Dr. Jim's diagnosis...

We first met Dr. Jim on November 3, 2007 under different circumstances.  If anyone remembers our 1/2 Pomm, 1/2 Yorkie, Goliath, that is the day we had to put him down due to complications with medication for Cushing's Disease after a long 13 year life.  Dr. Jim was so compassionate and reassuring at that time, we were SO GLAD to see he was working on our Cassi.  We knew she was in great hands.

They asked us into a room...which happen to be the same room where we said goodbye to Goliath.  Diane and I were beside ouselves (as well as beside each other).  We took turns "breaking down" from the unknown. We still had no idea that it was her back...we knew nothing.   A few minutes later, Dr. Jim entered the room.  He immediately cut to prognosis...she was paralyzed in her hind legs.  At this point, he didn't know what caused it and needed to run further tests.  He had been able to compose a course of planned tests and treatments.  They were to start with an x-ray, which wouldn't show them the discs but would rule out some things.  The other recommended test was a Myelogram, in which they inject a dye along the spinal column which enables them to, virtually, see the discs.  I will try to post the copy we got here somehow.  What it shows is an "obstruction" in the flow of the fluid, which, in essence, is a swelling of the spinal column which "narrows" the fluid to an undetectable trace through the affected area.


Dr. Jim was fairly certain this test would show the damage he suspected, a ruptured disc.  He went on with the next expected steps and the other possibilities if this Myelogram proved negative or wasn't conclusive.  Another possibility was some sort of "stroke" incident...and there wasn't much treatment along those lines. The option for the ruptured disc scenario was spinal surgery..."Hemilaminectomy" is the proper name.  And Dr. Jim said their surgeon was very good and familiar with this procedure.  All this being said, we were presented with a "range" that the costs would fall into...$6,500 to $8,500 .  The asked us to put down a "down payment", which we were thinking would be $1,000 or so...and gasped when they said "$7,500 please"...but there wasn't any other decision we could make...we love our animals like they are our children.  I asked if I could get online and check our balances at home (GoToMyPC) and found a card that Diane had with her.  We paid and we got to see Cassi before we left.  There was some difficulty getting a hold of their surgeon, Dr. Cheri Nielsen and they had an alternative ready...but Dr. Cheri called and agreed to come in for the emergency surgery...


Next post...The surgery and the wait for a call from Dr. Cheri...