She's baaack!

Last weekend Hazel and I hit the mountains for the first time since her illness. I was still a little scared about her over doing it even though she was acting completely normal and nutty. ;) We didn't run, just took it easy and made time to appreciate the beauty around us.

So.Grateful.

I can't tell you what it means to me. Our family has gone from the lowest of lows, the fear of losing my girl paralyzed me, to the incredible high of her "pulling a Hazel" and completely bouncing back!

Now that the sun comes up so early, we have to hit the trails before dawn!

Hazel's illness pulled our family so close together. We are close already, but having someone that we all adore so sick made us more vulnerable than ever.

My husband is an amazing man, and this experience made me love him even more. When I had to work, he was home with her 24/7..he assured me that we would do whatever it took to figure this out. When I was starting to lose hope, he promised me Hazel would be ok..and I believed him.

Hazel is definitely "back" and she's better than ever. Her energy is amazing, but most of all, her connection to all of us is even stronger. I have seen such a change. She really seems to understand how much we love her. She's always been snuggly, but now even moreso! For awhile she didn't like to be left alone, even if it meant following us into the bathroom. She always had to be touching one of us.

Before she destroyed him

We have an all new appreciation for our girl. While I am very relieved that she is feeling better now, I can't help but worry a little that this will happen again.

I plan on having another complete blood panel done in a couple of weeks to compare any levels that were elevated and make sure everything looks "normal".

For now, I am just incredibly grateful and enjoying our girl to the fullest!

Hazel's Pit of View

Hi doggie dog frends and humans, it's meez, Hazel!

I'm starting to feel so much better now that I stole da computer from mama.

Can we just agree that last week sucked? Meez felt so bad. My body was hurtin and meez didn't know why. My mama's eyes leaked all of the time so meeez tried to be brave for her. She kept saying to be brave and strong and meez was! Everyone said so.

Meez got to know my new vet more than meez ever wanted to. We had to go to the howspital every day. Meez didn't like being away from my home all day, but the people at my doctor's office were very nice. Everyone told meez what a pretty girl I am. My doctor let meez climbs into her lap and give her hugs. Meez likes to give hugs, even when meez is sick.

I've been in my family now for I don't know how many months cuz meez can't count, but it feels like a long time. Even though meez loves my family and have been a very good dawg if I do say so myself, mama said she felt me still holding back. Holding what??? I herd her tell da daddy that she thought I was still pawtecting my hart a little since meez been hurt in the past.

Something changed. I feel better on the outside; my medicine is helping thank DOG! But my insides changed too. Meez hart feels happy and meez knows I love my family sooooooooo much. My daddy and meez bonded lots. I found out how much he loves meez too when he took such good cares of meez. I have always been close to my girlz but now I know I have da daddy wrapped around my paws too. Hee hee.

Meez has become even more snuggly, and just to make sure nobody feels left out, meez takes turns hugging, kissing, and sleepings with everyones.

I am feeling real good now and can't wait to go on da mountain again with mama. She won't let me yet, but soon if my medicines keep werking. I'm ok with not being able to do the fun outside stuff yet cuz now meez knows that no matter what, my family will always bee heres for meez. They told me that before, but for some reasons I beleeve them now.

Now meez knows that family is forever. I wish I didn't have to feel so bad to figure that out on meez own, but at least I knowz now.

Peace out doggy dogz!
licks and hugz,
Hazel

Hazel Update

It's been quite the week!!! Hazel has spent every day this week hooked up to IV's for fluids and antibiotics. Our Dr was able to get her temp down each day, but it always came back as soon as we took her home in the evenings.

Hugs for sissy after spending a long day at the vet

After numerous tests and x-rays brought no answers, our regular vet was at a loss. I received a scary call on Thursday. Her fever had spiked even higher and I was told to take her to ER for the specialists to take over. We were there for hours. An ultra sound was ordered and we hoped that it would finally reveal the cause of illness. Nope. Nothing.

We waited for hours as specialists reviewed her charts. Calls were made to other doctors, the team worked so hard to try to give us an answer. Finally, our primary dr in charge came in for the last time with a look of defeat on her face. She wanted so badly to give me answer, but once again, nothing. There were very minor abnormalities, but nothing that stuck out. She gave us some options..we could biopsy portions of her liver, spleen, and lymph nodes as a conservative measure, but she recommended exploratory surgery.

I was in no position to make a decision at that point. I was emotionally and physically exhausted, as was my girl. I could not imagine cutting her open when she was in such a fragile state. It was at this time when my fear of losing her came to an all time high. If we were going to do surgery she wanted us to be there the next morning.

We left the office with the intention of discussing it as a family. My wonderful husband is very, very good with all the medical stuff. We didn't feel like surgery was the right option for us as this point.

From everything that we have heard and researched, it was still possible that Hazel could respond to her "fever of unknown origin" with medication and time. We decided to give her the weekend to see if she has made progress. As long as we kept her temp down below 106 they did not feel she was critical. Friday, Hazel's temp was 105.5 so back to our vet we went. She was hospitalized all day, hooked up to IV fluids again, and a new drug that my vet wanted to try. It had a broader spectrum and was quite strong. We were up for anything and gave it the green light.

At this time, I was at a loss. I was so afraid that we would be looking at surgery and still have no answers. I didn't want to put her through that if they were still grasping at straws. I prayed all day.

When we went to pick her up that evening, Dr J came out with a little smile. She told me she was very cautiously optimistic that Hazel was responding to the new drug because her fever was down around 100 and it was the fastest she has been able to get it down. It also remained down even when she reduced the amount of fluids.

We were to take our girl home and take her temp before bed and then again in the morning. I was so nervous to do this because every other time she's come home from the vet, her fever spiked back up.

We were incredibly relieved when her temp was at 100.6 that night, and 100.1 the  next morning. Our vet called to check on her Saturday and was so happy to hear this! So now our plan is to continue the two different meds she is on and hope this does the trick.

It is now Sunday and Hazel is still fever free. She's eating and drinking like a champ, but I'm still guarded. She is still very weak and lethargic, and there's no sparkle or life in her eyes yet.

Though...this brought a big smile to my face.....

 

It's the very first time she has picked up a ball in over a week. It didn't last long, but it's progress!!
Shortly after that I picked up her leash to hang it back in it's proper place. She immediately perked up and sauntered over to the door. She wanted to go out! I didn't want to push her with as weak as she has been, but she has also been cooped up inside a hospital for days, and outside only to potty. I chose to take her lead and took her out front. Our neighbor's old Golden came over to say hello and Hazels tail wagged. She pulled me in the direction that we usually leave on our runs, so again, I took her lead and walked her down just about a block. She wanted to go more but I knew it would catch up to her so I made her come home.

She is currently resting and we are all feeling optimistic. I am praying that our nightmare is almost over. There was a time when I couldn't bear to see her picture, because I was afraid I was looking at life without her and I just couldn't go there. Her daddy has been such a source of strength for us both. He didn't allow me to give up hope and promised we would do everything possible to heal her and get to the bottom of her issues. The thing is, we may never know. If this is it, if she rebounds on these meds, once again, just like many months ago, we will never know what is causing this volatile reaction in her body.

Our girl appears to be a medical mystery, and I don't do well with the unknown. What makes it more bearable is the fact that I know I am not walking this alone. Her rescue family has been a huge support as are my Hazel loving friends. I thank everyone so much for being there for us...I am hoping this is over..at least for now.

My baby is sick and I am losing it

My baby is sick. Really sick. I am at work which is the last place I want to be right now, but I had to come in due to being short staffed. I am feeling helpless, so I write.

Hazel is not home alone..daddy is home taking are of her while I wipe my tears.

Our girl started showing signs of not quite being herself Sunday morning. When I took a Mother's Day photo, I noticed that her eyes were not sparkling, and she was just not herself. She had become less and less tolerant of our new foster, so I initially chalked it up to her being annoyed and pouty.

As the morning grew on, I knew something was wrong. She felt really warm to me so we took her temperature and sure enough, she was running a fever of 104. I know they say not to really worry until it's 105-105.5 is what I was told. (You don't want to wait until 106 because then we're talking potential organ failure.) We kept her comfortable and made sure she ate/drank. Monday morning she was the same so I got her into the vet. I was inititally relieved because once the vet took some history, knowing we just got a new foster at exactly one week from yesterday, she assumed Hazel must have picked something up from her. She said that she could be a carrier of something without showing symptoms herself. She gave an anti biotic just in case and told us to call if her temp got up to 105.5

Last night was scary. I looked into Hazel's eyes and they looked sunken and just glazed over. I took her temp and it was 104.8..getting close. I am not an overly religious person, but I put my hands on her and prayed and prayed. I was asking favors from everyone I knew in heaven, including my dad, to please help my girl.

Eventually she jumped on the bed which I took as a good sign. She asked to get under the covers to which I obliged. This morning I fed her breakfast in bed and she ate and drank. I thought she looked better. I gave her a big kiss and left for work. Hubby just called and her temp is now 105.2. :(

We are both hoping it's because she was under the covers. Hazel is now on the couch and we are cooling her down some. Hubby will take her temp in another hour, if it's still high, we need to take her in again.

Hazel on her way back from the vet. She did not want to get out of the car.

I am someone that needs answers and wants to get to the bottom of things. I was floored that they did not even do blood work yesterday. I saw a new vet in the office and while others might appreciate a "wait and see" approach and not having unnecessary tests taken, I am kicking myself for not insisting. The vet is now off today and was going to call me tomorrow to check in. I am just praying that things turn a corner, and SOON. It's heartbreaking to see my strong girl so weak. :(

I have a tendency to worry about the worst case scenario. I was afraid my baby would just stop breathing last night. You know the saying, those you love are who you fear losing most. We had weird medical issues with Hazel when we first got her. Nothing was ever diagnosed despite numerous tests. I am not good with mysteries. We feared that there was some underlying issue that would go undiagnosed until it was too late. Hazel has been incredibly healthy for the past 9 months with not a single issue, so am praying that my baby rallies. Please??

Thank you for putting up with my rambling and scattered thoughts.