KwanYingirl
MyPTSD Pro
Couldn’t decide what forum to put this in. Hope this is ok. At any rate, 2018 has been one of losses for me. My beloved dog, Annie, has had Addison’s Disease from birth. She’s 5. Her adrenal glands don’t produce cortisol or aldosterone so she has taken replacement drugs to stay alive. The synthetic form of cortisol is prednisone, without it, she would die. But I’ve known from the get go that the prednisone would eventually kill her and that time has come.
She’s been fighting recurrent UTIs and then 3 weeks ago, she started collapsing. She would just go down and stare into space, unresponsive. Then she would lose control of her bowel. Her heart is enlarged and it can’t pump her blood effectively and she just wasn’t getting enough oxygen. The walls of her aorta and pulmonary artery have thinned. All due to prednisone.
Since Addison’s is unknown to affect such a young dog, my Vets never been able to predict her future, except to remind me that the prednisone would damage her organs eventually. So here we are. Last week I was inconsolable. So sad for her. She doesn’t feel good at all and it’s hell to watch her try to breathe.
I’ve always promised her that I would not make her suffer because I can’t handle losing her. She needs me to be strong and I’m trying like hell to keep her comfortable. I’m in this catch-22 place. Stopping the prednisone won’t reverse the damage it’s done and it would be a horrible death for her. Damned if we do, damned if we don’t. So my Vet gave me his home phone number. Well, that floored me. He’s worried about her. We don’t know what will happen next.
She is on a heart med that is helping her heart beat stronger. So far she is not collapsing, but now she’s short of breath which is probably fluid in her lungs. It’s all a huge bummer.
I just hope and pray that I have the grace to let her go. My clients are so bummed. Annie has had a wonderful life. I wish she could live. 5 is young. I guess I’ve been wishing for a long time.we can keep using drugs to keep her alive. Next she’ll need Ladin to get rid of fluid. Then he said her liver will stop working. Then her digestive tract.
What’s the right thing to do? At what point do I set her free? I think it will be when she’s in heart failure. And for now treat her UTIs. And just love her with all my heart and pray that I don’t let my selfishness cloud my rational mind. My Vet is very competent. I trust him. You know things aren’t good when your Vet gives you his home phone number.
She’s been fighting recurrent UTIs and then 3 weeks ago, she started collapsing. She would just go down and stare into space, unresponsive. Then she would lose control of her bowel. Her heart is enlarged and it can’t pump her blood effectively and she just wasn’t getting enough oxygen. The walls of her aorta and pulmonary artery have thinned. All due to prednisone.
Since Addison’s is unknown to affect such a young dog, my Vets never been able to predict her future, except to remind me that the prednisone would damage her organs eventually. So here we are. Last week I was inconsolable. So sad for her. She doesn’t feel good at all and it’s hell to watch her try to breathe.
I’ve always promised her that I would not make her suffer because I can’t handle losing her. She needs me to be strong and I’m trying like hell to keep her comfortable. I’m in this catch-22 place. Stopping the prednisone won’t reverse the damage it’s done and it would be a horrible death for her. Damned if we do, damned if we don’t. So my Vet gave me his home phone number. Well, that floored me. He’s worried about her. We don’t know what will happen next.
She is on a heart med that is helping her heart beat stronger. So far she is not collapsing, but now she’s short of breath which is probably fluid in her lungs. It’s all a huge bummer.
I just hope and pray that I have the grace to let her go. My clients are so bummed. Annie has had a wonderful life. I wish she could live. 5 is young. I guess I’ve been wishing for a long time.we can keep using drugs to keep her alive. Next she’ll need Ladin to get rid of fluid. Then he said her liver will stop working. Then her digestive tract.
What’s the right thing to do? At what point do I set her free? I think it will be when she’s in heart failure. And for now treat her UTIs. And just love her with all my heart and pray that I don’t let my selfishness cloud my rational mind. My Vet is very competent. I trust him. You know things aren’t good when your Vet gives you his home phone number.
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