PDA 3 month Post Surgery Follow up

Today I got to go to see Dr. Rosenthal http://www.cvcavets.com/doc%20bios%20-%20steven%20rosenthal.html for an Echo-cardi-arf-agram. It was my 3 month checkup from my heart surgery to make sure the ductal occluder is doing it's job. AP put me in the truck and my support team came and climbed into the Tonka Truck to wish me good luck.



My Peeps


Once we got to CVCA http://www.cvcavets.com/  in Annapolis Jamie http://www.cvcavets.com/staff%20bios.html took my blood pressure using my paw and then Dr. Rosenthal came in and listened to my heart and talked to AP for a little while. He said he was really happy with what he heard and then we went in another room for the Echo-cardi-arf-agram. Dr. Hickey http://www.cvcavets.com/doc%20bios%20-%20michael%20hickey.html was also there, he was another Dr. that assisted in my surgery. They lifted me up and put me on a special table for the test. The table has a hole cut out so that the Dr. can take a special wand and run it over my chest to get pictures of my heart and see what it is doing. I had to lay on my side and Jamie and AP leaned over me to keep me still. AP sang me the Tonka Truck song real soft in my ear to make me feel at ease. Dr. Rosenthal put the cold goopy stuff on my chest and moved the wand all around on my chest while flipping buttons and switches to get some good shots of my insides. The first time I had one Dr. Peckens did it and I tried to help. See http://blinddogsrule.blogspot.com/2011/03/be-still-my-beating-heart.html  I tried to help Dr. Rosenthal as well but Jamie and AP caught on too quickly and grabbed my paw.

These are pictures from my first one and all the yellow in the bottom left and right shots meant my heart had a hole and was leaking.



March 2011



These are pictures from right after my surgery and the bottom right shows no more yellow which meant the ductal ocluder was in place and doing it's job.



April 2011



These are pictures from today and the top right shows everything in place and doing well.



July 2011


Dr. Rosenthal told AP that she can cut back on the meds and eventually stop them and to just monitor my heart rate.

Since I was such a good boy I got to go for a long walk with Nala.
After dinner I curled up with a peanut butter kong

ummmm Peanut Butter!

and then fell fast asleep.

A reminder to "seize" the day

AP here:
I share my life with a blind dog. Funny thing is that is never in the forefront of my mind. I don’t ever consciously think of him as the blind dog, and there are plenty of people we have met that loved on him and chit chatted with us and then left not ever knowing he was blind. Our lives and routines just incorporate his lack of sight and we just go on with our days. Then every now and then something happens to remind me.

Tonka’s first seizure occurred on March 11, 2009 when he was just a little guy. Now his seizures are nasty, insidious things that strike out of the blue and then don’t return for long stretches of time - just long enough to make you forget about them. He has had a handful of seizures over the last 3 years, not enough to warrant medication and I usually remark about them medically as a footnote or an afterthought.

Tonight’s was definitely not a footnote or afterthought!

Seizures have 3 components pre-seizure or pre-ictal, ictus or ictal and post ictal. In the pre-ictal you might have some warning that a seizure is about to occur perhaps some odd behavior is present. WE don’t ever have a pre-ictal warning.

The ictus is the seizure event and big ones are ugly and very scary to see. In Tonka’s case he lies rigid on his side and "swims" moving his legs in a swimming motion and arching back and forth violently. He chomps at the mouth and emits a thick slimy, frothy drool that seems to never end. With tonight’s he also lost bladder control and urinated on himself. It happened in the kitchen on the linoleum so it was fairly easy to clean up the floor, not so easy to clean up him. I was asleep when CM yelled for me at midnight that he was having a seizure. She had gotten in late and luckily she was still up. It was over in less than 5 minutes which is good because seizures lasting over 5 minutes are an immediate emergency. Thankfully he just stayed lying in the kitchen while I called the cardiologist on call and the emergency vet. CM cleaned up some and got me some towels and I cleaned off the drool and wiped him down underneath with a washcloth. When he finally got up he wandered down the hall and laid down in a bedroom and CM went off to stay with him. The cardiologist called me back and since he did not seem to be in any further distress told me to just monitor him through the night. I finsihed mopping the kitchen floor and readied myself for a long night.

The post-ictal phase is actually scarier to me because you don’t know how long it will last and he forgets everything, me, his commands, and where he is. This is the HUGE reminder that he is blind as he stumbles into things that he easily navigates every day and gets set to walk right off the top step not knowing it is there. So here we are 3 hours later and he is just now semi navigating his house that should be so familiar. He lies down for short bursts and attempts to clean himself a bit then gets up looking very confused. He has been through the whole house bumping into things and sniffing everything. I can just follow and try to direct him but he acts like he has no clue what I am saying and will stop to sniff me every now and then. Hopefully he will fall asleep soon and get some rest and I will call all his vets tomorrow and give them an update.

Robin Williams did a movie called the Dead Poets Society and made the quote Carpe Diem quite popular. Carpe Diem translates to "Seize the Day" and tonight’s "seizure" is a reminder not only that Tonka is blind but that I need to treasure every moment I have with him and Seize the Day -every day.

Hot Dogs & Memorial Day What Could Be Better....UNLESS YOU'RE CAUGHT!

I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day. I did until CM caught me that is, since I am now grounded- she will have to share the reason why.


CM here, as Tonka shared it WAS a good Memorial Day, and there is nothing better than a cook-out. I don't know why, but it just seems that things just taste better off the grill. Today wasn't a big get together, just at home doing things that needed to get done.

AP had left to go help a friend with a computer problem and I stopped working to grab a bite to eat. I remembered that there was still some hot dogs from the grill. I knew that would be the perfect snack to hold me over since later that evening we were having RIBS! =)

I picked the two that looked the best from the grill...I like them when they have all the grill marks and are bursting. So I put them on a plate and warmed them up in the microwave. I got out the buns, ketchup and mustard. I pulled out a glass and poured myself some iced tea, I then put my nice warm hot dogs in their buns on my plate. I had to go to the bathroom, so I left them there to cool a minute.

On the way back to the kitchen my phone rang so I picked it up to have the person on the other end hear me yell..." NO TONKA NO" in their ear. Needless to say I shouted "I'll call you back" and hung up. To which Tonka took that to be his signal EAT FASTER!!

Now, you might be saying about now “WHY" would I leave hot dogs unattended. But you see Tonka has NEVER taken food off the counter or table before. He has "begged" after you, but NEVER helped himself to human food even if he could reach it.

So as I tried to get them from him, he pushed them up under the counter on the floor and then "BUTT/TAILED" blocked me so that I could not reach them! As I was pulling his solid 125 pound body from the hot dogs yelling at him to "drop it". I now wish that I could enter him into the NATHAN HOT DOG EATING COMPETITION! He wouldn't even need water to make the buns go down easy! He ate(inhaled) BOTH hot dogs and buns. Thank goodness I hadn't added the ketchup and mustard!

Now you would think that after being scolded and being made to go out of the kitchen and lay down he would have realized "I'm a bad boy". NOPE!! When I went back to start over again, this time NOT leaving the kitchen. He proceeded to have a temper tantrum!

Tonka came into the kitchen and began to "talk" at me and when that didn't work then he started to bark. Now most of you know Tonka rarely barks and when he does he has to work it up. Not this time! When he still didn't get his way, that being another hot dog; he took it out on the kitchen towel! It was a nice towel...RIP kitchen towel.

Okay, now I'm thinking with his heart surgery and all his meds are hot dogs okay? So knowing that even if I didn't tell AP, that Tonka's evening/morning BM would! So I had to track her down to fill her in....NOW I'M GROUNDED FROM "BABYSITTING" THE ANGEL!!

So it was a nice Memorial Day and I now can NEVER leave an unprotected hot dog in the house.

Tonka Goes Back to School

I went back to school yesterday but not for obedience. I got to go to a school with "kids" my most favoritist things in the whole world. Dr. Weigt who takes care of my eyes called AP and needed a "show and tell" dog for a career day talk she was giving and asked if I could go. AP thought it would be good for me since I have been through so much lately. We went to 2 classrooms and Dr. Weigt showed a slide show and let the kids look in her eye with the slit lamp microscope which is what she looks in my eyes with. When they were finished with the microscope they got to pet me, it was so much fun. I showed off a little at the end with a few tricks and I kissed a few ears. I was very tired at the end of it and Dr. Weigt even said to AP that I was not my pre surgery energetic self. I hope adjusting my meds helps perk me up - see http://blinddogsrule.blogspot.com/2011/05/results-are-in.html .

The Results Are In

AP here:
Tonka is still fine and we are walking everyday but he is not his regular bouncy self and he tires very easily. The results from the Holter Monitor are back and it shows that Tonka has some long pauses in between heartbeats. Dr. Ferguson wants to cut back on his medication a bit and see how he does over the weekend.

Back to the Beach 2011

I had such a busy weekend "down the ocean". I hung out on the new deck that CM had built for me, she calls it Tonka's playpen! It was constructed by JDG Construction Group Inc. http://www.jdgconstruction.net/ and I love it.The guys all had pizza for lunch and I got to have a little crust- yummy. I went for a walk with my girlfriend toots. AP thought she had a good picture of her put it didnt come out that well. We will have to get a new one next time we go. She lives with my good friends Wally and Gwen.

Chillin on the new Deck

Almost Done

My Playpen

Toots

We went into town and I hung out with Rick at Odysea and met lots of kids and people. I also got my favorite cookies at Critter Beach.
It has been 6 weeks since the heart surgery so AP and CM took me to the beach to play. I love the beach and I was going blippity and bloppity all over the place. I was picking up sticks and throwing them and digging holes, it was so much fun.

Stuffed Sausage

I had to go early yesterday morning to get a holter monitor put on to measure what my heart does during a typical day. We went to CVCA in Annapolis where Jamie shaved some of my chest and taped on some wires and things to listen to what goes on inside of me. Then she squished me in a neoprene vest with Velcro on it. Just an FYI Pyr hair and Velcro are not a good mix. I was not comfortable at all and looked silly even though AP kept lying to me and telling me I was handsome. It was like being a stuffed sausage. I tried to get her to take it off.



I gave AP my best "I am mad" look

 

Then I tried to look real pitiful.



Nothing worked and I was stuck wearing it for 24 hours.

It was hard to walk down the steps

I couldn't get comfortable

It was hot on my evening walk

It was a long night and I didn't sleep much. AP and I went real early this morning to get it taken off. Jamie got it all off of me and was careful when pulling off the tape but I was still irritated and itchy.

Itchy Spot

I am so happy that it is off and I hope I never have to wear it again. AP says the results will be back in about a week and then we will know if my heart is doing OK.



Ahh no more vest!!!





A Smelly Subject

AP here:
Look Poop happens! It is a fact of life and if you have a baby or a dog you have had a discussion about poop with your vet, your peditraician and/or your friends. Dog owners that really care for their pets know that not only does "poop happen" but you should be paying attention to it. It is a marker of your dogs health and dietary habits. No one likes to pick up poop but if you really care about your dog and others you will. The consequences of not picking up after your dog are really nasty. All dogs harbor so-called coliform bacteria, which live in the gut. The group includes E. coli, a bacterium that can cause disease, and fecal coliform bacteria, which spread through feces. Dogs also carry salmonella and giardia both of which can make you, your dog and others very sick. Coliform bacteria is what can and does contaminate streams, rivers and lakes and make them unsafe. I personally do not want to step in your dogs waste nor do I want Tonka, his friends or anyone else to have to deal with it. So instead of polluting the environment and poisoning other animals including humans just PICK UP THE POOP.