Post #7 Enjoy!

It is really easy to get caught up in the day to day mundane tasks of our lives. It is even easier to forget that sometimes we need to just stop with all of the hustle and bustle all of the stress and chaos and just enjoy. 

Today Baron had a seizure. It wasn’t one of the worst he has ever had, it lasted about 45 seconds and when it was over I gave him his medication and followed the normal post-ictal routine that both of us have become accustomed to.

Now, you are probably asking yourself “what in the world do these two things have to do with each other?”  Well, on the surface they have nothing on common. But, in way barons seizure has reminded me to stop and enjoy.

Within about seven minutes following Barons seizure he was back to himself again. He was running around with Bubba, barking at the horses and splashing in the pond, and rolling in the mud. What is so remarkable to me is that Baron doesn’t know he has something wrong with him, he doesn’t know he is different than Bubba. He only knows that he will enjoy every moment of his farm dog life style that he can.

Watching my dog run around with the others always brings joy to my heart and today was no different. In his play Baron was able to make me stop and just enjoy the world around me. In that moment I wasn’t worried about the homework I had gotten behind on, I didn’t worry about the dirty laundry that wasn’t getting washed and I wasn’t worried that I should be getting ready for work. All that mattered in that one brief moment was that my dog was happy, I was happy and there was peace in our little corner of the world.

Now I know that watching a silly dog run around a farm could never cure the world of all of its problems. But, I do believe that if we all are willing to just take a brief moment every day, just stop what we are doing and look around us. Take time to breathe in the fresh air, relish in the feel of the sunshine on our cheeks, heck maybe even splash in the pond we would all feel better. It would make us all just a little bit happier, putting us all in a bit better mood. Maybe we would even treat each other just a little better. 

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Post #6 By the numbers

All of the time people ask me “How much does it cost to take care of a dog with epilepsy?” I usually come up with some sort of witty response like “It’s priceless because he is priceless” or “The costs really aren’t too bad if you spread the bills out.” But, today I really got to thinking on the actual costs of caring for Baron. How much do I spend in an average month to care for him? Are there areas where I could cut down on some of the expenses? In this post I am going to try to break these costs down. In my 4^th post I mentioned that Baron had to have a 5-day stay at the emergency Vets office; that bill came to a total of $4000. By controlling his diet and maintaining strict adherence to his medication schedule as well as following other steps I have been able to avoid making that trip again. Below is a breakdown of the average expenses for the month:

·         One month supply of Phenobarbital tablets $72

·         One month supply of Keppra tablets $31

·         One month supply of Valium suppositories $45

·         One forty-pound bag of grain free, limited preservative, low fat, dry kibble type dog food $32

·         One five-pound bag of frozen wild caught salmon $20

·         One five-pound bag of frozen chicken breasts $10

·         Five pounds of ground chuck burger $0 Lucky for me and for Baron this one is free because we raise our own beef and the freezer is always full

·         One 32-ounce bag of frozen organic mixed vegetables $6

·         One 32-ounce bag of frozen organic blueberries $9

·         Five pounds of fresh sweet potatoes $3

·         One five pound bag of russet potatoes $3.50

·         One 32-ounce box of instant brown rice $4

·         One gallon of 2% milk $2.50

·         I don’t add in the cost of vaccines because Baron doesn’t get them. Vaccinating tends to trigger seizures.

·         Heartworm preventative $10

The total of all of the food costs should be divided by three, because all three of my dogs eat the same food.  The total food costs for all three are $90; therefore Barons cost for food is $30 per month. If I add in all of the other costs the total for me to care for baron comes to $188 per month. That is a huge difference compared to the vet bill. Of course it is does cost me more to care for Baron than it would an otherwise healthy dog, but O wouldn’t change a thing about my boy!

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post #5 Cookie Time!!!

February 14^th- Valentine’s day- is also Baron’s fourth birthday! To honor his special day I made him cookies.

I’m sure most of you have figured out that since Baron was diagnosed with epilepsy I am very cautious of what he eats. I constantly read ingredient labels and decipher the long list of words that the average person can’t even pronounce, let alone understand what these ingredients are. Unfortunately this makes it really difficult to find treats for him. Because it’s so hard to find treats I have had to improvise and try to make yummy healthy treats for him. Below is a recipe that I came up with that all of my dogs really enjoy. These treats are very easy to make, and my dogs love them! The horses like them too!

 Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 egg

Instructions

1. preheat oven to 350F
2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, and the egg. Add peanut butter, water, honey and stir until you have stiff dough. The dough becomes very firm and sticky (similar in consistency to bread dough.). I just mix the dough with my hands. I have found that when I use a mixer the dough gets really tough and the cookies end up hard when you bake them.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough about 1/2 inch thick and use a cookie cutter to make shapes. The treats barely spread or rise, so you can get creative with your shapes. When I’m in a hurry I have also just rolled the dough into small balls and flattened them out. The dogs don’t really care if they are pretty.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

A few notes to consider before you make your own dog treats:

Some people don’t like to give their dogs wheat due to allergies or other reasons so if you don’t want to use wheat flour you can use rice flour but you will end up using quite a bit more of it because the rice flour doesn’t absorb the wet ingredients as well and for some reason the dough is really soupy. When I tried it I think I used four or five cups of rice flour.

You could take out the honey if you want but in my experience the cookies are more moist and hold together better with it in there. Also, when I make them for my horses they seem to like them with more honey.

During the holidays I like to make these and use festive cookie cutters. I also put them in decorative containers and give them to friends as a gift for their pets. 

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#4 The worst day

Usually Baron’s seizures are considered mild grand-mal. This means that while the seizure manifests as foot paddling, over all body convulsions, open mouth and loss of bladder control it only lasts a minute or less (any seizure lasting less than three minutes is considered mild). When this happens he goes through the typical post-ictal phase. During this phase he usually suffers from loss of depth perception, disorientation, confusion, anxiety and restlessness. This phase can last anywhere from ten minutes to one hour.

There has been one occasion where Baron went into what is referred to as status epilepticus (seizures lasting more than five minutes). When he first started seizing I treated him as I normally would, he came out of it and I thought everything was normal. But, within a few minutes he was seizing again. I again followed the plan prescribed by my vet and gave him more medication.  This went on with him seizing and stopping for about an hour. I had given him as much medication as I could; it was time to get to the emergency vet.

I can honestly say that was one of the hardest drives I have ever made. I had to make the 45-minute drive by myself while my sweet boy lay in the back of my car, the seizures becoming more and more violent with less time in between each one.

I had already called the emergency veterinary office and they knew I was on my way. By the time I got there they were ready and waiting. During the drive there poor Baron had lost control of his bladder and bowels several times on the blanket I had put him on. He vets met me at the door with a fresh sheet. They scooped him up and we rushed inside. They immediately started hooking him up to machines and starting him on IV medications.  Within ten minutes of our arrival they had put Baron in a medically induced coma.

When the doctor came out to talk to me he said it would be rough going for a while. They were unsure if there was going to be brain damage or if Baron would even survive.  They said if he had the will to fight they would do as much as I wanted them to. They let me sit with my boy for a while; in spite of the coma the seizures hadn’t stopped completely but they were much less frequent and a not nearly as violent.

When the time came for me to go home I was feeling heart broken. I had made a plan with the vet that they would stay with him overnight and would call with an update first thing in the morning, unless things got bad during the night. If that was the case they would call right away.

 I was dreading the drive home- alone, heart broke, and in a stinky car. When I walked out to my car I noticed that it had been moved closer to the building. The kind receptionist came up behind me with my keys in her hand. She said “I hope you don’t mind. I cleaned up the mess in the back for you.” I cried all over again. Her kindness was so unexpected.

The following five days were horrible. I went to visit Baron frequently; he was taken out of the coma on day three but was still having mild seizures. He had lost weight, and the only fluids he was taking in were through the IV. They said he only perked up while I was there- so I stayed with him. On day four I slept in the waiting room, waking up to feed and water him throughout the night. Finally on the morning of the fifth day the vets decided Baron was well enough to come home. 

                                                      Coming home!

                                                        1 year later

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