“One star shines just that little bit brighter for us.” Megan
Megan’s Diary Preface Megan's Diary is an account of her "good days and bad days" of her trials and tribulations with Epilepsy. It also gives the reader an insight into a dog suffering with this condition and the constant battle of finding the balance with medications. Chapter 1 Megan was started on 300mg of Phenobarbital a day she also has 90mg of Diazepam to inject in her rectum if a "seizure" goes on too long. We were delighted! That since starting the medication Megan had not had a seizure for three weeks as the last one was particularly bad! Where she "paddles" with her legs, and this time her back legs twisted really bad, and her head too, John is a strong, but he had real difficulty holding on to her this time, and she was badly foaming at the mouth, it lasted over ten minutes. So we phoned the Royal Veterinary Hospital, who suggested either bringing her down to be put on a drip, or give her an extra Phenobarbital, as it could distress her more taking her to the vet, if this happens again, we have the valium to administer in her rectum, but not allowing a seizure to go on for longer than 6minutes then we would take her down to the vet. Afterwards, she was in/out of consciousness for 3/4 hours, we had wet towels, and ice packs round/on her, with an air-conditioning fan to get her temp down. We were so worried she was not coming out of this one, watching the clock, thankfully she did. The postictal period can be quite quick or for some dogs it can take some time to fully recover.Later that month Megan had another "seizure" in the morning, I was upstairs and it was one of our other Shepherds who alerted us by barking! The next thing I heard was a thud! I ran downstairs and Megan was out in the back garden having a "seizure" on the decking, I knelt down put my arms around her and she "fitted" for five minutes. The vet that day increased the Phenobarbital up to 360mg. A day and we have to give her 10mg of Valium in her rectum just to calm her down as she is suffering bad postictal. He is also going to add another medication, and we have to take her down to the Veterinary Hospital to have more blood work done. During that month Megan started to lose control of her urine, and when at the vet's her head was tilting badly, she was really not well. The vet decided to add to her medication 2000mg of Bromide, then within a week Megan will go down for more blood tests etc. Megan has started to show some improvement and John had her out and about with him, having a one to one, they had some real fun! John usually hides from Megan, this time it was the other way around! She decided to hide from him, behind the fir trees and raspberry bushes. During this time swabs arrived from Dorothy Cullum and Sheila Rankin, two Ladies who work hard for the health of the German Shepherd breed. The vet will be taking oral swabs from Megan, he has also been asked to supply health tests that have been done and information on her medical history. We have to include her 5 Generation Pedigree. After this has been done it is sent to...Dr. Cathryn Mellersh at the Genetics Department. He is printing out a Clinical History for our swab pack, the Veterinary Hospital sends a lot of their "findings and info" to the Animal Health Trust, who are fully aware of the good work they do. The following month Megan went back to the vet but he could not take blood etc. as it takes one to three months to reach a therapeutic level on the Bromide, so she will have tests over the next three months. He has kept Megan on the 2000mg of Bromide and 360mg Phenobarbital to try and reduce the "seizures" at the moment. Megan has been seizure free for one week! Hope it continues. We have again seen the vet about Megan as she has become very lame, we have to lift her back end when she tries to stand up, she continually trips and falls flat on her belly with her legs splayed, he thinks the large dose of Bromide is causing her unsteadiness, but does not want to change the dose until further blood tests have been taken. Hopefully things will improve after she has her blood tests. Chapter 2 The Bromide now, has had to be reduced, to 1000mg.she was on 2000mg. This time has been difficult for her, she has been getting her water intake through a syringe, and not only her back legs, but she has not been good on her front legs either. We are hoping that she will get better soon, if there is no change she will see the vet. We have to be positive though, onwards and upwards. Well a month has passed and Megan has had trouble walking, she has also had many visits to the vet, where they have done tests etc. Megan was also losing her nails. Megan, and has had Petit-Mal, but not Grand-Mal. We then had to take another trip to the vet's, this month as Megan was starting to lose her nails, and could not walk at all, they got a trolley for her to take her in, the vet examined her then she was taken to see the "specialist" there who took scrapings of her quicks, looking for anything untoward. It turns out Megan has, SLO (Symmetrical Lupoid Onychodystrophy). Her immune system is actually attacking her nails, usual diagnosis involves removing a toe under a general anaesthetic, but the vet felt this unnecessary as she had been through enough as both him and the "specialist" agreed she had the condition, so preferred to treat, rather than any more testing. They have put her on Metacam for the pain, antibiotics, and lowered her Bromide to 650mg. as her levels were on the high side, per day along with 360mg Phenobarbital per day. We have to phone the vet next week to let him know if any other nails fall out, if so he may have to remove all her back nails to avoid further pain, let us hope it will not come to that. They thought she was so very good, especially as she was in a lot of pain. Megan was as gentle as a "wee" lamb. The next stage of Megan's condition is more seizures where our "wee" girl went temporary blind, but her sight is all right now. Her medication of Bromide has been increased. Megan is still a strong girl, and through all of this has shown her strength in many ways. Indy and Phoebe, our other two German Shepherds on a couple of occasions were the ones who alerted us to Megan, having a seizure. Megan is going in for more Blood Panel work etc. Hopefully they will get a good balance soon with her Medication. Megan has been having "seizures" often the last couple of months. The vet has increased her medication (Phenobarbital) which has also increased the side effects, ataxia, etc. Hopefully in time this will balance itself out. Megan, has had a bad time the last few months with urine infections, and it has got worse, the vets now think because of the volume of the urine (constantly flowing out of her) that there could be another problem to investigate, she will also be having another medication added to what she already is taking, this is called Keppra, to help with control of the "seizures". Megan is still on antibiotics regarding the urine infection, it has got worse. The vets now think because of the volume of the urine (constantly flowing out of her) that there is another problem to investigate.Megan is going in to the Veterinary Hospital next week, for the day to be tested, she will be scanned, biopsy taken, blood tests etc. Hopefully we will find out what is going on, and catch it sooner rather than later. Medication is part of the problem, the vet has said that Megan is not a ‘text book’ case, they cannot seem as yet, to get a therapeutic balance, but, we do have a bit lee-way still to increase the medication for her Epilepsy, but not yet. Megan also suffered a Grand-Mal, it was one of the worse to date, her whole body twisted like a corkscrew. It lasted five minutes. We thought we were going to have to administer the rectal valium, then she showed signs of coming out of it, took a long time for her to recognise us, but once she did, there were kisses all round. Chapter 3 There is a definite weakness in her bladder, her muscle that controls the urine is really weak, hence the problem. After the tests that were done on Megan's bladder the vet then decided to try Propalin, which would tighten the sphincter muscle, but unfortunately, this triggered a seizure so it had to be stopped. We could have tried surgery to improve matters but the risk to Megan with the anaesthetic was too great. We did try cranberry tablets and slowly, a change of diet. Sadly more seizures for Megan, we had noticed that the past few "seizures" have lasted longer and are becoming more "intense", this was no different, she was actually whining and whimpering through fitting then, it looked after three minutes that she was coming out of it, then it started again, got worse, and at the moment she is lame on her back leg, as it twisted so much, went to get the valium to apply it rectally but she was starting to stop, it was one of the worst she has had, poor wee soul. We phoned the vet who has advised us to give her the Valium earlier and also to increase her Epiphen. We so wish there was more that we could do for Megan. Think the best at the moment is being done by her vet, and by letting people be aware of this horrible monster. When speaking to the KC researcher and saying why is it still going on? Why if in the last 30 years Epilepsy was really bad, why is it is still bad now? Why has it not been eradicated? Is it the people who do research not done enough? Sadly not all cases are reported to the researchers, they can only work with the information shared. Their unwillingness to "share" what they knew has had terrible repercussions for breeders and pet owners, and more importantly the poor dogs that have suffered. We have often thought that although I am a pet owner, that had I been Joe Blogs living down the road, not known on any dog groups etc. Megan would simply not been giving a second thought, I was so grateful for the German Shepherd Dog groups who did give me a platform to speak out about this disease. Megan had a "seizure", John heard what he thought was her scratching on the baby monitor, but it was Phoebe, who alerted John when he heard her whining and barking, ran downstairs and she was having a "seizure". Megan is still losing control of her bladder frequently now, one of the other things that Megan is dealing with but she is very good as she stands and waits until we wash and dry her down. After extensive tests our vet is sure that the rear end weakness caused by the medication for Epilepsy is to blame. Megan went to the Royal Veterinary College for more blood work, for liver/kidney tests etc. To make sure the medication has not affected her organs yet. We have had the results of the blood levels, Megan is at 30, 35 being the limit. The vet thinks he may have to add another medication, if he has to Increase the Phenobarbital any higher. Megan seems to be, getting "used" to the medication too quickly, and the severity of the "seizures" are increasing, he may use Keppra, but he will look into that when needed. Sadly Megan had cluster "seizures", it was so bad that John had to administer to her rectally, liquid Valium. Poor "wee" soul, John gave her some low fat ice-cream to boost the blood sugar lost in the brain during a seizure. Afterwards we put the ice packs on, and covered her head with a towel to keep out the light. After more seizures the blood test results show that her liver is now not getting rid of the medication efficiently enough, so the vet will now have to look at adding a third medication, in the hope of dropping back on one of the others. Sadly more seizures for Megan, we heard her on the baby monitor we bought to listen to Megan through the night. Our Son, was able to video tape the seizure and the vet was really pleased, as it has helped him more to see how the seizure effects Megan’s Epilepsy, rather than us explaining how it is. He is going to use it for teaching the students. Chapter 4 Once more tests done and her blood work came back...31.2 the highest level being 35.0. This means the liver is not "getting rid" of the Phenobarbital from her system, the more tablets she is on, the harder the liver has to work, her liver when it reaches 35.0 this being the concentration of phenobarbital still in her body, her liver then is showing signs of damage. To add medication at this time (keppra) is not really what the vet wants to do, but soon may have no option. At the moment we are trying to manage the Epilepsy, if the medication were reduced, the cluster seizures would begin again, that is not an option. What we are all striving for is to get a "balance" for Megan, she cannot run, she cannot "play ball", she needs a sling to lift her, to help with getting up, so all these things we are hoping to improve on, giving Megan a better quality of life. We know she will not be able to do all things, but at least if she is able to do some of these things, that will be good for her. Another seizure for Megan it was quite bad, the vet has, has increased her medication of Phenobarbital to 660mg per day, this is now the maximum he can take it. Hopefully, this might help the balance, if not then another medication will be added. Megan has been quite ill, she was booked in for the day for nerve tests to be done, she had this last year, but was unable to have them, as she took really unwell, her temperature was up to 39.7 she has an infection again, this time in her eyes and nose, and she could not keep her balance at all on her back legs. The vet was excellent, and Megan has been put on antibiotics, and Metacam. The SLO has come back pretty bad, and the new nails growing in are already splitting. We came back home, then late on in the afternoon, she had a seizure, she had to be taken back down to the vet, as afterwards, her gums went grey and she was staggering about, the vet then did a glucose test. That came back okay, she was given the test on her back legs and the leg would not straighten up.These couple of weeks have been hard for her she is mainly getting her fluids through syringes, although she is starting to take the fluid replacement drinks better from us. We had an option to let her stay overnight there at the Veterinary College, but we would rather have her at home. Today, she has a better colour in her gums, John stayed with her, and kept up the fluids during the night, so she would not dehydrate, her balance is still bad, on her back legs. Hopefully the antibiotics will help. Then we might be able to address the problem with her balance. John tries to spend as much time as he can, sleeping on the couch downstairs, rather than in bed, as he was sure she was going to have a seizure. We thought we were over-reacting a bit, then, she had one. Megan's health was our first priority. Quality of life means just that, we provide that for Megan, she has that round the clock, supervision, and care. On her "good" days we see her enjoyment of life yes she has her "bad days" that has become part of her life and ours. We would remove this disease if we could, but we would never change or regret having Megan. We loved her dearly. Indy, alerted us by barking frantically, Megan was in the throes of having a "seizure”, hearing that awful thud and seeing her so contorted, John held her and spoke softly to her all the time, until it passed once more. Megan for the last few weeks has been quite unwell. She is having a real hard time doing many things, when trying to get her out and about she struggles so badly, that she is practically being lifted on the walk. Megan now has become so insecure, (feels so bad when I read that) her actions tell us that she is scared. Think each time she has a "seizure" or clusters there is a definite difference in her afterwards. I know that there are unfortunately many rotten/horrible illnesses out there that our dogs can suffer from, but Epilepsy is one of them, and until you have a dog with it, you really do not have any idea what they go through, it is one of the most life destroying diseases, you watch the life, vitality and personality slowly being sucked from your beloved dog, and in turn from your family. John and I are frequently haunted by thoughts of ... is there more we should be doing? That is why this "diary" of thoughts and sharing Megan's journey is so important, not just for us as a family, but for the people who, like ourselves are caring for dogs with this condition. This lovely German Shepherd has been reduced to, an old lady, struggling to stand, wants to run but cannot, howls constantly (not an exaggeration, as friends have heard while on the phone to me), hungry all of the time, and cannot as yet hold in her urine, that in itself is bad, but manageable, the seizures are another matter. Chapter 5 I have read many comments about Epilepsy being a disease easily controlled with medication. In a lot of cases this is true. Megan at this time takes 15 Tablets every day, and is still not responding as she should, every dog is different. Many have taken a lot of time to try and discredit our vet's diagnosis, and how Megan ended up with Epilepsy, maybe if the same amount of time and energy was spent checking for problems within the lines, and taking the necessary steps to prevent these health problems, Megan would not have Epilepsy.Our girl has to deal with it, we have to deal with it. About time they dealt with it, too. Instead of as our Breeder put it..."Give it enough time and it will die a death." They do not pay our vet bills nor do they ask or enquire how Megan is doing, yet they have so much to say, I suppose the best defence is offence. This "diary" of Megan has always been about her, my motives have never changed. We will continue to be a voice for her and others. Megan will not go through all of this for nothing. More cluster seizures for Megan. Our "hope" for the long-term outlook for Megan, is for the medication. That she is on at the moment (21 tablets a day) will be reduced. This can only happen when/if her "seizures" level out to a regular pattern, ourselves and the vet are hoping for one every 6 weeks. Hopefully with a lesser severity that is occurring at the moment. Many dogs stabilise very quickly, and some lead fairly "normal" lives all be it with more supervision and care, but there are dogs, that are very difficult to find "the balance", Megan is one of them. Also the medication slows up the body metabolism but also increase her appetite, so she ballooned at the start and the difficulty now is trying to drop her Weight. The back end weakness (ataxia) makes it very difficult to increase her Exercise as she can only walk for a certain amount of time. Megan is on a special diet with added supplements to try and drop her calorie intake. Megan this week has had more "seizures". We were all hoping that if she could make it to 6 weeks, without a seizure, then we could reduce her medication by half a tablet, not much I know, but it would have been a positive step in the right direction.Unfortunately we made nearly 4 weeks, but the "seizures" were more intense. We now start at the beginning again, and counting. The threshold or the point at which the brain triggers a fit can be lifted to a point where the anti-convulsant medication dampens down the electrical storm in the brain, therefore a seizure is not triggered. This is the desired point of a dog with Epilepsy. Megan is one where when the medications are increased, her system quickly gets used to them, which makes it very difficult to be able to control/stabilize the Epilepsy. Cluster seizures are hard to treat and almost always need the addition of Potassium Bromide (KBr) Megan did not start out with cluster seizures but when she had them KBr was added as was Rectal Valium.The purpose of the rectal Valium is to sedate her heavily, to allow the Storm in the brain to calm down. The danger of the clusters is they could start and not stop, hence the reason for constant supervision, at this time, until things improve. The whole Epilepsy experience is exhausting, frightening and scary, but for many dogs the medication do work, and keep the seizures under control for the most part. Hopefully, in time they will work for Megan. Have to keep a Positive attitude, and Megan has proved to be a "wee" fighter, plus we are so fortunate to have such an excellent vet who gives her the best treatment and care. We have always said that the only thing that is Predictable about Epilepsy is it is so unpredictable. I wish I could post about all of Megan's wonderful days that she has had, unfortunately I cannot do that, I seem to only be able to post when she has had her next seizure. I truly hope that the day comes when Megan can be seizure free, for even over a short period of time, although the longer the better. We are not complaining, as we know that a good day is worth all the others that are difficult and we do savour those days and those moments. We and of course Megan are so fortunate to have a wonderful! vet, who is always open to even our suggestions, as we know they have hundreds of animals to treat we have only ours.Hopefully, this is a bad time, and that many good times will follow. Chapter 6 Megan went for a wee stroll today. I am sure there was a smile on her face, she investigated all the new smells and was fascinated by the voles running about under our feet. The walk was slow, but sometimes it is just good to take in all the wildlife and things you may miss when your walk is that much quicker, even spotted bunches of snowdrops. Our son, very kindly, had some time off and he looked after Megan, then it was Indy and Phoebe time, went for a great trek on the Deer Path, it was lovely, the dogs had a super time, have came back rather dirty, but we saw lots of deer and buzzards. Thought it would be nice to share the good times with Megan Well sadly more seizures, Megan had a Grand-mal it was a bad one, she was whining and had lost her sight for a short time. Megan’s tablets had been reduced by 60mg = 1 Tablet for the last few weeks; she has really been a little livelier and more aware of her surroundings, and better on the back end weakness. Unfortunately she is now having cluster seizures, which means the balance is not there, yet. Will see what the vet has to say. Megan is still unwell, we hated the increase of her tablet again, the vet (who is great) was quite disappointed himself, but it really was a case of Megan having really bad seizures (sometimes clusters) that could do a lot more damage. It is 2 years this Month now that Megan started having seizures, we are all so frustrated that we cannot seem to get the balance right with Megan, we may have to move on to add other medication. Which we really did not want to do this, our vet too does not like adding more chemicals, but he has to do what has to be done. Will see how things go after her Blood screening and Liver Tests. We see the difference in her already adding the tablet, she has bad rear end weakness and at times, cannot control her urine, and so unsteady going out on her walks, which she really was starting to enjoy, it was getting a wee glimpse of how Megan could and should be, we feel so sad and bad for her, and only wish the best for her. Megan is one of these dogs that is proving hard to stabilise. The seizures have made 5 weeks in between, but her quality of life suffers as she is very sedated. Whenever we try and lessen the medication. The seizures become more frequent and then she can have clusters. Nick (vet) also keeps up to date with the latest research, he is Senior Lecturer there at the College and is very good and caring.He is just as frustrated as us. Megan is struggling at the moment and we had to pick up Oxycare as she has yet another infection, had such a bad night and wish I could do more. John ended up coming downstairs and slept on the couch, to make sure Megan was going to be okay. The vet next month is doing quite extensive tests, so hopefully all being well we can make another start. Megan is still unwell, she is having problems with focal-seizures and is unable to hold in her urine, think though that is due to the increased medication. Megan this week has only been able to get out in the garden, even then she is struggling, although the snow does not help. We have seen a big difference in her this week very agitated, pacing, and always looking for food, she then wants out but you have to stay out with her, and all she wants is to lie in the garden at night.Hopefully, this month the tests might tell us a bit more, and where to go from here to help her feel better. Well Megan had a seizure, she had quite a bad one, which left her temporarily blind for a wee while, she now can see but is still very disorientated. Really cannot understand why they are becoming more frequent again, thinking of anything we have done or changed? It was Indy and Phoebe who alerted us initially, they are in another room, but heard Megan, and started whining then we heard her on the baby monitor. Phoning the vet to see what he recommends, think we will have to up her medication. Back to the 19 tablets a day, was dropped half a tablet to ease the back end weakness, but she seems to need the extra half a tablet. Chapter 7 We feel so helpless with this condition, it seems (at the moment) anything we try works for so long then her system gets used to it. Megan's vet is super and we think he is right we need to try Keppra. What worries us both is the in between time, where trying to help Megan recover from these seizures, can take a wee while, then when you start to see a difference, the Monster comes back and she has to start all over again. Think you cope because you have to, Megan relies on us, although it is soul destroying and sometimes lately we both feel so helpless and wish we could do more for her. We will do anything we can for her and try anything we can for Megan she deserves a chance of being able to enjoy life. Megan is still unwell and has had a few more episodes. At the moment she is having a bad time settling at night. We have to take her down to the vet this week for the Tests as this has to be done before any new medications are introduced, she is having a hard time of it just now, it seems like the last 2 years since being diagnosed we have come right round in a circle, back to the beginning, I know that along the way we have learned lots about this condition, but feel that Megan has went through such a lot in this time. In saying that we are trying to remain positive, as Megan has such a super, caring vet and hopefully once the tests are done and the results come back then decisions can be made to help Megan get a better balance with the Epilepsy. Well, the vet got another blood smear test done and there was no bleeding internally, they feel that it could be down to the medication. We were told that Phenobarbital can do strange things to the blood/hemopeoisis (generation of blood cells in the bone marrow). Her Phenobarbital levels were 31.5 limit being 35. To begin with on the KBr. (Bromide) she was given a loading dose of 3000mg.to boost the amount in her system, it is now reduced to 975mg.Megan has been started on the Keppra to begin with 1500mg a day. If all goes well in 4 days (to give it a chance to work) we will be able to drop the Phenobarbital by half a tablet (30mg.) We are hoping that this will also help her back end weakness, while not increasing the seizures which in turn will help Megan get out and about and give her a better quality of life. We are well aware this condition will never go away or be cured but if the difference can be made for Megan to have a better quality of life i.e. less seizures, less ataxia, could result in more walks, more happy days for Megan. Whatever needs done will get done to help and improve on Megan's quality of life. The last few days we have noticed the back end weakness coming back but are still remaining hopeful that given time and the medication. Still might need to be adjusted the Keppra could be helping her.At the moment she is not feeling too good as she has Colitis, but is being treated for it, what we have to watch though is that the medication for her Epilepsy may not work as well due to the inflammation in her stomach. We will keep an eye on her and hopefully there will be no episodes. Megan has been really unwell for a wee while with infections. We were at the Veterinary College yesterday where she was given a good examination etc. Her temperature was high 41.6. Do not know as yet what is causing the infections it could be the medication or Epilepsy? It seems her immune system has been compromised, she has been given a course for a week of Synulox, then we have to take Megan back for more tests. We have been trying to keep her cool, as she has been quite agitated and howls a lot, she really is such a good wee girl, just think she is confused. We feel so frustrated for her, she lies there most of the time like a furry rug, just looking at us going about, and watching Indy and Phoebe playing, usually tug-of -war. We so want her to be able to get up and about. Hopefully these tablets will help with this infection and in turn help Megan to feel better within herself, to be able to get up and about for wee walks etc. Chapter 8 I Thought I would share this photo that I took of Megan today. As you know Megan has not been too well and lately we have had some of our saddest moments with her, and then she can give to us some hope which really does bring us great joy. This is probably not one of the best but so special to us, just getting Megan out there in the meadow with the buttercups, watching the butterfly's and horses, and just being out in the world. Anyway here is the photo of Megan taken in the meadow. Megan in the buttercup meadow. Well Megan is still a wee bit unwell, and the hot weather is having Her struggling a bit, try to get her out early and in the cool of the Evening. Megan is so anxious at the moment and is having real anxiety Problems, her nails are splitting so getting them off for her is better as it is sore for her to walk. When we had her down to the vet we Noticed that she had her line back right round her teeth, Megan has had This since the seizures, it is like someone has taken a red felt pen and drawn a line round her teeth, we at this moment do not know what it is, her gums are good, her teeth are lovely so we think it might have Something to do with the Epilepsy. We are helping her with her water Intake as at the moment she is having trouble taking the water in she Will not at times, get up to drink and her lapping of the water does not mean that she actually gets any. We did speak about her howling, the vet still wonders if it is all part and parcel of the Epilepsy and the effects of the seizures or is she frustrated and trying to communicate? Hopefully, once we can get the medication, adjusted things will start to improve Megan went in for blood tests yesterday, as you will be aware she has been unwell for a while. We had a phone call this morning from the vet regarding the test results, they are as follows. Her liver tests came back today ALT was 142 now 358, AP was 319 now 1084, bile acids was 7 now 17.7. The vet is very concerned about Megan, she will be going in tomorrow for a full body scan to check her organs are all okay. The levels are dangerously high and her liver may be diseased. We will know more after the scan. Have found it quite difficult to put down in words what is going on with wee Megan at this time and also the results, which are still inconclusive. The vet is not continuing with testing at the moment as he feels Megan is going through enough, he is treating each symptom at a time, and has put her on another course of antibiotics to clear up a respiratory infection. Her scan showed an enlarged adrenal gland her liver is patchy but this could be down to the medication. The vet does suspect the onset now of cushing disease? But further tests will have to be done, but not at the moment, as Megs is still so unwell. We had to take Megan back down to the vet about a week ago as there was still no change, which we were all hoping there would be, but she also developed marks (red half moon) around her stomach and it looked like Bruising, we sent photos down to our vet who told us to bring her down, could be the effects of Keppra, but not sure. We have been given Steroid Cream to apply and at this time have had to stop the Anti-biotics. We have been hoping that this would clear in a few days but a week has past and there is no difference the cream is being applied but the bruising is still there, Megan is still very slow and unsteady on her feet, her last seizure was different, no paddling with her legs, no falling on her side but she had the head tilting, fly-snapping/frothing and her body was shaking, do not know as yet, if this one has affected her more that any others? We will see how Megan is this week, hopefully there will be some improvement. We have been unable to get Megan out for a walk for over a week now, it has been out in the garden, and whenever we go in to the house Megan comes in, going to try And work up to it for the Week-end and hope she will manage it. We are attending to her various symptoms and Megan will be seeing the vet next week. One step for Mankind and One Giant leap for Megan. Megan had a lovely "wee" stroll today down raspberrylane, it was nice and sunny but not too hot, she had no falls and was a lot steadier on her feet, and seemed to enjoy all the Smells, so happy for her. Chapter 9 Today, as it has been so lovely outside I foolishly thought that Megan could be taken out on a "wee" journey ride to our "special place" very quiet and Megan might feel more relaxed, well did I get that wrong. Had to guide her away from the car, as she is showing signs of anxiety and tried to get back to the car then she started to fall, and could not get up and looked so "worn out", we went right back to the car and home. The muscles in her body do not seem to be able to hold her up, she at times cannot lift her head up, we are so overwhelmed with sadness regarding Megan and what she is going through. Really hope these upcoming tests will give us the answers we are looking for. Over the winter time things were not so good, but could have been worse, so we were trying to remainpositive and hoping that things were going to get that bit better for Megan. Well we have now had to increase one of her medication. As she has had more seizures, (Clusters) three of them being Grand-mals, she has been unable to control her urine and is quite exhausted. Megan is going back down to the vet's for blood panel work to check her levels and also to investigate further suspicions of Cushings disease. Megan has got worse, and when out this morning early hours to do her "toilet" she collapsed. We have got her in at the Veterinary Hospital now, where we know she will be so very well looked after, they have staff there 24 hours, and they know Megan and are so very kind with her, which we are grateful for, the tests will begin today. Megan has had Scans/X-rays, blood work taken yesterday, we got her home Last night as she was retaining her urine the whole day, and was very anxious, she is going back in today for more scans etc. Megan was able to give us a urine sample this morning. Her blood count is still dropping, but slowly, hopefully the tests might reveal more today. Late last night Indy (our male) was showing signs of distress, John rushed him to the vet, where he went into shock, the vet has worked on him through the night, he was on oxygen, and a drip and they have Administered steroids, his eyes swelled and were bulging out of his head, today, his eyes are the same, but he is off the oxygen, they are doing more tests and scan on Indy today. John is back with Megan, she has to go in every day for blood tests and a blood count, and to be monitored, to date, she has lost half of her red blood cells, we are still awaiting more test results, but they will take time to come in, she has had to be put on steroids as her blood count is continuing to drop down, if it gets much lower they will have to give her a blood transfusion, she has also been given antibiotics and antioxidants. Chapter 10 Indy is also very ill, at present they are fighting to regulate his heart he is on a drip and an ECG machine, tests have found a lump in his spleen, and he is scheduled for the removal of the spleen next week, his eyeshave shown little improvement and the cause is still unknown. It is with great sorrow, we got the very sad news that "Our Boy Indy", that gentle, loving soul, has passed away early this morning, our very own xxxBraveheartxxx This morning Megan went down for her blood work and they have kept her in as they are not happy with her heart, since the three bad seizures that she had, she has just not been right, and she has deteriorated, she is under the care of the Intensive Care Team and will be monitored constantly. They are fitting her with a collar with a built in mini-computer that will record her activities, to give them a better picture of her system, as she has been collapsing through the night when trying to go to the toilet, hopefully things will get better for Megan soon. The Final Chapter of Megan's Diary has come to an end, sadly last night our "wee" girl Megan lost her battle against Epilepsy. We have had the results of the post mortems which were performed on both, Indy and Megan. Indy had a tumour (quite a rare one) on his adrenal gland this caused problems with his heart which in turn sadly gave out. Megan had three bad grand mal seizures just under two weeks ago which affected her brain and its ability to control organ function, immune system response was also compromised, leading to a crisis situation Where her body gave up its fight, death was a direct result of the Epilepsy and associated problems brought on by this condition, I would Like to add that there was NO tumours abnormalities etc found to be causing the seizures so it has been confirmed as much as can physically be done that Megan died from "PRIMARY EPILEPSY". These are the facts as given by our vet at the Veterinary College earlier today, we were so fortunate to have had such a wonderful, skilful and compassionate vet (Nick Bommer) looking after Megan for these three years that she battled with this horrid condition, the nurses were just lovely with her and all who knew her came in to see her and talk with her, when she was very ill, they all fondly thought and spoke of her as "sweet gentle Megan". We were so blessed to have these two very "special" companions as part of our family and both will hold very special places in our hearts. Phoebe misses them so much, she was always the "wee" worry wart, watching over Megan, making sure she gave her a wee lick on her face, and checking to see if she was all right, with Indy she could pretend to let him be the Boss for a wee while, and had lots of fun seeing who was going to get the stick first. Please know that when you have time to look through this diary, all that has been written was to hopefully help people become aware of this horrible condition Epilepsy, and what it can do to your dog and to your family, that was what it was always about, we will continue to help people and fight against those who have no regard for the pain they inflict on dogs in breeding with lines that carry health issues. John & Margaret We miss you Both, so very much. "Beannachd leat a'ghaoil " Scottish Gaelic, Goodbye My Love xxx
Megan 2005 - 2011
Megan’s Incredible   Journey Megan’s Incredible Journey