[Giftbearer]

Hi Daveyo,

Dr. Norwood has given the NDV in the body, but now he's telling me he has never done a spinal tap and doesn't feel comfortable doing the CNS part! Now we need to find somebody who does neuro to either do that for him or come and assist him.

He still has not received a call from Dr. Sears. If the CSF tap is supposed to be done 24 hours later then we don't have much time. Maybe Dr. Sears knows of a vet in the Atlanta area who would be willing to do that part.

I don't know whether it is disasterous or not to wait past that 24 hour mark, but the weekend's coming up and then nobody will be in their offices.

My understanding is that the worst symptoms we have to worry about are due to CNS involvement, so I gather that the shot to the body is not going to prevent any of those.

God, why did he wait to tell me that now? I thought he felt competent to do the whole thing.

I'll leave another message for you at the other messageboard too, but we need to find a quicker way to communicate so these vets will have proper back-up.

I don't know why Dr. Sears hasn't contacted him yet. Getting very worried.

[sunev]

Hi Pippit,

I learned that you need CSF-NDV tap 48-72 hours from the body injection. My dog's was done 71 hours from body injection! Yes, the procedure is really not easy and risky. My vet says they all know it but they don't do it everyday. When we couldn't find find somebody else, my vet agreed to do it. She was very brave. I also gave her trust and confidence. Daveyo told me there's only 1% chance of getting it right for first timers but I told him I would accept it if that's the only thing we've got. We added a lot of prayers for my dog and the vet.

I'm sure you can find somebody. There's one in our country who have done it a couple of times coz he also practices Dr. Sears' method but he needs to travel 18 hrs on land and 45 minutes by plane to get to our place. I'm sure there's one in your place. If you read the other postings, like the one who has a newfoundland and got cured, her vet was able to do the tap. You can try to locate the place.

Let's keep praying.

Love,
Venus

[Giftbearer]

Hi Venus,

That's good to know in case I can't get somebody to do it tomorrow. So I guess Monday's OK if we have to wait that long to get somethng lined up.

Your vet sure was brave to try it her first time doing a spinal tap in her life. She must be better than she thought she was to have been able to pull it off without any problems when there's a 99% chance of killing the dog on first try. I think mine might be too unsure of himself. That could make his hands shake at a crucial moment and could be a disaster if the needle goes in the wrong way, so if he really feels that unconfident I think it may turn out for the best if another vet does it.

Yay! My old friend called me back just a minute ago and gave me 4 possibilities. There's a husband and wife team she takes her dogs to but she doesn't know whether or not they know how to do spinal taps. I actually met them once when I rode with her on location to one of the shot clinics at a Pet Supply store, and they both seemed to consider animals their mission. She also gave me the contact info for two other seperate vets. Tomorrow I'll have to call all these and ask. I hope they don't look at me like I'm nuts for doing this. If they've heard of it and are open to it and have done enough spinal taps that they know the procedure like the back of their hand then that will be perfect. I am more attached to this dog than any dog I've ever had and I want nothing to go wrong.

Still praying for both yours and mine.

Love,

Pippit

[Daveyo]

Dr. Sears must still be in California substituting for another Doctor. He was supposed to have been back already, but I get no word yet from him. I am trying so hang in there.

I will talk to you on the other site

Daveyo

[sunev]

Hi Pippit,

See, there are always other possibilities. I hope Carmella will get her cns tap soon.

I went to the clinic this afternoon and found my dog having seizure. It really broke my heart. I stayed with him for almost 5 hours. I noticed his front legs don't have twitching anymore but when he has seizure, he kicks. My vet haven't given him anti seizure med coz he is very weak and malnourished. He is almost skin and bones, he lost 5kg. I made a triangular pillow that fits at a corner where his head rests coz I'm afraid he will hit his head hard when he seize. I just stroke him and gave him Ensure. He slept after an hour so I left. I had to ask my vet to give him something just for overnight. She agreed. I hope he can pull through with this.

God bless us all.

Venus

[Giftbearer]

Hi Daveyo,

Thanks so much for getting back to me. We're really caught in a crack here. I called a friend of mine's personal vet and just as I feared, he thought attempting this was nuts and flatly refused to take any part in it because of "liability". He called Dr. Norwood and I'm sure told him that he wouldn't do it if it were him, but thankfully, Dr. Norwood was not deterred and is still going to help me get her to a specialist to have it done. The other vet called me and sounded very edgy and almost pissed that my vet was on board with this. It just goes to show that there is alot of education to be done.

I really hope that Dr. Sears will appear more publicly now that these kinds of problems are presenting themselves and will do a bunch of workshops on the technique. Maybe if these vets see it done and get the chance to assist, and he were to do slide presentations which gave some of the hard data, including dogs he had cured, with pictures included, then they would take that leap to trust him.

I am willing to let him use Carmella's case as an example and the pictures I've taken. I also believe that Carmella's body chemistry may have a subtle difference that made it possible for her to hold steady as long as she has even after 20 days or more infected. That could be something very useful to further this discovery, and her progress after treatment may also tell us something about the recovery stage. I have a sense that she is a very special dog, and not only to me.

Dr. Norwood is thinking now of a particular local practice that has a veterinary neurologist in it to do the procedure. The question now is whether he/she is willing to do it. Dr. Sears may be instrumental in convincing this vet to do it. I e-mailed him in hopes that wherever he is he will have computer access and will get my message and call Dr. Norwood today. It's too bad he didn't give you a cell phone number for emergencies.

Dr. Norwood usually has a break around 2:00 or 3:00 pm Eastern Standard time and that's when he will probably call me this afternoon. I'm hoping they will have talked on the phone. I hope Dr. Sears is not on the airplane at that time with no computer access. Maybe by some stroke of luck he will receive my e-mail and call him right away.

Still hanging in there.

Sincerely,

Pippit

[Daveyo]

Venus

Please answer my question

Did your dog get the body injection????? and did your dog get the NDV CSF tap done???

Answer each separately.

If your dog got the NDV CSF tap done, don't worry. Start feeding the dog via I.V. and make sure you also give Baytril 0.5cc and penicillin G 1.0cc mixed together and inject intramuscular twice a day for 7 days to stop pneumonia. It always accompanies Distemper.

I hope the tap was done by an experienced VET.

Stay with your dog and encourage it to survive. Right now the dog needs your support.

So please answer the questions above.

Report back here ASAP

Daveyo

[sunev]

Dear Daveyo,

I posted this in my own thread, I thought you would read it from there.

Here's the treatment record:
NDV body injection was done SUNDAY (July 20)night at 9:00pm
Baytril and Penicillin G was started MONDAY (July 21) morning.
CSF-NDV tap was done WEDNESDAY (July 23) at 8:00pm.
He has IV running

I also have the latest posting in proboard, with the latest condition of my dog. I think it's better if we just use it so that there will be no confusion.

I have to go to the clinic now. My vet suggested I should bring my dog home and give supportive treatment here.

Will be back in two hours.

Thanks.

Venus

[Daveyo]

Ok will see you at my site

That way we avoid confusion.

Daveyo