As Jeremi described in a previous post, Howie’s pain has gotten a lot worse over the course of the last 15 days. He cannot walk without excruciating pain while standing up and sitting down look even more painful. To that end it was imperative that MRI scans be taken as soon as possible so that we can resolve this issue without any more pain to the poor guy.
His MRI appointment was on Wednesday, we got there around 7:30 and he was taken in around 9. I was told to expect a call from Dr Ruehlmann regarding the outcome of the scan.
So she called and Jeremi’s previous post explains what her diagnosis at that time was.
She called called again at 4:30 yesterday as she said she would, to give him a surgery date. However, she had looked over the MRI scans with the radiologist at Angell and they had collectively concluded that his ailment was not those things described in the previous post. It is actually a condition called Discospondylitis which is basically everything described in the previous post, except for the fact that the "mass of soft tissue" is an infection. Surgery is not the first option to treat this. Antibiotics usually fix this in a matter of months. Most often, there’s nothing left and none of the side effects of an intrusive surgery are there. (Long cage rest, instability for lifetime etc)
I asked her if, in the off chance that this is a tumor (a malignant one), we’d be losing time by going on the antibiotics. She told me that whether antibiotics work or not would be an indication of whether it is a tumor or not and we’d know that in a couple of weeks just by observing the pain.
My second question was related to his previous treatment of antibiotics. Dr Constantino at South Bay had prescribed him a low dosage of antibiotics for his diarrhea about a week after this ailment started. During the time he took those antibiotics his pain had subsided to a manageable level. 5 days after we stopped the antibiotics the pain had come back with full force. So I asked her if that whole episode could be in support of the Discospondylitis diagnosis and she said yes.
So I picked up those antibiotics last night and we’re on them now. He is also on another form of antibiotics that will prevent his infection to spread and cause meningitis. Maybe I’m being too optimistic but it seemed to me there was less yelping yesterday. It could also be due to the narcotic patch he’s wearing.
While googling this new diagnosis I ran into this post in a dog forum and I believe it is remarkably similar, down to the breed and location, to Howie’s situation.
All in all, we are not out of the woods yet but from my past experience with the weaker version of antibiotics I’m cautiously optimistic about Howie’s chances of recovery. His healthy appetite and good mood also support my optimism
As always, he sends everybody his love.
I Love You