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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dinah on March 4, 2009, at 7:53:51
I'm utterly perplexed.
I have a wee little dog with major brain damage on the left side of her brain and neurological deficits. One consequence of this is that she can't see in her right eye. The eye was fine, but she can't process the signals.
She recently got an eye infection, fortunately in the eye where she was functionally blind. Since she has a compromised immune system, the eye quickly went past the point where it could be saved even with antibiotics and hospitalization.
The weird thing is that since her eye was removed, she's gotten so much better! She used to only walk along walls to keep her orientation. Now she's trotting happily anywhere she wishes. She used to twist to the left. The first thing my son noticed when we picked her up is that she was no longer twisting. The reason she twisted, I think, is that she always looked a few feet to the side of us when we spoke. Now she looks right at us. She even barked her little head off when my mother came to the door last night. It made me want to cry. Suddenly I remembered that she used to be quite the little watchdog, and had hardly barked since she got sick.
I'm utterly astounded and utterly confounded. If I had any idea the results would be like this, I'd have had her eye removed years ago. It's been heartbreaking watching her struggle, and her life expectancy is not great. I feel like we could have given her back years.
Does anyone have any idea what this could mean? I always understood that the lesions in the left forebrain meant she couldn't see in that eye. Yet clearly she was seeing something. Maybe she was seeing the wrong information? So she couldn't trust what her eyes were telling her?
I know there are people here who are smart about brains. Does anyone understand?
I can't wait to tell the vets. But I could tell by what they told me that they had no clue that this was a possible outcome either.
Posted by Larry Hoover on March 4, 2009, at 8:54:03
In reply to Does anyone know about brains? Technically?, posted by Dinah on March 4, 2009, at 7:53:51
The crude optical signal is processed first in two paired regions of the brain (lateral geniculate body) that are not frontal. In humans, the region would be just above and internal from your ear lobe. From there, the signals pass to the very rearmost part of the brain, where the two signals are combined and interpreted.
Just guessing from the beneficial response, the bad eye, or the bad LGB, may have been sending faulty data which made it difficult for her to interpret what her eyes were transmitting. Now that the bad eye is no longer sending anything at all, what the hind-brain receives may finally be free from "static", and she can make sense of things once again.
I guess this is a wonderful example of silver linings within dark clouds.
Take care,
Lar
Posted by Dinah on March 4, 2009, at 9:48:48
In reply to Re: Does anyone know about brains? Technically? » Dinah, posted by Larry Hoover on March 4, 2009, at 8:54:03
Thank you Lar. That makes perfect sense. I'm not sure the damage is *limited* to her forebrain, so the area you describe probably was affected. They showed me her MRI pointing out large areas of necrotic tissue, or something like that, on her left side.
She's got an autoimmune disorder where her immune system attacks her brain, or so is theorized. So we give her chemo to suppress the immune system. And steroids to reduce swelling. They didn't expect her to live as long as this, and sometimes I wasn't sure it was the right decision for her to treat it so aggressively.
It really is a silver cloud, but one that makes me feel guilty for making her live through a h*ll she didn't need to live through. Not that I had any way of knowing. And few clients would ask their vets to remove a dog's eye for no particular reason.
Maybe her experience will help them help other dogs if they see a similar behavior pattern.
Posted by Phillipa on March 4, 2009, at 12:58:41
In reply to Re: Does anyone know about brains? Technically? » Larry Hoover, posted by Dinah on March 4, 2009, at 9:48:48
Dinah do you know what autoimmune disease she has? This is new one to me. But what a wonderful thing to have happen. Love Phillipa
Posted by Larry Hoover on March 4, 2009, at 18:06:25
In reply to Re: Does anyone know about brains? Technically? » Larry Hoover, posted by Dinah on March 4, 2009, at 9:48:48
I had also meant to make that same point, that maybe this situation might help another dog down the road, but I was rushing out the door when I posted.
You had great treatment advice from experts, and you certainly did all that anyone could have done. I don't think we can predict all outcomes, right? I know you acted from love, just as you did with respect to the later infection.
Hugs,
Lar
Posted by Dinah on March 4, 2009, at 20:51:15
In reply to Re: Does anyone know about brains? Technically? » Dinah, posted by Phillipa on March 4, 2009, at 12:58:41
I'd never heard of it either. And as far as I know it's dog specific. I don't know that much about it, but I trust my vet more than I trust any of my own doctors.
Posted by Dinah on March 4, 2009, at 20:58:03
In reply to Re: Does anyone know about brains? Technically? » Dinah, posted by Larry Hoover on March 4, 2009, at 18:06:25
My vet could hardly believe it when I called to tell him. He was thrilled. If she keeps doing better, she might have really helped a lot of dogs.
Thanks, Lar.
This is the end of the thread.
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