The Decision and the People who Helped Me. Thank You!!!

First I would like to say that no one can tell you what the right decision is. But I would bet that anyone that has found out their dog has Syringomylia will tell you deciding what the best treatment would be is extremely hard. I would imagine if anyone reads this is probably searching for answers. I can not tell you how much time I spent on the Internet reading searching for stories, information, success rates, you name it and I probably read it. On a side note I can not tell you how great Sandy Smith who wrote For the Love of Ollie was to write me and have Ella in her thoughts. I will put some other website up as favorite links for information about Syringomylia but what was even more helpful was the support from her and the CKCS-SM Yahoo Group. I think anyone who goes through this knows how hard it is and I just hope that I will be able to return this to someone else. I can not thank them enough.

The News

I was frantic. I knew there was something wrong with Ella. It was not allergies and an ear infection, I know something is wrong. I called the vet and they referred me to a neurologist. I at least thought that she can have an MRI and then I will know and not be freaked out and worry about something that is not a problem. I felt good. I knew to look for the signs, I was educated about Syringomylia so if she had it, at least I was a step up. I would have noticed things before it was too late. When the doctor came back saying that she walked fine and they could not see any preliminary signs, I took a deep breath. Yes!!! Then she went on to say that when they touched her neck she whelped in pain which was not normal so an MRI would need to be done to see what the problem was. I already knew. I knew when no one else did. I dreaded this day and all I felt was numb. I was in a daze when they called and told me she was done and she had a severe case with a large syrinx. How did I not know until now. She seemed so happy and knowing she was in so much pain brought tears to my eyes.

How Did I Know?

When I wrote an article last year about Syringomylia for the Charlotte King Charles Cavalier group, I had no idea that my dog would become one of the statistics. When I read about Syringomylia something touched me. Maybe I somehow knew deep down that this would become a big part of my life, but whatever it was I felt a passion to bring awareness to this problem. I even bought the book For the Love of Ollie to read more about this condition and also because the proceeds went toward the research of this health condition. I wanted people to be aware of the symptoms of Syringomylia and so when several months later Ella started to show some of the symptoms my radar went up. Was I being over reacting? I noticed the scratching first but my vet said it was allergies. It seemed like she was having a hard time climbing the stairs, but when I tried to tell other people they did not notice. She would rub her ears, but the vet said it was probably an ear infection. These symptoms are very common so that is why it is hard to pin point the problem. When she was shaking her head back and forth, I knew I had to do something. No one could understand, but I know my dog. It is just the two of us, so I can tell when something is off. The problem is that since I wrote about Syringomylia, was I looking for things because I was scared she had it? What should I do?