Andi’s exciting life.

Sorry for my silence this week, but we have been facing a very serious and unexpected illness in our whippet, Adelaide. Sunday she had an episode of stumbling around for a few minutes in the evening but then recovered and seemed OK. It happened again the next morning, and we took her to her regular vet. They kept her for observation for the day and said she seemed normal but advised we see a specialist because of some abnormal blood work.

When we picked her up from their office Monday afternoon, she was walking but didn’t seem quite herself. By Tuesday morning, she could barely walk, and I had to carry her in to see the internist. They hospitalized her, and a spinal fluid analysis led to the diagnosis of steroid-responsive meningitis or granulometous meningioencephalomyelitis (GME). Wednesday morning, she had one seizure, which was an alarming sign of her condition worsening. She went on to have more seizures and had to be started on a constant infusion of valium by Wednesday afternoon.

She has now been on steroids for 24 hours, and her valium is being tapered off today. The hope is that she will respond to the steroid treatment, and we will see an improvement as she begins to wake up. There is concern that, even if she does improve on steroids, she has suffered brain damage and will not be herself again. The biggest worry is that she will not respond to treatment at all. Today is a day of waiting to hear from the doctor letting us know what happens when the sedative begins wearing off.

This is so painful and heartbreaking. She is only six years old, and this happened so fast that we barely had time to know something was wrong before she was hospitalized. I haven’t seen her since Tuesday morning, but I’m planning to go visit this afternoon while a friend watches Falco. He keeps calling Adelaide at home, and he can’t understand what is happening, which is probably for the best.

I will post an update here tonight or tomorrow when I get the next update.