When Life Gives You Lemons

This weekend definitely didn't turn out as planned. I'm currently sitting at the emergency vet while Layla gets blood drawn.  Not quite what I had planned for my Sunday afternoon.  

Layla has a history of epilepsy and started having petite mal seizures when she was about 3 years old.  She also had what we assumed were grand mal seizures where she would loose control of her body and bladder.  We never saw her have a grand mal seizure.  The only evidence was the wet spot on the bed where she urinated. 

On Friday afternoon while the kids were napping, and I was trying to nap, I heard her on the couch and it sounded like she was having a bad dream. Her twitching was louder than usual so I went out to check on her.  She was convulsing, drooling, and covered in urine.  

It was really scary to see, but I knew immediately she was having a seizure.  I knew not to try to snap her out of it, not to mess with her tongue, just to comfort her and let it pass.   It lasted what seemed like forever but was less than 5 minutes.  It took her another 5 minutes to regain sight and awareness and a few more minutes before she was up and moving.  

She recovered like a champ and was ready to get in the tub and take a bath as soon as we walked into the bathroom.  Yes, I'm one of those lucky people whose dogs like baths. I wasn't too worried about it until she had another seizure Saturday night.  Then another, and another, and another.  

After the 4am seizure, I told her the next one would earn us a trip to the emergency vet. It didn't come as quickly as I thought, they had been coming every 2 hours, but sure enough at 2:30 in the afternoon, while the kids were having a snack, she started seizing in the kitchen. 

All of the previous seizures had been while the kids were sleeping. They got to witness this one first hand, and it was scary for them. Brooke was staring at Layla screaming and crying. She knew something was wrong with her doggie. Harrison started crying too, but I think it was mostly because Brooke was.  

I got the kids down for their nap and then Layla and I made the trek across town. We're still sitting here over 3 hours later waiting on some kind of answer, although I already know they'll tell me they're idiopathic seizures, basically they have no idea what's causing them.  Not that it's a bad thing that they don't know.  It means she has no major health issues, except the seizures of course.  

She'll now be a dog that has to be medicated daily, something I always said I'd never do, but if it keeps the seizures at bay we'll do it.  Thanks to my future brother in law, who is a veterinary cardiologist, I know what medication options are available and I can make an informed decision. 

They just came in to inform me her blood work was normal and that they are going to keep her overnight to get her started on medication to stop the seizures.  I know it's the right thing to do, but I don't want to leave her.  I want her home with me so I can watch over her myself.  I'm crying thinking about leaving her, but I know tomorrow will be here soon and I can definitely use some rest tonight.  

Definitely not the weekend we planed, but we still managed to have some fun.  The farmers market, The Friendly Fox, the laundromat.  The kids had a great time everywhere, even the laundromat.  Plus we scored some great garage sale finds on Friday before all of this started.  

I hope everyone's weekend was cheerier than ours.  I had a whole post about football planned, and I didn't even get to watch the game.  We'll save that for next weekend.  

Just a FYI, I'm still at the e-vet hoping I can make it out of here in time to get home before the kids go to sleep.  Layla and I may wind up leaving a check on the desk and busting out of this joint.