Bailey is in the hospital (long)

[bumpergirl]

I posted a couple of months or so ago that Bailey had tweaked her upper back and was put on crate rest for 4 weeks. She's been doing much better, and has been gated into the kitchen at Julie's (my ex) during the day to keep her separated from Peanut (who loves to jump all over Bailey) and off of the furniture.

Well, Sunday night/Monday morning Julie woke up around 1:00am to Bailey yelping and shivering in pain. She rushed her to the ER (I slept through the phone call...have been flogging myself for that ever since) where they admitted her. The diagnosis is cervical intervertebral disk disease (IVDD), and of course they want to do surgery right away. She hasn't lost any movement, although she has been in a lot of pain. Can't stand to have her neck touched at all unless she's heavily medicated.

We are willing to have the surgery done if that is the only option, but it seems too soon to make that kind of decision. I talked to Yolanda yesterday and she said necks are more painful, but they heal better in the long run than backs. Of course, at that point we didn't know they wanted to operate. I'm still trying to contact Yolanda with the update to see what she says.

My GF is the Chief of Animal Control for Arlington County, VA and she's had one of her staff members calling around to the vets they work with to get some other opinions. They also have an acupuncturist that they use, so we're looking into that, too.

I'm doing a good job so far of not freaking completely out. Julie and I decided that if Bailey comes home tonight I'll go pick up Peanut and keep her for 2 weeks to give Bailey a good chance to heal without getting hit with Nut's flying body tackles every chance she gets.

Thanks for letting me vent about this. I could sure use some of those good DLC :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: and maybe a :pray: or two if you don't mind.

I'll keep you posted.

[Patt]

I am so sorry... Sending mega DLC magical :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Bailey.

I would post this on the Dodgerslist Yahoo board and get their opinions too. I wouldn't wait too long if you decide to do surgery. JMO

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dodgerslist/

http://www.dodgerslist.com/

[lizzieb38]

:bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz::hug99: :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: :hearts: :hearts: :hearts: for all of you.

[Rae]

well ka-ka. here I saw you were on and thought KELLY!!!:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: and you come bringing bad news.

Definite big honking rays for Bailey and all the moms.

Sounds like you have a lot of resources in place and are assking the right questions. :pray: :pray: just in case.

[Tex]

I'm so sorry that you and Bailey are having to go through this. I have no advice as I've never dealt with neck or back issues personally, but sending huge DLC :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: your direction!

[bsquared]

Huge :bigrayz: :bigrayz: and :hug99: !!!

[quavec]

Big :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Bailey and :bighug: for you.

Keep us posted, okay?

[areese]

Many mega :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: and :hug99: :hug99: :hug99:
I (luckily for me) don't have any first hand experience with such things but it sounds like you are doing all the right research.

[catstamm]

Oh I am sooooo sorry to hear this....
I do believe if the disk has ruptured there is no option but to do surgery. :scratch:
The only way to know if a disk is herniated or ruptured is with an MRI or mylogram (sp?) X-ray will not show this....
Please keep in mind you have a window of 48 to 72 hrs for the best results.
Is there a neurologist in your area???
You are both in my thoughts and prayers :pray: :hug99:

[Jen]

So Kelly, has the disk ruptured? It kind of depends how far the disc disease has progressed.

Sending :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Bailey and a :bighug: for all of her moms.

[Opaleyz]

Many many :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Bailey & :hug99: for you.

[Frzframe]

Oh no! Sorry to hear that Bailey is going though this again. Please if you haven't already join Dodgerslist. Everyone was so nice and helped me get through it with Ruby. Many :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: on their way.

[LexieLuvr]

Oh, man - I hate to see these posts!! Sending a TON of Texas :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Bailey. Please keep us posted!

[K2]

I am so sorry!! Sending lots and lots of :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Bailey and some :hug99: :hug99: for you.

[lotsadox]

I'm so sorry that Bailey is in pain. Having just been through this with Bogart, I know how stressful it is. I would definitely get Bailey to a neurologist asap. E-vets are very good, but they are not specialists. A good neurologist can give you a better idea of what's going on. Also most neurologist's have a lot of experience with back surgery. I'm lucky and we have an excellent clinic here that does tons of back surgeries so they have lots of experience in it. I've always heard that there is a window of time where you get the best results, but I believe that's with a ruptured disc.

Sending tons of :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Bailey and :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: for you.

[Yolanda]

Bailey is not at an E-Vet., he is at the Regional Veterinary Referral Center. This is the surgical that DRNA uses for all of the dogs in the Northern VA area. They are a wonderful 24/7 facility with just about every thing you would ask for under one roof.

[lotsadox]

Oh, thanks, Yo. I thought he was at an e-vet. It sounds like he's in good hands then and will get the best care. It's a hard decision to make about surgery. Personally, if you trust the vets, I'd go with what they recommend.

[bumpergirl]

Bailey was released this afternoon. The vet said Bailey did not present like most dachshunds that come in with a neck issue, in fact her symptoms were more like those they see in large dogs. I guess that is logical since Bailey does not know that she is not a great big dog. Anyway, they said Bailey only had some of the symptoms of a ruptured or compressed disc, but not all.

She is on 3 different meds and strict crate rest for the next two weeks. Julie will be keeping Bailey at her place (no stairs, no big dogs, less activity than at my house) for two weeks, and I'm keeping Peanut here with me. It will be hard for them to be apart that long, but we have to do what we think is best regardless. Meanwhile we are looking into acupuncture as a means of trying to prevent this from getting worse.

I hope this makes sense. I'm too tired to proof read it.

Thanks to all of you for the :bigrayz: and support. We still need it!

[oceangirls]

I'm sorry, Kelly :(. Rayz for your girl :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: . Keeping Peanut with you makes perfect sense to me!

[lotsadox]

Makes sense to me and sounds like a good plan. Sending continued :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: and :pray: :pray: :pray: