Theo (update 3)

The emotional roller coaster of navigating challenging health issues continues. Thankfully, it feels like we are moving in a positive direction.

We received a call in the night from the overnight vet stating Theo had a mild seizure in the night. This is not the kind of news we wanted to hear, so when we received the morning phone call update from the neurosurgeon we were very apprehensive.

Theo image archive

Dr. Silver, the neurosurgeon, indicated all positive news. She said when she stopped by the hospital to check on Theo, he was looking great. He had climbed up on her and was trying to jump down, ready to explore the room! She was excited that he had licked his food bowl clean (classic Theo!) She noted his temperature was slowly decreasing. She suspected the seizure may have been from the brain being a bit overwhelmed with the sudden removal of such a large tumor. The tumor had been slowly growing for over a year, so his brain had plenty of time to adjust to the reality of the growing pressure from sharing space with the tumor, but in an instant it was removed. As a precaution, they started him on a anti-seizure medication, but she doesn't think seizures will an ongoing thing for him, which I was grateful to hear. 

Theo image archive

The neurologist intern called this evening and also provided a positive report, saying Theo didn't have any more seizures, he's very alert, bright eyed, eating well. Temperature is still a bit elevated at 102-103. The blood work and testing has ruled out the potentially concerning causes of the fever, so that's good news. She thinks the two days of anesthesia may have caused his body temperature regulation  system to get out of whack and she expects it will continue to slowly improve as he heals. 

We elected to have him stay one more night, Saturday, just so they can monitor him and make double sure he's good to come home. He's at a specialty veterinary hospital that is about two hours away from us and since we don't really have 24-hour care available locally, we want to make sure he's really good to go. We are planning to drive down on Sunday and pick him up in the early afternoon. We'll get one more call from the vet in the morning with the status report - we are hoping it's also a positive report!

I am grateful he's getting such great care and I'm grateful he's insured, as most of these costs will be reimbursed. Thank you everyone for journeying with us through this challenge. It's hard riding these intense emotional roller coasters and it really helps to not be alone, I know that you all can relate. Thank you! 💗🙏

Theo image archive