So, I have some more medical news about Willow. However, I feel like I have to be somewhat diplomatic about how I approach it. It sounds like terrible news, and it certainly does suck, but it's not as bad as it sounds. To give you a sense of why her diagnosis caused relief rather than anguish, perhaps I should start at the beginning.
It's no secret that Willow has had more than her fair share of medical problems (as have most of our pets). While her back surgery was obviously the most drastic, she's also had adverse reactions to vaccines, a scratched eye, bladder infection, etc. I recently chronicled her bladder stone surgery, and D mentioned that she was begging for food after she came home from that ordeal. Well, the begging didn't stop, and she had several other strange symptoms, such as excessive thirst, rapid weight gain, lethargy, food guarding, etc. A little Internet research led us to believe that it could be Cushing's disease.
The most common cause of Cushing's is a tumor on one of the adrenal or pituitary glands, which would have meant additional surgery, plus medication to maintain appropriate steroid levels for the rest of her life. Though the syndrome is not in itself lethal, one researcher suggested that an average lifespan beyond diagnosis would be about two years. We talked to the veterinarian on the phone and she mentioned that all of Willow's blood work during her surgery had been normal, and that some of the symptoms (the hunger and thirst) could just be learned behaviors from her time being boarded at the vet. So, we waited for things to get better.
Not only did things not get better, they got a little worse. We started noticing some personality changes, and all of the other symptoms continued unabated. Then I started noticing that she was having a hard time seeing a treat when I held it on her left side. It was a little intermittent, but something was definitely going on. We considered cataracts, glaucoma, etc, but we had no idea why it had come on so suddenly. Then we considered a brain tumor. When we started researching dog brain tumors, she ended up having about 75% of the expected symptoms......not a good sign. Also, all the sites said that the only way to diagnose a brain tumor was to use an MRI or a CT scan, which can run around $1000 just for the test. If a tumor were confirmed, surgery is uncommon, ridiculously expensive, and not that effective. Yes, they have dog chemo and dog radiation, but those only extend their lives a bit....prognosis: about six months.
At this point we were sure there was more going on than just learned behaviors from her time at the vet. We took her back in and they ran some additional tests....thyroid tests, blood cultures, etc. She also mentioned the possibility of something called SARD, and recommended that she see a pet opthamologist. We took her to the recommended eye doctor later that day....between D's OB appointment and Willow's vet visits, we had three different doctors' appointments that day. The opthamologist recommended an additional test, an electroretinograph (ERG), which would measure the electrical impulses from her retinas to her brain. If confirmed, this would rule out a brain tumor, spinal tumor, and endocrine-related issues....and narrow it down to SARD. Two days later, she had the test and it was positive, meaning she has zero activity between her eyes and her brain.
Willow is completely blind. I know it took me a while to get here, but it's really not as bad as it sounds. First, the alternatives were all pretty awful, and there's no shortened life span associated with this diagnosis. Second, dogs don't have the same kind of psychological issues that would occur if a human were told in middle age that they've suddenly gone blind and there was nothing that could be done. And third, dogs' other senses are strong enough that they can learn to adapt really quickly. Willow has already demonstrated this fact, and she's doing quite well. Though she occasionally runs into things, for the most part she can navigate around the house at full speed. If you didn't know she was blind, it would probably take hours (if not days) to realize that she was having any issues at all. Between a great sense of hearing and smell, and the sense memory she had from walking around our house for the last six months, she's pretty comfortable navigating around by herself.
The culprit is called Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS), and though it's still very poorly understood, Willow's symptoms were dead-on. Some researchers think it might be related to Cushing's (which we thought she had originally), but there's no known cause. Essentially, over the course of days to weeks, dogs go from fully sighted to completely blind (that's the "sudden" part of the name). It's generally believed to be an auto-immune issue, which means the rods and cones in her eyes were destroyed by her own immune system, leaving her with no sight at all. There is no known cure and it's completely irreversible. There is some research into potential ways to slow or stop the degeneration (mostly at Iowa State University), but it's all experimental and it's too late for Willow anyway.
Yes, this sucks. However, I'd like to end on a positive note. Willow is doing very well, and we're quite relieved that it wasn't a brain tumor or one of the other more lethal diagnoses. As I wrote that last sentence, she walked down the stairs from the couch, walked into the kitchen for some water, and then headed down the hallway toward the front door. Ninety-five percent of the time, there is literally zero difference in her behavior between now and a year ago. Many of the associated symptoms like increased hunger and thirst have gotten better as she learns to adapt. The few things that are still affecting her are perfectly manageable....for instance, she tends to sleep a little bit more and a little bit more deeply, and doesn't really show an interest in getting out of her dog bed at night to go upstairs and get in bed. That just means we have to pick her up and carry her upstairs and into bed, which we're perfectly willing to do....it's good practice for carrying around the sack of potatoes that D will be delivering in August. All in all, it's sad but okay, and we're moving on.
The most common cause of Cushing's is a tumor on one of the adrenal or pituitary glands, which would have meant additional surgery, plus medication to maintain appropriate steroid levels for the rest of her life. Though the syndrome is not in itself lethal, one researcher suggested that an average lifespan beyond diagnosis would be about two years. We talked to the veterinarian on the phone and she mentioned that all of Willow's blood work during her surgery had been normal, and that some of the symptoms (the hunger and thirst) could just be learned behaviors from her time being boarded at the vet. So, we waited for things to get better.
Not only did things not get better, they got a little worse. We started noticing some personality changes, and all of the other symptoms continued unabated. Then I started noticing that she was having a hard time seeing a treat when I held it on her left side. It was a little intermittent, but something was definitely going on. We considered cataracts, glaucoma, etc, but we had no idea why it had come on so suddenly. Then we considered a brain tumor. When we started researching dog brain tumors, she ended up having about 75% of the expected symptoms......not a good sign. Also, all the sites said that the only way to diagnose a brain tumor was to use an MRI or a CT scan, which can run around $1000 just for the test. If a tumor were confirmed, surgery is uncommon, ridiculously expensive, and not that effective. Yes, they have dog chemo and dog radiation, but those only extend their lives a bit....prognosis: about six months.
At this point we were sure there was more going on than just learned behaviors from her time at the vet. We took her back in and they ran some additional tests....thyroid tests, blood cultures, etc. She also mentioned the possibility of something called SARD, and recommended that she see a pet opthamologist. We took her to the recommended eye doctor later that day....between D's OB appointment and Willow's vet visits, we had three different doctors' appointments that day. The opthamologist recommended an additional test, an electroretinograph (ERG), which would measure the electrical impulses from her retinas to her brain. If confirmed, this would rule out a brain tumor, spinal tumor, and endocrine-related issues....and narrow it down to SARD. Two days later, she had the test and it was positive, meaning she has zero activity between her eyes and her brain.
Willow is completely blind. I know it took me a while to get here, but it's really not as bad as it sounds. First, the alternatives were all pretty awful, and there's no shortened life span associated with this diagnosis. Second, dogs don't have the same kind of psychological issues that would occur if a human were told in middle age that they've suddenly gone blind and there was nothing that could be done. And third, dogs' other senses are strong enough that they can learn to adapt really quickly. Willow has already demonstrated this fact, and she's doing quite well. Though she occasionally runs into things, for the most part she can navigate around the house at full speed. If you didn't know she was blind, it would probably take hours (if not days) to realize that she was having any issues at all. Between a great sense of hearing and smell, and the sense memory she had from walking around our house for the last six months, she's pretty comfortable navigating around by herself.
The culprit is called Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS), and though it's still very poorly understood, Willow's symptoms were dead-on. Some researchers think it might be related to Cushing's (which we thought she had originally), but there's no known cause. Essentially, over the course of days to weeks, dogs go from fully sighted to completely blind (that's the "sudden" part of the name). It's generally believed to be an auto-immune issue, which means the rods and cones in her eyes were destroyed by her own immune system, leaving her with no sight at all. There is no known cure and it's completely irreversible. There is some research into potential ways to slow or stop the degeneration (mostly at Iowa State University), but it's all experimental and it's too late for Willow anyway.
Yes, this sucks. However, I'd like to end on a positive note. Willow is doing very well, and we're quite relieved that it wasn't a brain tumor or one of the other more lethal diagnoses. As I wrote that last sentence, she walked down the stairs from the couch, walked into the kitchen for some water, and then headed down the hallway toward the front door. Ninety-five percent of the time, there is literally zero difference in her behavior between now and a year ago. Many of the associated symptoms like increased hunger and thirst have gotten better as she learns to adapt. The few things that are still affecting her are perfectly manageable....for instance, she tends to sleep a little bit more and a little bit more deeply, and doesn't really show an interest in getting out of her dog bed at night to go upstairs and get in bed. That just means we have to pick her up and carry her upstairs and into bed, which we're perfectly willing to do....it's good practice for carrying around the sack of potatoes that D will be delivering in August. All in all, it's sad but okay, and we're moving on.
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