace is also a bit lower. Dad has to help me in because it's higher.

The vet played their usual game. Wanting us to have blood tests for kidney performance, but more importantly KBr and epiphen levels. We know this is just a money making scheme for them as quite often we never get any results. Or when we do everything is at the right levels and as high as they can be. So I can't have any more medication even if  they wanted me to. The tests are pointless.

So dad played the game too. Oh, dear we ran out of tablets and I never had any this morning. So the vet can't do a blood test if I've missed my tablets (which I hadn't).

I also continue to be on half the dosage that the vet prescribes. I've been on the half dosage for 6 months now and there is no difference in the regularity or length of the seizures. All that's happened is I'm a bit more steady on my feet. The most important difference is we now don't pay the vet so often for prescriptions and consultations as the tablets last twice as long - I'm sure they'll cotton on at some point.

But by way of demonstration we ordered 1 week of tablets from the vet to cover me until the online ones get shipped. Here's how the prices worked out:

Price per tablet
30mg Epiphen - vet price = £0.50, online price = £0.10
60mg Epiphen - vet price = £0.53, online price = £0.14
325mg KBr - vet price £0.66, online price = £0.31

So for the price of ONE weeks medication from the vet I could by two and half weeks worth online. In just one week we save £35.62 over vet prices.

Battling Back Up the Hill

Well dad's having to admit to making quite a big mistake, and one that's cost us rather a lot of anguish.

Back in November a few things conspired to make life a bit difficult. With Christmas coming up dad's car decided to self destruct. This would be the second replacement engine this year. So there was the cost of that and having to use alternate transport for work.

Dad's boss decided to be a dick and decided that he shouldn't bring me in to work anymore. That wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't used the excuse that his boss didn't approve and it was under his instruction that I shouldn't go to work anymore. So having asked directly in front of a number of he said that he hadn't suggested any such thing and it was fine to take me to work. So we all know what a two faced lying git dad's boss is now then.

Not being able to take the dog to work, not having a big enough car to take me in, and not really having the funds it resulted in me taking a break from my medication. We knew this wasn't going to be too smart so we at least did it gradually, until the pills ran out.

The effect wasn't that dramatic at first. Seizures were just the same as they always were and about as regular. That was up until late January. Then things got worse. The seizures were more frequent and I spent more time recovering from them that life really wasn't worth living.

We finally organised a visit to the vet local to home and planned on getting a prescription sorted as soon as possible. Just before getting in the car to go to the vets off I went into another seizure. When I got there I was all panty and out of breath.

The vet was very helpful and didn't over complicate matters, simply gave me the once over and sorted out the prescription I was on previously. We also got a weeks supply of tablets there and then, so we could start straight away and wait for the larger delivery later in the week.

I guess now we know the drugs and quantity that I was on where doing something and were pretty high doses. Day one dad gave me some Diazepam to immediately suspend the seizures. We expected that to make me dopey. But over the next 3 days the Epiphen and KBr just about knocked me out. I couldn't stand and even ate my dinner lying down with my head in the bowl. I spent most of the time sleeping.

After the initial 3 days I began to get a bit more active. I'd try to stand but was very clumsy walking into walls, doors and furniture. The picture is of me giving up on getting into bed. I'd climbed half in and just decided to stay there.

7 Days later and I'm much better. It's hard work standing up, but once I'm up I can get around. So dad's been taking me out for walks first up and down the driveway and then out to the park to get me moving my legs some more.

Things are going well. I'm getting better every day.

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.

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!

You Know What Comes Next...

I would say it's obvious really, as it's been a while and posting something is bound to be the kiss of death. But so far so good. It's been a while since the last episode, but we're expecting a visit anytime soon.

We were thinking "Today's the day" a couple of times this week. I haven't had a full seizure, but I've had a couple of new small episodes of "falling". By that I mean episodes that resemble the moment when you're asleep and for no reason you suddenly jump awake trying to grab onto something as if you're falling. Well there's been a few times when I've startled dad with similar sort of actions.

After some "falling" I've been a little off. Not quite right and one day just seemed to forget about how to go down stairs! It was like I just thought you walked straight out over them, not focussing on the fact they go down as well as forwards, yikes! I ended up in a heap at the bottom after sliding down quite a few of the steps. So mum and dad are extra vigilant when I'm not looking quite right.

Unfortunatley it's not as easy as stopping me going upstairs. I'm pretty strong willed and when I want to go upstairs I will. Mum's even put stuff on the bottom of the stairs in my way to stop me going up, but that proved just as dangerous as just letting me go up anyway.

One good thing though. We went to the vets for a blood test, to update the prescription... again. Thankfully the results show the epiphen and KBr are within the range required. Money's real tight at the minute, so adding more tablets is always hard. September saw a £60 vet bill for the blood test, £253 for the drugs (epiphen and KBr for 3 months) and another £30 for Glucosamine and Milk Thistle (for a year thankfully).

My diet's taking too long. I got weighed whilst at the vets. It came in at 56kg, so mum and dad have cut my food down quite a bit. From the 2 meals a day I'd get out of 1200g of food they've now made that equal to 3 meals, so I'm down to 800g per day. Now I don't get chance to eat half my breakfast and save the rest for later in the day whilst they're out at work. Now I eat my breakfast and dinner in one go and eagerly want more. Totally different when a few years ago I didn't want food at all.

Empty Wallet... Again

Things have been going pretty good this month. So far the daily Tabasco's have stopped and I've been back to being myself.

Following the messing about at the vets we finally got the blood test results and they showed the KBr levels were actually below what they should be. Not that I fully understand what it means but it came back as a 6 but the range it should be in is between 8 and 20. So that means upping the KBr. Instead of 3 x 325mg tablets twice a day it now increases to 4 x 325mg twice a day.

Now to many this might not sound a big change. But when you consider that each KBr tablet averages £0.25 each. I say average because we have to buy 720 tablets for 3 months - this is made up of 1 x 500, 2 x 100 and 20 individual tablets. The 500 pack is obviously cheaper per pill that the 100 pack, which again is cheaper than the individual ones.

So £0.25 per pill adds £0.50 per day, £3.50 per week and £14 per month. Even though we use the cheapest on-line pharmacy we could find this month sees a bill of £252 for the pills (including Epiphen) for the next 3 months.

Why is Everything Always So Last Minute?

After going to the vets at the only time they had available on Wednesday, we thought it was a bit tight for the tablet deadline. Ideally we wanted in on Monday, but Wednesday was what we got.

That meant getting the on-line order placed on Wednesday, hoping they shipped on Wednesday (but realising that the appointment was at 14:40 meant catching the post would be lucky). That would mean that by choosing next day delivery we'd get them Thursday - but should we miss the post it would be Friday for sure... right? Well we even managed to get the address set for dads work place so there would be no problem with someone needing to be home to sign for the delivery or if there was a problem getting them through the letterbox.

Well nothing ever goes that smoothly and to plan. Turns out that the tablets were shipped on Wednesday (Hooray!), but only as regular first class post - not next day as required (Booh!). So they didn't show up on Thursday. And on Friday at 14:00 they still hadn't arrived :( That means we'd run out of KBr over the weekend!

Now that may not sound like a big deal. But we're now at the longest period without a seizure to date! Running out of drugs then having a seizure would just be typical. Then we'd be all frustrated and angry about it being the lack of drugs to blame.

So dad calls the vet and arranges to get a weekends worth of KBr to see us through until Monday and a little more "just in case". So 21 tablets from the vet, just got to go pick them up and pay. At least there's some good news, there's no prescription charge as they are supplying the drugs. Bit of a swizz if you ask me. But it's been a while since we bought vet drugs, but it's an emergency so we'll just do it.

21 x 325mg Potassium Bromide tablets comes to £6.56 which works out at about 31p per tablet. I need 6 of these a day, 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening. Now compare this to the price we pay on-line for exactly the same drug. 15p per tablet! Less than half price.

You can easily see why we must buy drugs on-line and not from the vet. For 3 months worth of KBr and Epiphen we just paid around £150, which works out at £50 per month. Now if we were to buy this from the vet this would double to £100 per month. An absolute scandal. There is no possible way that a vet can justify these kind of mark ups in price for drugs when they are charging and making money for their services.

Back to the Regular Vet Visits

Dad took me into work again today. It was the first time in ages since I've been there. At first I wondered where we were going as it's unusual to get up so early and leave the house without breakfast!

Once we got to work dad gave me my breakfast. Just as usual these days I polished the lot of in one go. Mum and dad reckon I've turned into a normal dog now. Since the last set of seizures I now eat anything and everything. I'm always on the scrounge and have also been bad in going in the kitchen bin for scraps. Up until the last seizures, even when offered something, I'd let it fall to the floor to give it a sniff before deciding if I want to eat it or not. Now I don't seem to be so fussy. If it's being offered or left lying around, I'm eating it!

We saw the vet in the afternoon. Dad walked me down there which is always fun. Dad 'fessed up about weaning me off the drugs and me having a big seizure. The vet wasn't too harsh, but dad said in future we'll stick to the drugs and talk to him first next time.

It's still not a fun day for dad's wallet. £91 for blood test and £150 for 3 months worth of drugs. Still at least by buying them on-line we're still paying effectively half what the vet wants to charge for their drugs!!!

Taking blood was as easy as ever. The usual shaved off patch and I was so good I almost offered him my paw to let him do it. Even with the needle in there's no reaction and I sit there all good  and looking like butter wouldn't melt in my mouth. We'll find out early next week if I'm on the right dosage of Epiphen and KBr.

As good as I am, whilst dad's writing this I'm going in the kitchen bin for scraps!

A Much Better Week

Over the last week things have gotten much better. With the seizures stopped I'm gradually getting back to my old self. Every day that goes by I get a little better.

The seizures have definitely caused some brain damage, more memory loss than anything else. Dad's having to retrain me so I can at least get back to the basics of Sit and Down. I've been doing pretty good though.

The worst affect seems to be my coordination. I've always been clumsy, but now I seem to misjudge distance and will walk into the corner of the table or edge of a doorway. I've lost count of the number of cups I've knocked over or broken. This may be due to the reintroduction of the drugs.

Dad's put me back on the Epiphen and KBr. At least if they don't have any affect on prevention, maybe they'll at least minimise the duration and effects of the seizures. We're willing to try anything after this last really scary bout.

On Tuesday when dad got in from work I was in a right state. I'd poohed on the floor and walked in it. Then lay down in it. I was all matted with dry slobber from from the weekends seizures and so was really smelly. Normally that would mean a trip outdoors and a hosing down with the garden hose and a good shampooing. But dad felt sorry for me and decided to put me in their bath and give me a warm shower.

Well that meant going upstairs, and I don't do that yet. They're still too scary. So dad picked me up and carried me upstairs - I'm a big girl, so I'm surprised I didn't put his back out! He put me in the bath and turned on the shower and I just lay there and let him wash me.

When we've been out for walks dad's taken me on the extending lead so he can keep in touch. But yesterday he let me off on my own as I'd been so good. In fact even when on the extending lead I wont go further than the normal lead, so dad figured I needed some freedom.

It was good to be off the lead as then I could go sniff and play everywhere. I even had a go at chasing my own shadow, but it kept teasing me by always running a bit faster than me and staying out of reach.

So things are getting better, but just one day at a time.

A Drug Free Life

Over the past few months dad's decided that we're going to come off the Epiphen and Potassium Bromide. We've gradually weaned it down to zero and for the last few months I've been drug free.

Why? Well the drugs obviously weren't doing anything they were supposed to at the dosages I was taking them. The seizures still occurred with the same frequency, duration and intensity with them. So by taking the medication I was no better off and without it I certainly don't seem any worse off.

If anything it means the effects on my liver caused by Epiphen won't exist.

It's an awkward decision and not one I'd advise anyone else to take. Just personal choice. In case you're wondering, no I have not become a Scientologist - I may be a  crazy, but I'm not THAT crazy!

We could have consulted the vet, but to be honest the expected answer would have been to stay on the profitable medication. So for now I'm living without the daily tablets and just getting on with living with seizures.

A Full and Exciting Weekend

This weekend's been great. Well, more from last Wednesday onwards really.

Dad took me in to work again on Wednesday so I could remind him to call the vets about my blood test results. The vet said that unless I have any more seizures they don't need to see me as the results show that the KBr (Potassium Bromide) levels are within the therapeutic range. They are on the low end of the scale, so we can increase the dosage as required. Which I'm not at all sure about. The fact is that the seizures have occurred every three-four weeks and the drugs don't seem to be doing anything.

On Friday dad finished work early and was home just after lunchtime, not mine - his... I don't get lunch. We then went on a great long walk for about two hours all around the canal. I got a bit bored and just plodded along behind dad for much of the way. It's just too much like exercise and not enough trees to hunt squirrels in.

Saturday was different as dad took me to Doggy Disney and I made up for squirrel hunting by running off and chasing as many as I could, real or imaginary!

When I got home mum and dad fired up the barbecue and cooked me lots of nice lamb and chicken. I let them have the left overs as I was too full to manage all of it.

One thing I neglected to put into my blog last week was Dave and Grandma, Ian and Anita came over for a barbecue on Sunday. One of the things that made it especially memorable is Grandma did the driving and Dave got pretty squffy on wine, an as yet unheard of event. The other thing is they are getting married later in July this year. I think that should be just enough time for me to get my outfit and a peticure.

Mum bought me a nice new collar. It's very, very pink and apparently glows in the dark! I wore it to work on Wednesday and one of the guys that works for dad made a comment "How gay is that collar?" Now, I must agree that whilst not exactly a politically correct statement, I can think of no other way to express just how gaudy and... well, pink that it is.

But the highlight of the weekend has been mum and dad taking me out for a walk around the canal again. This time they stopped at a pub for a swift pint, or two. So I got to take a break and lounge for a while.

On the way we met my friend "Horsey" again. I went over to say Hi and catchup with all the horsey goings on. She came right over to the fence and put her head out the gate to give me a big sniff. I tried to get her to chat a while but seems she was just happy to munch the plants whilst I gave her a big kiss. Tastes kinda funny for a dog though.

KBr Bloodtest Day

Today's the day I got to visit the vet again and get a blood test to check the serum level of the KBr (Potassium Bromide) in my system.

11:00 We saw a lady vet that hadn't met me before. She was nice and friendly, but as most are when they first meet me, a little wary of my size. I can't blame her, it must be quite regular they get a nip from those a little more scared than me, and with my jaws and teeth a nip would be a serious offence.

She went to take me off into another room away from dad to take some blood, probably to put me in a restraining cage to do so. Dad just laughed and said it shouldn't be a problem that mostly when I get blood taken he just holds onto me, just in case.

So off she went to get the clippers, vial and syringe (the only word that "does" rhyme with orange). When she came back dad held me and she shaved a patch on my leg. Dad put some pressure on the inside of my elbow and she stuck in the needle and took some blood. Not a whimper, twitch or so much as a reaction what so ever. I could tell dad was impressed.

We'd also had to get some of those pesky things that wind dad up so much... prescriptions. This time we needed three so £12 for the first, then £6 each for the other two. Once we get balanced on the serum levels I'm hoping we can get to the point where we can get a 3 month prescription as this is proving costly each month. Even though we'd phoned them in and ordered the prescription the day before they weren't ready. So dad had to go back after work to collect them.

But... there was some good news. They'd over charged us. Turns out that the Epiphen prescription, whilst there are two of them - one for 60mg tablets and one for 30mg tablets - they consider this one prescription. So now we're £6 in credit with the vet. Can anyone guess just how long that will last?

We'll have to wait until next week for the results of the test.

Whilst in the waiting room there was a cat in a bag! I was trying hard to get it to say hello - I've never been so close to one before. It kind of ignored me as it was very sleepy - I suspect that had something to do with the vet.

I also got weighed and whilst I'm a lady and would never disclose my weight, dad will no doubt tell you I'm now 47kgs, up from 43kgs last time the vet weighed me. I guess the barbecue sent me over. Dad's now put me down to half a tin of food in the morning and evening, from half in the morning and a full one (1200g) at night. He'd like me down to 44-45kgs. Not at all fat, in fact mum and dad like the way I look, but dad would like me a bit leaner to stay healthy.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!

We ran out of Epiphen yesterday as the prescription was delayed in arriving and then was not received properly to allow the pharmacy to ship the drugs on time.

11:00 The outcome was almost guaranteed and today I started having seizures. Luckily the kids were off school and Chris was around when I had the first one. It was the usual full on seizure whilst I was asleep in bed.

15:00 Later in the afternoon Blaine was around to see me have another full seizure whilst in bed again.

I'm so annoyed at myself for letting it come to this. There was a miscount on the tablets and what with changing the dose I didn't leave enough of a buffer between getting the prescription, ordering and delivery.

It was such a frustration arranging with the vet for the prescription, to be told I couldn't collect it the same day. This pushed it to Friday and that meant my order wouldn't be shipped until Monday.

Then to have the pharmacy call to say they hadn't received one of the prescriptions, well that was it. Another day later.

Only myself to blame I guess. I must make sure I don't let this happen next time, as now we're not going to be sure if the additional dosage or the KBr are working.

Another Blood Test

Went to see the doctor again today. After the past 24 hours it seems a coincidence that I already have a blood test scheduled for 11:00.

I went with dad to work today, but what a day it turned out to be. At home there was a little snow, but at work the streets were coated with 2-5 inches of snow. A real rarity from all accounts - unheard of for 126 years - Oh, that's only 18 human years. Because of all the snow and the slippery roads, instead of 45 minutes to get to work it took twice that long.

I had great fun though. Dad took me round the park in the snow and made the most of it, pretending I was a snow plough and scooping it into my mouth.

After playing around we then went to the doctor. We saw a new lady who was very friendly and spoke at length with dad about what had been going on over the past few days and from the beginning.

After dad explained the frequency of the seizures the doctor decided that we need to add Potassium Bromide (KBr) to the medication. The Bromide doesn't have an impact on the liver but is not effective on its own so will be brought in to support the Epiphen. So along with the 2 x 120mg of Epiphen, I'll be taking 2 x 325mg of Potassium Bromide. We'll need to go back for a blood test in another 3-4 weeks to make sure the dosage is right.

The new doctor was a little uncertain of me and called for some backup to restrain me whilst she took some blood from my neck. She didn't have to bother as I sat there good as gold without a flinch or whimper as she drew the blood.

Dad asked her to checkout my ears as they really have been irritating me still. The left one in particular. After taking a look she prescribed some anti-biotics to try to clear up and infection that is in "both" ears - although more noticeable in the left.

So now we also have a bottle of Canaural (25ml) to be administered twice a day. So now we have a regime of mornings, 2 x Epiphen + 2 x Bromide + 1 x Glucosamine + Canaural, dinner time 1 x Previcox + Canaural, then evenings 2 x Epiphen + 2 x Bromide + 1 x Milk Thistle!!! Oh, and continue with the every other day ear cleaning.

Canaural Instruction Sheet