Tempest

Thanks guys - your good thoughts are all muchly appreciated He seems a bit brighter today so that's good too - I think it really is a case of just taking things a step at the time and not freaking myself out by looking too much into the future.

Apologies for posting with no particular purpose really. Just feeling a bit sad about Olls today I had a chat with the vet on Monday and we've cut the steroids from 2 a day to 1 and already things seem to be worsening. This morning he did a poop in the kitchen (which is really unlike him) when we were getting ready for a walk he got all excited and fell down the stairs from half way down He really took a tumble but picked himself up okay and didn't seem hurt thank goodness. Then in the kitchen this evening he was standing watching Chris cook and his two back legs just started slipping away from him in opposite directions and I managed to run across the room and grab him before he fell and all evening he's just seemed really wobbly (almost like he's drunk and standing with his hind legs crossed). I think I'm just so conscious of doing the right thing by him and not making any kind of decisions too soon/too late that I'm not thinking clearly. I had a long chat with Chris tonight and we both agreed that he's excited when you pick the lead up/get home from work, is eating well and can still go to the loo on his own and that as long as he's doing those things then things must be okay for him. I've asked Chris to promise to tell me if he thinks we need to make a decision as he's far more objective than I am when it comes to Ollie and I think that will help. I don't think I feel like it's time for him to leave us yet (but then I'm not sure that I ever will) but I just don't know how you ever know when is right. I'm really conscious that I don't want him to suffer at all and the vet has said that he's not in any pain and if anything it's that he can't feel his legs that's the problem!!! I think I thought we'd have another six months at least but I don't think that's going to be the case now. I'm also really scared about how he's going to be when he's fully off the steroids All in all just feeling a bit 'woe is me'

I've got one called Beconase from the doc which is a steroid nasal spray - been on it 2 weeks so far and no change yet

Don't worry I wouldn't book a holiday unless I checked with the doctor first but wondered if anyone here had ever had anything similar I've got a GP helpline number with my Norwich Union healthcare policy and just spoke to them and they seemed to think there wouldn't be any problem with flying at all

After having my original ear infection about six weeks ago my ear hasn't properly cleared up at all. I'm still partially deaf in that ear, have ringing in it all the time and popping and crackling and general 'pressure' I went back to the docs a fortnight ago and had more antibiotics as my eardrum was still 'bulging' but they've not helped so on going back again she seems to think that the fact that I've got hayfever now (the original infection came after a cold) is the reason why it's not clearing. My ear is full of fluid that can't drain away as the tube between my ear and nose is constantly blocked due to the hayfever. I did mean to ask if flying with a bulging eardrum could be a problem but I completely forgot We're thinking of doing something last minute in the first couple of weeks of the school hols but I'm not sure if I'll be able to fly. When I had the original infection I asked the doc if there was anything not to do and she did say 'don't fly' but that was weeks ago and I'm not sure if the same thing would apply now? Just wondering if anyone here has been in a similar position?

So sorry to hear that you're going through this If it's any help at all my cousin is currently pregnant with her second child and she's had lots and lots of problems with bleeding. She's bled really heavily and originally they thought she'd lost the baby but she's about six months gone now and her scans are all fine, yet she's still bleeding heavily at times but the baby seems fine They've not really been able to give an explanation why it's happening but on the plus side everything with the baby seems good so I guess it's one of those things that can happen? Must all be a real shock for you - hope you get some definate answers on Tuesday so you know exactly what is going on

No he's not had a referral and we had a long chat with our vet about it. He's an elderly lad now and we didn't want to put him through an anesthetic at his age for an MRI. We wouldn't put him through any kind of brain surgery anyway and our vet said that even if a diagnoses was made by a neurologist the treatment of choice would be steroids 99% of the time. So we decided in the end that we'd not really gain anything from seeing a neurologist and didn't want to put him through another anesthetic when the treatment was more than likely going to be steroids anyway. We had a chat with a couple of vets at the practice about it as well as our homeopathic vet and they all said the same thing which I think helped us to decide not to go down the referral route.

It's really tricky isn't it Thing is taking Ollie off the Preds won't exactly improve his quality of life as it will mean he has less control over his limbs and so will fall/wobble/struggle on his legs a lot more but he won't have all the side effects of panting/being hungry/drinking to excess etc. So I think either way the quality of life isn't brilliant if that makes sense - it's choosing which option is best out of the two and I think at the moment I think coming off the drugs is the way to go

We started off on 1 tab a day originally but as his condition has worsened over the last few months the Preds have had less and less effect so we've had to up them to acheive the same effect if that makes sense. Our vet thinks that there aren't any alternative treatments for this condition (and she assured us that a neurologist would tell us the same thing) so I don't think there's anything else we can do treatment wise. We're reducing the tablets under vetinary supervision so we won't just stop them as I know it's going to take a while to 'wean' Olls off of them. I knew the Preds could cause cushings like symptoms but didn't think it could actually 'cause' Cushings?

As most of you know Ollie has an undefined neurological problem which affects his ability to co-ordinate his limbs and at the moment he's on 3 tablets of Predsinole a day. He's been on them for a good few months now but I'm seriously thinking about taking him off of them due to the increased side effects He pants like absolute crazy on them - if you can imagine how your dog pants after you've been playing a long game of ball - well that's his resting pant, he pants that much ALL the time and there's no respite from it for him and in this heat I've felt so sorry for him He's gone from being a dog losing his appetite to be absolutely crazed by food - he's now started to eat his own poo (which makes him sick most days) as he's literally so hungry on the Preds and I don't think making himself sick is good for him at all I clean up his poop as soon as he does it as much as I can to try to manage this but in the hot weather with the back door constantly open it's easy for him to go out and poop and eat it without me seeing I've spoken to the vet about changing his diet but he's on a good food (Arden Grange) which he's had with no problem until we started the Preds. I think he's just so starving that whatever we fed him he'd still poo eat. I've had Olls for 5 years now and he has NEVER eaten poo until we started on the Preds. When Chris and I eat dinner (which is normally on trays on our laps) he practically has his nose on our plates and he's growled/lip curled when we've tried to move him away so we now have to shut him away when we're eating (he's NEVER had a problem with food his whole life). I've just heard a huge crash from downstairs and Chris told me that Olls tried to climb on to a dining room chair to lick some crumbs off a tray that was there He also drinks like a fish constantly and so needs to wee constantly as a result. I've spoken to the vet and for the last couple of weeks we've been phasing the tablets down from 3 a day to 2 a day and he has worsened on his legs as a result but I really feel like I hate what the tablets are doing to him and I'm thinking about weaning him off them but then at the same time I know that will more than likely shorten the time he has left with us I'm honestly not sure what to do - do we go tablet free and have less time or stay on the drugs and see the horrid side effects?

I ended up ordering from this site........ Pet Meds They were a tiny bit more expensive on the food but it's free delivery and they don't add a surcharge on low orders either

I just need to order Ollie a small bag of Arden Grange to get delivered as I can't buy it locally and I usually buy the 15kg sacks from Vet UK. Just gave them a call as their website is down and a 7.5kg bag is 14.71 but there's a surcharge ofr 1.95 if you don't spend more than £15 and then they want 4.99 for postage so suddenly it seems really expensive and I may as well just buy it from AG direct. Just wondering if anyone can recommend anywhere online that might be cheaper?

Nope I've not tried that Ange - the only problem though with me being out from 8am - 5pm is that I'm not going to be around to offer 4 meals a day - tbh I think if we got one of those 'timed' feeder things I'm not sure he'd even notice it had gone off!

Sorry only just catching up with this. Ian - what Ollie has is v. similar to CDRM and could even be CDRM really - without an MRI (which we don't want to put him through) we don't really know exactly Ollie had previously been to hydro for around 18 months but we stopped him swimming a couple of months ago as it was just exhausting him really and as he's panting so much on the steroids we found his breathing difficult in the pool and felt it was too much for him It's difficult with the tablets isn't it? He's fine taking small tablets like the steroids but a lot of the herbal tablets seem to come in large capsules and he just won't take them no matter what I cover/wrap them in and we felt that getting him eating was more important that covering the food in pills/powders which seemed to put him off eating. He's definately losing weight despite eating quite well at the momemnt as I can feel his spine now when I stroke him

Unfortunately not - I tried Naturediet (well in fact all the wet foods really), sardines, chicken, gravy - pretty much everything really. If there was tablets/powder on his food he wouldn't eat. Thankfully the steroids he has each morning are teeny tiny so he has them in a piece of cheese but capsules were a no go

Ange have you got any idea what size/construction the Aktivait tablets are? I'm only asking as we've had to stop all the meds Richard gave us as I couldn't get Ollie to take the capsules any more. I tried sprinkling the powder on his food but he wouldn't eat if there was meds mixed in with it

Have just been out in the garden with Ollie while I was sorting the bins out and he had a wee and came back in with me Came upstairs on the PC and literally 30 seconds after coming in I heard Chris shouting in horror and Olls has pooped all over the rug in the lounge and all across the laminate In the five years I've had him he's NEVER once pooped indoors - what I'm even more worried about is the fact that we'd literally just come in from outside His poo was nice and firm so he's not got the runs or anything but I'm just in a complete panic as I know that the vet said that when his illness progresses he won't be able to control going to the toilet anymore and I'm just in tears now as I'm thinking maybe things are getting worse for him :mecry: I've been really worried about him all weekend as he's been having lots of head tremors and body judders and has been behaving oddly. He keeps constantly scratching at the back door every 5 mins or so in the evening and when I get up to let him out he just stands in the kitchen staring in to space like he doesn't know what he's meant to be doing His barking has got much worse of late too as once he starts it's like he goes into his own little world and doesn't stop I know it's only one poop indoors but I'm just really worried about what it might mean as it's never happened before in his whole life

I had glandular fever once when I was at University - I think the GP mentioned it as an option but when he found out I'd had it in the past he seemed to think you couldn't get it twice

Nope I've not had any blood tests taken - I'm due for a thyroid blood test in July but I think that literally just checks the thyroid levels Last time I went to see my GP he was actually quite rude to me about the fact that I kept going back as my ear infection hadn't cleared up and basically told me not to come back again unless I thought my eardrum had burst

Just need to let off a bit of steam and I know I've not posted for a while but have been feeling a bit down about everything for the last few weeks I went back to teaching in January after working in publishing for about 4 years and am just feeling in a state of constant tiredness/illness at the mo In the winter term I had a horrid cold/sore throat/chest infection that led to me coughing up blood and having about 10 days off from supply and eventually I lost my voice completely and the doctor told me not to teach for at least a week. Then this term it started 2 weeks before half term with a cold/sore throat - that then went into a terrible ear infection and I was off for 4 days and lost the hearing in that ear (still haven't got it fully back). I still felt grotty all over half term and didn't get much rest what with marking the optional tests and writing reports and my nan also passed away so we travelled up for the funeral and it was a really emotional time This week I've had a sore throat all week again while I've been teaching and last night noticed that my tonsils are all pussy and horrid The doctor reckons it's just a case of building up an immunity to all the bugs in schools again but I just feel so exhausted from teaching at the moment and I feel like I'm not getting a chance to get better and then when I think I'm better the next bug seems to hit me a few weeks later. OH and I were supposed to be away this weekend at a wedding and he's ended up going on his own as I just feel so tired/poorly that I really need to recoup myself for Monday and just couldn't face a late night and a four hour drive today I think at the moment I'm just wondering if I'm just not cut out for teaching and all the stress/work that goes with it and if that's why I keep getting poorly? If I count up the number of bugs/sore throats/colds/ear infections I've had since last September I must be at about 10 plus by now I'm really just feeling a bit at the end of my tether with it all and not sure if there's anything I can take to help boost my immune system? I've also got an underactive thyroid and have been on thyroxine for about 10 years now and I take Centrum vitamin tablets every morning too. If I'm honest my diet isn't great in that I tend to get tired and then go for some sugar to give me a boost and get me through the day and I'm so knackered in the evenings that I'll often opt for just sticking a pizza in the oven rather than cooking something 'wholesome' and good for me. I've been out to Asda today and bought tonnes of fruit and veg for this week and am determined to eat more healthily in the hope that may help but I'm just wondering if there's any other supplements or things I can do to help. I'm also starting to feel a bit worried that there's something 'underlying' going on as the amount of bugs I'm picking up just seems to be beyond what's normal - I'm really careful at school about washing my hands and using hand gels etc before I eat to try and cut the germs down but that doesn't seem to help either. I've spoken to my GP but he just seems to have dismissed it all as me just needing to build up resilience

Billy we're all thinking about you here - I know how much you love your boy and how devasted you must be right now :GroupHug: You've done everything you could possibly have done to allow him as much time as possible and I think you're an inspiration to us all :GroupHug: Thinking of you and Mal this afternoon

Thanks for that link that's really interesting - we're in touch with a homeopathic vet and he's on Vitamin E too which I think helps with nerve endings so I'll mention this to the vet too I think what's helped me stayed positive too is that we thought we were going to lose him back in January so the time since that really has seemed like a bonus and has helped to give me time to mentally prepare for what is ahead. I'm not saying I'll manage to keep my positive outlook but while I've still got it I intend to make the most of it! I'm also really aware that I don't want Olls picking up on my being down/worried too. He's bright and happy at the moment so I'm doing my best to take my lead from him so to speak and appreciate every moment.

Just thought I'd do a quick update on Olls as we were back at the vets yesterday (to get him checked before his insurance with M&S runs out) and he'd been getting worse on his legs in the last few weeks so I was fairly sure we'd need to up his meds Tbh it was pretty much what I was expecting - the neurological condition has got worse and he's got v. little feeling in his back end at all - the vet went over him with a kind of needle poking him and checking for reactions. He's also got patches in his front end with no feeling either so the problem is spreading up the spine (which I think I already knew in all honesty). I asked her to be be brutally honest with us and explained about the insurance running out and whether she thought we should renew the policy or look elsewhere and she reassured me that there really is no further treatment beyond the steroids and that in her opinoin Olls won't be with us beyond this winter She can't give us any type of time scale at all but at the moment all the time we have with him is a massive bonus and on the plus side I've got six weeks off school in the summer to have a v. special last summer with my boy On the plus side he can't feel any pain whatsoever, even to the point where he can no longer feel the pain from his arthritis in his hips which is a huuuuuge bonus and the vet told us that as far as he knows there's nothing wrong with him at all and he's probably wondering why we've even taken him to the vets I think as we all get older (both us and our dogs) something is going to eventually catch up with us and I think the positive side of this kind of condition is that it's completely painless and if I could wish anything for Olls that's what I wish for I think, just that he's not feeling any pain At the moment I seem to be feeling surprisingly calm and positive about it all. I'm just focussing on the fact that he's had a fab 5 years with us and if he'd stayed in Ireland realistically his life would have ended 5 years ago I don't know if it sounds odd but I'm just so pleased that he's not in any pain and that is never going to change - he's never going to know that he's ill and (unlike us humans) he's not going to care if his walk looks odd and if he falls over for no reason and I think knowing that is really helping a lot I've decided just not to renew his M&S policy and take the decision to have no insurance for him at all. The vet has given us a six months supply of his steroids and glucosamine (so I can claim all that from M&S before the policy ends) and realistically if he was diagnosed with something else that was life threatening I know we'd opt not to treat it as we wouldn't want to put him through it so for us, I hope, having no insurance is probably the right decision

You're exactly right there elricc and that's one of the things I'm quite worried about too I think that after thinking about it all weekend I've decided to bite the bullet and go for the job in my current primary school. It is quite a big risk as I might not even get it as the other teacher on contract has been there for 2 terms but if I don't try for it I think I'll regret it. I think ultimately my heart lies in primary and I really do love the staff/atmosphere in my current school and I think that's really important. The other issue is that the salary is going to be hugely more to stay there (as it gets a London fringe allowance) so I think it's the difference between about 15,500 for three days a week at the grammar school and 27,500 for full time at my current school - so not to be sneezed at really

Yep am basing that on previous experience and the fact that most of the staff are still the same as when I was there before - I think it's the kind of place that once people get a job there they don't leave! Most of break/lunch time seemed to be spent discussing grammatical issues and the like lol! The extra marking would mainly relate to coursework so that would be ongoing throughout the year really but I have to say I think marking piles of essays at home is less tiring that dealing with behavioural issues. Thanks for all the input though guys - I think what's making it particularly hard is that I think I've really 'fitted in' well with the staff at the school I'm currently at - without blowing my own trumpet I think I've impressed them with how well I've coped in what have been v. difficult circumstances and it's a really great feeling to know you're respected and well thought of at work.