What the Heck!

I have been a victim of the *dribble information at the last possible moment* since day one with Thane's treatment for Lyme. It has made it really difficult to budget for care that is already at the very least stretching my meager budget and often times resulting in my own health needs being put on the back burner.

This continues even now to plague the treatment Thane receives. The client should not have to be the one initiating the follow up on labs and what route is to be taken, continue, or ended. However, that is exactly what it is in my situation. It makes it much more difficult when one also has disabilities that impact communication and staff that would rather hang up on you or tell you they are too busy to deal with you.

I have hit an even bigger snag though. It has to do with the way I am able to afford Thane's treatment. I live in a state that does not require the veterinarian to write a prescription if they are able to dispense the drug themselves from their office. Though the AVMA says that veterinarians should honor a clients request, its not a law that they do in my state.

When Thane's prescription was handled by the specialist, there was no problem. He just contacted the pharmacy for me where I could then go pick it up. With my regular veterinarian taking over his care however that has not been so simple. When the specialist requested three additional months on the meds, I figured it'd work the same way as before. That was not my experience however. When I finally did get them to agree to call the prescription in to the pharmacy, it required me to first go into the vet office and sign a waiver for internet prescription (which this was not since it was just up the road at the local pharmacy) and pay them a ten dollar fee before they would even take the few minutes it required to call the prescription in. I had to do all of this in one of the worst storms of the season without the assistance of my guide dog, who at the time still had vision deficit which prevented him from guiding in rain or after dark.

The three months meds behind us, I budgeted for the two hundred dollar vet bill for re-testing and the possibility that his meds would need continued if he was not negative. What I was faced with however was a whole new policy at the vet clinic. Not only did they never get back to me about where we were to go from here other than the short term response to finish the current meds I had on hand, when I finally got a response because I contacted them for the third time for it, I learned that now their policy was to not honor a clients request for a prescription to be filled elsewhere if they could fill it at the vet clinic. They made it sound like this had always been the policy when in fact, just in November I was told the waiver form and fee was the policy.

You may wonder what the big deal is. If my vet could dispense it why not just get it from her clinic.  There were two obstacles with this however. One being that Thane reacted to the brand my vet dispenses when we received a week of the medication from her previously. This points to a filler sensitivity. The second is a whopper though- the price tag. I can get his meds for about eighteen bucks at the local pharmacy This is actually the high price for the area pharmacies. Some places only charge eight bucks for it. While my vet clinic wants nearly seventy dollars for the same prescription for a one month supply!

I was faced with a heartbreaking and scary situation. I had to inform them that without a prescription for the local pharmacy I would have to cease treatment. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make. I knew that with how short a duration that he had been symptom free that the reality was that he would become infected again and the whole cycle of fighting for his meds would begin anew.

I gave the vet clinic a couple of hours to respond. When I heard nothing, I sent a fax to the specialist. I explained what was taking place and why I would not be able to fulfill his orders. I also stated that if he had any ideas to help me, I would really like to hear his options.

In less than an hour, I heard back from the vet clinic- they had agreed to call his prescription into the pharmacy, but I was told this was to be a just this time situation. Though I am grateful for the fact, that I have the meds Thane needs for the month, this isn't over for me or for Thane.

As hard as this is going to be to venture out and create a new Veterinarian/ Client with guide dog working partnership, it is the only course of action that will resolve this situation. Thane needs from one to three months more of meds (with three being the most realistic for how ill he was). Even if I could afford to pay the price my vet wants for the meds, I would not do it. This is more than me wanting to do things my way. It is a principle to me that you don't pay such an extremely elevated price for something when it can be obtained for less (not to mention Thane's reaction to her brand), while living on such a fixed income and having to do without so much that is medically necessary.

I'm not talking about refusal to accept a dispensed drug for something that can be handled with a week of meds. This is a chronic med (10th month beginning now) for a disease that went about as far as it could and the client still survived because the vet did not believe that our ticks carry disease and therefore never considered the possibility that he could have Lyme.

For lack of a better way to describe this situation, it is ludicrous!

We Are Celebrating!

The news we have been striving towards for nine long months is finally a reality! Thane is Lyme negative. That is music even to a deafblind gal's ears let me tell ya!

We have worked long and hard since Thane collapsed to bring this to an end and now that it is here, it is hard to describe how I feel.

I am thrilled for sure, but in the same breath I know that as long as he had Lyme, its inevitable that he has cyst form within him which could eventually cause relapse. The alternative supplements and approaches that have been part of his protocol should help. I am trying to hold onto that at least for today. Today is a time to celebrate. We celebrate today because I know had he not been diagnosed when he was, I would not have him in my life today. We will celebrate again though when his coat is full and beautiful again. Its growing and that is all that is important today. Well- not all- the big thing today is that we achieved what at times I felt may never happen. We achieved what for now I will call remission.

So what did we do today- we headed out in the rain/ sunshine/ heavy wind and ran some errands- doing something that any guide/ service dog team in the pacific northwest might be doing. Isn't it marvelous that we can do that without having to worry about the added stress on the immune system of the work/ Lyme combination!

Tomorrow, it'll be back to the drawing board re-evaluating supplements to be sure the right prevention protocol is in place when the few remaining days of antibiotics end.

Today though- isn't it just such a beautiful day! WE WON!

The Status with Thane

Much improvement has taken place in my wonderful sidekick. We are learning how to work with his energy. I'm finding keeping him busy and further training do help.

Presently the only symptom that is identifiable is the hair growth in progress. This is one of those symptoms that just takes time. With as multi-system devastating as it was before his diagnosis. I find this just amazing that we are at this juncture- getting our life back. I am eagerly anticipating his results to follow-up testing. My heart believes they will read NEGATIVE. The vet concurs with my feeling by seeing him.

Its still pretty amazing to me how this can devastate a life- how smart this bacterium really is. I know it will take a while before I will really relax and not be looking for symptoms from any possible cyst forms that took advantage of antibiotic free territory to wreak havoc again.

I'm getting ahead of myself now though- we still have to get the test results that tell us its time to celebrate smile

Milestones

We've had many milestones in our partnership together, but none are quite so integral as the one we have made today.

Today Thane is six months seizure free. Though all but one of his seizures were mild, the mere fact that we have achieved such a victory so soon and especially the knowledge that this was not about epilepsy but about Lyme- well it's a big deal.

During my partnership with Chimette, it was a constant struggle and evaluation process to keep his seizures and the disease' symptoms under control. When I look back, I see it as it was- a very hard and stressful life that played a big impact on our partnership. I swore I would NEVER work a partnership through epilepsy again.

Then Thane began seizing last spring. It was a quiet nightmare I tried hard to minimize the impact on me of. Of course for Thane, there was an answer to be found that would actually cure him of seizures. It's too soon to have that *cured* feeling just yet, but six months is a good running start towards that. I don't believe he will have another seizure again or that I am having false hope believing that Thane's seizures were caused by Lyme. I just need some time before I am ready to sink my teeth into and truly believe in a cure from seizure activity.

But today is a good day. It is a day to celebrate six months free of seizures. This is a VERY GOOD THING!

Pawsitive Moves Toward Many Tomorrows

As time moves along, I'm beginning to see what helps are contributing to benefits in various symptoms of Thane's overall picture. There've been some really positive changes in home life especially. Thane is so much more at ease. He is the calmer dog I once knew before all of the skin upheaval and anxiousness took over. This has at the least been mostly from what Lyme did to him.

With a good collagen support protocol in place, I began to see this relaxation and as a result diminishing needs from Thane to chew on himself. I suspected that it was from this support, which has had good benefits for his skin, coat, and eyes at the very least. I was wrong though, that diminished anxiety appears directly related to a homeopathic remedy that meets his symptom picture and is one used with many who have Lyme (bearing they have the right symptom picture)

Between the collagen protocol and his remedy, we have added more potency to his Lyme regimen which has been the most awesome experience (OK some days I don't think that). I feel like I am getting to know this wonderful dog all over again and watching symptoms resolve that had a bearing on whether or not he would ever return to full duty again. Its been a very special time lately experiencing that revitalization.

Those following my regular blog, Through a Guide's Eyes, know that things have improved so much that we are back to training again. That does not mean that Lyme is completely behind us. We have another month of meds before re-testing will confirm or deny this. We are at a place though that I never imagined we would be again. So much has resolved itself- things that I did not even realize were from Lyme have changed or are changing.

Thane's begun to take initiative in things he never would have, shown a silly clown-like side to himself and been a joy to watch come alive again (when I am not running on empty that is) One of the funniest things he did recently was to deliberately plunk his ball in his water bowl, bob for it, then bring it back to me dripping wet to be thrown Oh My! Who is this Dog?

What a life we will have together after all of this!

Appearances: Worsening to Get Better

As I said in my last post, there has been a lot of improvements lately. That said, sometimes to get improvement, you have to go through what others see as *worsening*. This whole concept is hard to explain to people- hard to make them see the big picture.

The best example of this is taking place with Thane's coat right now. A lot of Thane's coat had changed color. His normal auburn red had become more rustic red. Though it was pretty and some, but not all could have been caused by sun and a natural product used for flea treatment, to complete the healing process restoring his natural color, that hair has to come out.

In theory it would be nice if this occurred in a slow manner: lose some, gain some, lose some more, gain some more. That's not really what is happening however. Not much had fallen out recently until after his bath and grooming. He held onto his hair through his bath but then grooming him was another story. It was hard for me to take at first, until someone told me he looked a bit darker today. That to me was a good thing to hear, but then at the same time there was the comments about how thin his coat was.

This is a superficial thing I know, but after the roller coaster ride I was on with Met for so many years with his coat which at the time seemed to be due to excessive veterinary intervention with his hypothyroidism (but could easily have been Lyme as well) it's just a real emotional thing for me to handle.

Its rather laughable that something like his coat would have me in this downer mood today. I mean when I look at everything we have come through in regards to his Lyme symptoms why on earth does his thin coat give me so much pause and angst?

I know that losing coat means that more *fuzzy bruises* will be on the horizon for us. When his coat hair is just beginning as this dark auburn root, it seems like bruises to me, but what it really is, is further healing along our road back from Lyme.

We are living with, working with, and watching Lyme recede. It has not been a great six months in terms of the partnership I dreamed we would have this year, but we are still together and he is still alive and fighting back. I've had moments (too many) where I wondered about the longevity of our partnership; wondered if fighting to stay together like this was the right call. Thankfully, it looks like the answer for us may be many more years of a redhead at my side. Honestly, I don't know how I would have coped with the other side of the coin, but should Thane have needed retirement, I would have done it because I will ALWAYS put his needs and welfare first in this partnership.

I gotta say though, despite how down I have been feeling about some of this the last couple days, his guiding us home in the pouring rain yesterday solidified that we are destined to work together- at least a little longer.

Now, lets get that coat to grow back- auburn, thick, and beautiful- huh?

Progress- the Greatest Gift of All

There's been so much going on that I often find it difficult to get to my blog to post. There's been some really pawsitive changes in our fight against Lyme disease lately.

Though it will be a while before we run labs and can see this in black and white, I see the results taking place. Thane's energy will be something we have to deal with- finding ways of extinguishing some of it before he gets into harness. It is still a very positive thing because it by itself was a signal that Lyme was receding.

These other things are not as visual to folks who are not partnered with Thane so when they hear about them, their first response is to retire him right here, right now LOL That said, I find them rewarding (though not while taking place) because they show me his true self- they show me the dog that slowly slipped away from me- and that is well- beautiful!

Thane's desire to pick the route we are going used to be one of the most infuriating things I had to deal with in working with my little *hard headed redhead*. I will admit, when it all, but disappeared as Lyme took over, I found myself really missing his determination to do things his way. I don't have to miss this part of him any more because it has come back with a vengeance! This is definitely something we are working on and probably will be working on for a while. It is though a sign that Thane has the cognition he once had. It also helps show me when I am not giving him the amount of variety that he needs in his working hours.

Another area where there has been drastic improvement is in our home life. thane has been wearing an e-collar a lot at home. Spirochete's love collagen  In an ideal situation, they would only take an amount that the animal or person can easily replenish. For the most part, especially prior to diagnosis, that has not always been the case when it came to Thane's skin health. Once I was able to understand what was taking place (after his diagnosis), it was so much easier to more properly address his skin needs.

Just understanding why he was being so self-destructive was part of the battle, but the other part required finding the right collagen supports for him. Through Stephen Buhner's research as well as my own further research coupled with my knowledge of homeopathy, I put together a protocol specific to Thane. Though some things did not pan out for his use, other things have worked really well. The result on this front is much more free time out of the e-collar

When people mention collagen, they usually think of one thing- joints. Collagen is so much more than joints though. It impacts joints, skin, hair (fur), and even the eyes. I began noticing visual changes with Thane's eyes about 1 1/2 years ago. No one but me seemed to notice what was going on. Of course the Veterinary Ophthalmologist locally is crap when it comes to thorough exams to diagnose an actual problem. Not only did she not thoroughly evaluate the retina's with dilating his eyes and all, but she turned around and put him on a supplement known to increase histamine response. You do not put a dog with known allergies on anything that increases a histamine response. Her reasoning for prescribing it was that it would fix his non-specific retinal issues. No, it did not. All it did was send his allergies into such overdrive. His issue was not non-specific at all. It was LYME.

Today though, things are looking brighter with his eyes. He has eye drops that I use as needed. They are difficult in the best of circumstances to do, but with my hands and vision- LOL I've found though that with all his improvements this month, his eyes are one of the best. When we have worked some of his energy down, his choices in his guide work are spot on. What I mean is that through the mini guide's vibrational cues to me, I agree with the choices Thane takes all the time once he has burned off some energy,

Where his work is concerned, we are doing a lot of backing up on some basic elements. It seems to lie in the fact that he is so full of excessive energy now, that he has to remember how to slow down and focus on his job better. There are also aspects (even full tasks) that he lost amidst the neuro Lyme symptom picture (which the symptom part is thankfully behind us) It's been over five months since Thane's last seizure and I strongly believe that they are a thing of the past. I've got a good solid history with canine seizures from my previous service dog. I am glad that for Thane, they won't be following him the rest of his life.

I don't know what tomorrow will hold for us, but if its anything like the present, these *guiding eyes* will be at my side for many years to come.

Something I am enjoying so much is watching Thane learning to play independently again. He can be so funny. Laughter really is one of the best medicines around!