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Permalink Reply by Aj on March 28, 2010 at 4:49pm

Ok I called the hospital that the vet referred me to. The eye specialist is not in today. Only Mon.-Fri. However, there is a general doctor. They said the general doctor see Brian and he will talk with the eye specialist when he returns?! So...now my choice is to pay $93 for an emergency office visit to tell us that his eye is bleeding or wait until tomorrow for the eye vets to be in. The vet seems to be out of the plan now that he had to refer us to an ophthalmologist...how is the general doctor at the referred hospital going to know what's wrong with Brian if the vet that I went to didn't know? :(

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Permalink Reply by Beth on March 28, 2010 at 4:57pm

That is a tough call. All I can add as possibly hopeful is that the emergency vets are also usually "referral vets" in most communities; they get the difficult cases that are too much for a regular vet's office to deal with, and in many communities the emergency/ referral vets are the ones who also do difficult surgeries and the like, so they more often see complicated problems.

I know that's not real helpful because it's all "maybes" and "what-if's", but around here the emergency vet also doubles as a referral office and they have specialists in all sorts of things. If this vet works every day with an opthamologist, he's more likely to see dogs with eye problems himself, possibly.

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Permalink Reply by Mary on March 29, 2010 at 10:50pm

I'm so sorry aj, I remember how heartbroken I felt as Roxy's glaucoma got worse and I felt helpless. I would go to an eye specialist, to make sure you are getting a diagnosis and not the "well it could be this or maybe this". My parents have a fantastic one here in AZ that they love and they have to drive a bit to get to her...if you would like her number let me know and I'll get it for you.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on March 29, 2010 at 11:04pm

Anymore on Brian???

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Permalink Reply by Aj on March 29, 2010 at 11:49pm

When I woke up today, I didn't see blood or much discharge. And the swelling seems to have gone down significantly; I'm assuming it's because of the large amount of blood and discharge that came out the previous night.

Went in to the eye vet today for a check up and found out Brian's eye pressure level is way below normal. This scared the eye vet since it was above normal when we went in on Friday. She said the inflammation of the blood vessels grew worse, she said she can't see into the eye with the tools that she was using. She said she could barely see last visit but not at all now.

She said Brian "pulled his eye muscle inward and was trying really hard to keep his eye closed" when she was trying to examine it with the slit-lamp. She wants to sedate him so she can properly examine his eye...get some cultures, etc. for $1,060....just to see if she can find something wrong.

The other plan she keeps talking about is enucleation of the eye, which will cost $1,602. The the plan that I've been leaning toward, is continue with the meds to see if Brian's eye will get better. But she believes he won't regain his sight in that eye and since his eye will cause pain for Brian, she's really wanting to take his eye out...or it could be for the $$$. Since she said the meds are basically to hold him over until the enucleation of the eye.

I really hope and want Brian will keep his eye, and wish that it'll get better with meds...I mean, his eyes are just too pretty and plus, he's too young. I'm planning to consult 2 more eye vets that are in my area to see what they say.

Oh, and I brought in a test tube with some stuff that we got out of Brian's eye yesterday. The eye vet examined it under a microscope and said all were discharge. Except one. There was a clear, jelly-like substance which she believes came from the back of his eye--which could be really bad.

I am updating both my blog with short, main points of each day along with a picture. I'll update this discussion (and maybe my blog as well) for lengthy information.
If you wish to follow my blog, I have some (pretty gruesome) pictures of Brian's eye progress that are up:
http://einchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/03/updates-on-brian.html

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Permalink Reply by Gromit, Sparkle, and Doug on March 30, 2010 at 12:14am

Wow, AJ, that's really tough but you're doing the very best you can for Brian. We love our furry pals so much but sometimes practicality raises it's ugly head. About possibly removing a dog's eye: A good friend of mine keeps Australian Shepherds and one had to have it's eye out and he adapted just fine and lived a happy and long life.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on March 30, 2010 at 7:10am

Aj, I agree completely with getting a second opinion, because I'm sure this vet is good but sometimes another person has different experiences and sees something different, and sometimes symptoms present atypically.

Something about what you said about him trying to pull away from light made me think of uveitis; as an arthritis sufferer who (thankfully) only had one flare-up, I can tell you it's terribly painful and light sensitivity is one of the symptoms. I found some info about canine uveitis. I have no medical background and some of what you are saying does not match, but some of it certainly does:

http://www.dog-health-guide.org/canineuveitis.html

The reason I agree with the second opinion is because the only treatment for uveitis is anti-inflammatories (steroid drops), and when I read your list of meds it's the one thing he's not on. Since uveitis can be brought on by trauma, it would be possible that was not the initial problem (when the main symptom was green discharge) but has become the problem. The redness, bleeding, reaction to light etc all sound different from his first set of symptoms to me.

Poor Brian. Eye pain is awful. Please continue to keep us posted. :-(

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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on March 30, 2010 at 10:44am

Yes, uveitis is what my husband has had...twice. It is excruciating! Sorry you had to endure that too, Beth :(



Another good thing about seeing another vet is, even if the diagnosis is the same, maybe another vet can work with you on the financing. I cried about Brian again this morning..I hope you have better news today.

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Permalink Reply by christy fry on March 30, 2010 at 10:51am

oh my you are brave!!! If I woke up to his eye like that the only thing I could prob. handle was the removal as fast as possible to ensure that he felt better. You are Brave and I hope your boy gets better no matter the final desion soon that pic. is enough to make me cry.

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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on March 30, 2010 at 12:28am

AJ, I am so, so sorry you and Brian are going through all this. I've been so worried about you two and I cry when I read he's not better yet. I wish there was something I can do. Please know we are thinking of you and hoping for the best.

On another note, my husband has had intense eye pain from inflammation of the iris. He told me that, at the height of his pain, if the doctor had given him the option to remove his eye, he would do it...the pain was that bad. If the vet believes Brian's eye had already ruptured (and I imagine there is threat of infection) it might be the kindest route to go with removing the eye. He's young and can adapt really well (just like Doug said). I peeked in your blog, saw the photos. What a night mare you have been through. If I saw that, I might just lose it. You are being very strong and brave, that's for sure.

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Permalink Reply by Julia on March 30, 2010 at 1:56am

I didn't want to join in this discussion until you mentioned removal of the eye. I don't want to seem cold. But. My sister's Golden Ret. lost both his eyes when he was just one year old, due to a fungal infection, I believe. His behavior after that changed, of course, as he had to adjust how he related to the world. He became more cautious. But he led a long and happy life. He was not as active, and tended to gain weight because of his reduced activity. But he was a young, vibrant Golden, and the best dog she ever had, so she wasn't going to let this stop him. We all kept a lookout for strong rubber balls with bells in them, and other adaptive-type toys for a young dog. She made a point of not rearranging the furniture too often. But other than these fairly obvious adaptations, Reilly had a very good life, and my sister had a very good dog.

So, as hard as all this was on the whole family, it was not catastrophic. After the vet bills, the biggest expense was the fence on her very large property. Reilly did not want to wander after this, so it really wasn't needed for him. But the fungus (?) came from the river on her property, and she wanted to protect her other dog from the same fate. But, of course, the other dog found ways out of the fence, so it really was not a worthwhile investment.

Losing his sight, or his eyes, is not the worst that can happen. That sounds cold, I know, but we've all had terrible things happen to our dogs that they did not survive. My sister's dog survived his blindness at an early age very well. I hope that can be a comfort to you, and a help in making decisions.

Julia

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on March 30, 2010 at 11:35am

We are so sorry for all you two are going through! Our thoughts are with you!

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