In which I overreact and panic about eyes. And have an appropriate icon.
Those of you who have twitter will already know that my lack of updates is due to worry and woes regarding Merlin's other eye. I knew I'd spoken too soon in my last post! Don't feel obliged to read this, just keeping you up to date!
On Sunday night I noticed that his iris was...weird. It was cloudy, blue/grey, a weird shape...I was really freaking out. I thought he had a tumour. I was searching google for a diagnosis. It's this weird habit I have, I know it'll worry me more and make me feel worse, but I just can't stop. It's like if I'm laid in bed at night and suddenly get scared that there's a ghost in my room (yeah, yeah, that really does still happen to me. What?) I can't close my eyes or hide under the covers, I have to look. Anyway, I am now very knowledgeable about eyes and their various ailments.
I thought, realistically, that it might be iritis or uveitis, which is a swelling of the iris, but the pessimist in me was already checking pictures of dogs who had had eye removal surgery. AND THIS IS WHY I CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO HAVE CHILDREN. The eye specialist we'd been referred to previously, for the scleritis, doesn't work on Sundays or Mondays! So I was just going crazy, thinking Merlin was going blind and there was nothing I could do. I've hardly eaten for two days, I've been feeling so sick and just sobbing all the time. Luckily we'd already got a check-up booked for today, so we saw the ophthalmologist at 4.30pm. It was stressful to say the least, but in the end he did diagnose him with iritis and just advised us to apply the steroid we're already using in his other eye to both of them from now on.
Phew.
I'm not completely at ease, because he has (what we think is) a cold...and my mind is still in overdrive! I'm imagining he has lupus, like I do. It would explain his eye problems and his nose being cracked and dry. The thing is, he's still really healthy! Jumping around, playing with his toys, eating his food. I told the vet about the lupus thing and he said it could be, but it was unlikely. So, we're putting the cream in his eyes and now I'm putting Vaseline on his nose. My poor little pup.
One good thing did come out of today, the vet was really impressed with how his eye has responded to the steroid treatment for the scleritis. We thought the lesion had gone down by about 20-40%, but he said it's down by at least half and he's only part way through the course of treatment. So that's looking really positive! I'm always scared to write things like this, because I remember writing "Morgan is much better, she's getting treatment now..." and then losing her within a few weeks. Ugh. So yes, it's looking good for now and he's healthy and causing trouble as usual, no difference in himself, just in the appearance of his eyes and nose. So fingers crossed all this will be cleared up soon.
I hate writing stuff like this! I have a million cool posts to make, including an amusing anecdote about a parrot and a graveyard, but now it's bedtime. Another day!
On Sunday night I noticed that his iris was...weird. It was cloudy, blue/grey, a weird shape...I was really freaking out. I thought he had a tumour. I was searching google for a diagnosis. It's this weird habit I have, I know it'll worry me more and make me feel worse, but I just can't stop. It's like if I'm laid in bed at night and suddenly get scared that there's a ghost in my room (yeah, yeah, that really does still happen to me. What?) I can't close my eyes or hide under the covers, I have to look. Anyway, I am now very knowledgeable about eyes and their various ailments.
I thought, realistically, that it might be iritis or uveitis, which is a swelling of the iris, but the pessimist in me was already checking pictures of dogs who had had eye removal surgery. AND THIS IS WHY I CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO HAVE CHILDREN. The eye specialist we'd been referred to previously, for the scleritis, doesn't work on Sundays or Mondays! So I was just going crazy, thinking Merlin was going blind and there was nothing I could do. I've hardly eaten for two days, I've been feeling so sick and just sobbing all the time. Luckily we'd already got a check-up booked for today, so we saw the ophthalmologist at 4.30pm. It was stressful to say the least, but in the end he did diagnose him with iritis and just advised us to apply the steroid we're already using in his other eye to both of them from now on.
Phew.
I'm not completely at ease, because he has (what we think is) a cold...and my mind is still in overdrive! I'm imagining he has lupus, like I do. It would explain his eye problems and his nose being cracked and dry. The thing is, he's still really healthy! Jumping around, playing with his toys, eating his food. I told the vet about the lupus thing and he said it could be, but it was unlikely. So, we're putting the cream in his eyes and now I'm putting Vaseline on his nose. My poor little pup.
One good thing did come out of today, the vet was really impressed with how his eye has responded to the steroid treatment for the scleritis. We thought the lesion had gone down by about 20-40%, but he said it's down by at least half and he's only part way through the course of treatment. So that's looking really positive! I'm always scared to write things like this, because I remember writing "Morgan is much better, she's getting treatment now..." and then losing her within a few weeks. Ugh. So yes, it's looking good for now and he's healthy and causing trouble as usual, no difference in himself, just in the appearance of his eyes and nose. So fingers crossed all this will be cleared up soon.
I hate writing stuff like this! I have a million cool posts to make, including an amusing anecdote about a parrot and a graveyard, but now it's bedtime. Another day!