An Aussie Girls GCS Story

[Drexy/Drex]

Hope you get better soon Liz sorry to hear about your pet ..it's always hard on one when they get ill

[Laurie]

Hi Liz,

I am sorry your mutt is having more difficulties. I remember you telling me you thought he was losing his sight. I am sorry that it has gotten so bad  and causing both him and you distress. Poor mutt. I suppose I am sorry that you are having some unpleasant and distressful things going on with yourself too. ((HUG)) there is that better? What's that? Hell NO! I am not going to kiss it and make it better. Our friendship only goes so far girl. I hope both of you start feeling better soon.

Love and hugs,
  Laurie

[LizK]

Thank you all ladies for the kind words and encouragement. my health is on the mend and I am feeling better I was the other day when I made this post about his health. The little dog continues to deteriorate and both Meryl and I feel there is something cognitively going on. When I spoke to Laurie a couple of weeks ago I said her I suspected he was going blind but now we know there is no doubt. Over the last few days he seem to be having periods where he "loses the plot"  and simply walks in circles so we are heading off to the vet in the next couple of days. We are both reluctant as we have a fair idea of the outcome but neither of us want to see him in distress.:icon_cry2 We will do what we have to as he has bought us so much joy over the years.

[steph2.0]

Thank you all ladies for the kind words and encouragement. my health is on the mend and I am feeling better I was the other day when I made this post about his health. The little dog continues to deteriorate and both Meryl and I feel there is something cognitively going on. When I spoke to Laurie a couple of weeks ago I said her I suspected he was going blind but now we know there is no doubt. Over the last few days he seem to be having periods where he "loses the plot"  and simply walks in circles so we are heading off to the vet in the next couple of days. We are both reluctant as we have a fair idea of the outcome but neither of us want to see him in distress.:icon_cry2 We will do what we have to as he has bought us so much joy over the years.

I'm so sorry, Liz. My poor 15 year old dog Maggie lost her hearing a few years ago, her back legs are starting to give out, and she's on a special diet for her kidneys. Lately when we go for a walk she will trot along for about two minutes, then stop and look around confusedly, and if she doesn't see me in the direction she's looking, will walk off in a random direction. Since she can't hear me, I have to run to get into her view, then she'll brighten and come my way.

Off-leash walks around our safe and friendly neighborhood used to be her greatest joy, but now I'm afraid it'll have to be leashed walks from now on. It's sad beyond words to watch our little buddies fade like this. While she isn't in much pain, I know that we will have to make that same drive to the vet some time. [emoji22]

I'm trying to prepare myself, but I don't think there's much I can do, except to keep thinking about the good times with her, and know that I gave my rescue dog a good life.

I guess that's the best any of us mommas of fur-babies can do. All my love to you and Meryl and your little one.

Stephanie

[LizK]

I'm so sorry, Liz. My poor 15 year old dog Maggie lost her hearing a few years ago, her back legs are starting to give out, and she's on a special diet for her kidneys. Lately when we go for a walk she will trot along for about two minutes, then stop and look around confusedly, and if she doesn't see me in the direction she's looking, will walk off in a random direction. Since she can't hear me, I have to run to get into her view, then she'll brighten and come my way.

Off-leash walks around our safe and friendly neighborhood used to be her greatest joy, but now I'm afraid it'll have to be leashed walks from now on. It's sad beyond words to watch our little buddies fade like this. While she isn't in much pain, I know that we will have to make that same drive to the vet some time. [emoji22]

I'm trying to prepare myself, but I don't think there's much I can do, except to keep thinking about the good times with her, and know that I gave my rescue dog a good life.

I guess that's the best any of us mommas of fur-babies can do. All my love to you and Meryl and your little one.

Stephanie

Yeah it is sad and I know anyone here who owns a pet feels as you and I do. I will not have him in distress that will diminish he quality of life. We tried him on a outing on Saturday for the first time in nearly 6 months( losing interest in his walks was the first sign that something wasn't right however we thought we would try him and see if he enjoyed it. He didn't like it one bit at all and that is highly unusual for any dog... we will keep him comfortable for as long as we can and love him till the end. I love dogs and have never been longer than a few months with out having one in my life since before I was married...we will do the best we can by him.

Thanks for taking the time to share with me and thankyou for your kind concern

liz 

[Jessica]

Give your unconditional love as that is what we receive from our canine friends.

Hugs, Jess

[LizK]

By way of a quick update as I have been absent from the board for most of the last week apart from posting in this thread.

My beloved dog Oscar is still with us but unfortunately continuing to deteriorate.  Friday night was particularly bad with me up to him about every 40 minutes or so. One of the things that makes this so difficult is that he has always had a very muted response to pain so assessing whether he is in distress has always been difficult.. However in this case he is in steady decline and I suspect he has not only lost his sight but also his hearing and sense of smell. Both of  seem to have diminished further over the last 72 hrs. He will be going to the vet tomorrow for assessment for his quality of life. I want to ensure that he has a quality of life. I don't mind if he needs care...I am happy to provide that so long as I can make him comfortable and he can have some enjoyment however I have to be realistic as all outwards signs seem to indicate that he is currently just "existing"...it is an awful decision to have to make but part of the responsibility of having pets. Bottom line is that we need to know that he is not in any kind of distress.

My health has improved and my flare up seems to have subsided over the last 24 hrs leaving me feeling tired but essentially okay for the time being. It is simply a matter of monitoring the situation and ensuring I do all the right things.

I will be trying to catch up on everyone's thread and the activities of the board over the last week. Thankyou all for the support and encouragement I have received both privately and on the board.

Liz

[Drexy/Drex]

Wishing the best outcome ...

[Anne Blake]

A tough place to be in with Oscar Liz. Many of us have been there and know the tears and pain that comes with it. You will talk with the vet and you will do right by him......and at some point you will cry a lot, just know that you are not alone in this.

Love you girl, hugs from Deb and me,
Tia

[CynthiaAnn]

Hugs Liz, it's so hard....

Cynthia -

[KathyLauren]

Liz, I am so sorry to hear that your pupper's health is deteriorating.  I know that whatever decisions you make will be in Oscar's best interests.

I know it's hard.  HUGS!!

[LizK]

I have reposted my orginal update post including all the comments regarding my sick puppy in An Aussie Girls life thread where they should have been in the first palce

[LizK]

4.5 Months Post Op Update

About 5 weeks ago I had been having some increased discharge and a breakdown of the wounds I had the problem with in the early part of my GCS recovery. Because of this I had to return to a strict care regime for a couple of weeks which I mentioned in my thread An Aussie Girls Life . Last Thursday I sent Iffy photo's of my progress and have been awaiting new care instructions. Well I think I turned another corner. I received instructions to drop one of the creams I had been using and that I could now attempt to reduce my dilations to one a day along with ceasing all the extra care things I had been doing.

I am totally thrilled that I can now start moving into a more settled phase post GCS where I am not constantly having to order my life around treatments and dilation. As far as I am concerned the most time consuming part of having full GCS is done and I think at 4.5 months post op that's pretty acceptable. I know when Full GCS is compared with shallow depth one of the big considerations is the amount of time spent dilating and "maintaining" the new vagina. However I have to say from my point of view I really enjoyed being able to take an hours guilt free me time twice a day and found that the this personal time was very enjoyable just to be able to relax. Despite only having to dilate once a day from now on I intend to lengthen the time from the original 20-30 minutes 3x day to about 45 minutes to an hour once a day.

The other important part of this is that over the last 8 weeks since the fiasco with the silver nitrate being applied to some intimate parts thereby causing a loss of sensation I am happy to report that all that sensation has returned and then some!! I have in fact become almost hypersensitive and each week the sensation to the whole area continues to improve and fires off weird neuropathic type healing pains as nerves reconnect, I am sure any other girls having had GCS will understand what I am talking about in relation to the sensitivity and neuropathic type pains.

Now that everything has healed a bit better I may be able to do some proper exploring and see just how well everything works.

I will give my next up date after my next telephone appointment in June. I would love to hear of any tips or advice anyone has for moving your dilation schedule to once a day or even ways to help improve sensation.


Take care

Liz