First off, I have lots of pictures to post of the summer, but seem to have no time these days, so I'll get them up soon I hope. Hard to believe that summer is over, and Morgan starts grade one!!! Paige will be going to pre-school, but that starts the following week I believe; I'm waiting for the registration package to arrive.
Ella and I saw the plastic surgeon two weeks ago. Auntie Sarah was able to come which was great for me. It was very helpful to have another pair of ears there. After reviewing all of Ella's test results (the MRI and CT scan) it has been determined that Ella has Moebius syndrome. It is a very rare nerve disorder, that is usually bi-lateral. It is even rarer to have it be unilateral as in Ella's case. The good news is that from what I have been reading, it seems to be quite mild. Moebius syndrome is primarily characterized by absence or underdevelopment of the 6th and 7th cranial nerves. The 7th cranial nerve is the facial nerve, and in Ella's case it is underdeveloped, and it is also unclear as to whether or not it is rooted properly to the brain stem. The 6th cranial nerve doesn't appear to be involved because it controls lateral eye movement, and Ella is able to move her eye from side to side. We are being referred to Sick Kids to the plastics team there. You can read about their work here: www.sickkids.ca/smile-surgery/moebius.asp
There is also some information at the Moebius Syndrome Foundation .
So now we wait some more...Eye doctor is this week; her eye is my main concern (keeping it protected), the we see the ENT, cardiologist for an ECG (no big deal, pediatrician just heard a mild murmur and wants to check), then we see the geneticist. That should be a good appointment as the pediatrician has now told me that my questions are beyond her knowledge.
So, I'll keep digging, although my time on the computer is very limited these days. So if you find anything worth reading, leave a comment and send it our way. Since it is such a rare thing I need all the help I can get in the research department. So now we wait to hear when we go to Sick kids, I'm going to call our plastic surgeon's office here to find out if they've heard back yet. I'll keep you all posted, and get some pictures up soon. On a happy note, she is growing well, eating veggies as well as cereal now, and wanting to crawl, although I've been watching her and she rolls to get where she wants to go. She's a really happy baby.
Well that's it for now, hopefully pictures tomorrow.
Love to all. xxoo
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
Greys Wild Fury
SEPTEMBER 29, 1995- JULY 25, 2006.
Fury came to us in the summer of 1999; our first summer living in Hamilton. At that time we had only been married for two years; and Fury was our first "baby". Kevin had fallen in love with greyhounds in Montreal. There is a flea market in Hudson that we used to go to on the weekends, and the local rescue would do "meet and greets" there. Fast forward a few years, to our first summer here. We spent the day with Andrew who had taken us to Niagara-on-the-Lake for the day. During the drive we were talking about dogs, and Kevin had said how he would love to have a greyhound. Andrew being Andrew said that he had friends with an ex-racer and why didn't he give them a call to see if we could drop by to see them. It turned out that they were more than happy to let us come by and meet their greyhound; and that day they also had another dog there who hadn't been adopted yet. That was the first time we ever saw Fury. He was skinny (yes more than usual), his coat was awful, and he was terrified. That day we also met Joanne for the first time.I knew Fury was the dog for us. He was such a spook, and it was quite a road.... We used to go up every night after work to walk him so that he'd get used to us. He got to the point where he would be waiting at the screen door for us. Eventually he came for a trial weekend to see how he did with us, especially since we lived in an apartment at the time. Well he never left. When he first came to live with us he spent a lot of time afraid of everything, and would never take cookies from a stranger. That is something that never changed. Actually it took quite a while before he would take treats from us.When we'd had him about six weeks he went to Montreal with us for the first time. My Dad said that there was a cheeky dog under all that spook. It took years for him to come out, but boy was he funny; he could get very silly.Fury was there for the births of our girls, loss of loved ones, buying our house. He put up with devil puppies, and fell in love with Cookie. He survived Tabby, and tolerated Maggie. When Morgan was about six weeks old, I caught his tail in the front door, requiring an emergency trip to the vet, and a very long recovery. When Paige was five weeks old, Morgan caught his tail in our bedroom door, requiring a trip to the emergency vet followed by a visit to our clinic every week for eight weeks. Two winters ago his tail got caught in the patio doors; recovery was shorter that time because I was by now a pro. We did have a little chat in which I told him that if he did it again I'd have it amputated.About a year ago I'd say I looked at him, and said to Kev that he was looking old, he was getting white in the face, and stiff a bit and I watched him more carefully. This spring I started watching even more concerned, and in the last few weeks it became apparent that he was very ill. Our vet was very supportive through the whole thing, and I can't thank her enough. She sent me a card with this enclosed: http://www.anangelsdestiny.com/pet-memorial-poems.html, get out your tissues if you go and read it. Also AJ whose Golden’s Alice and Toby made me fall even more in love with dogs when I was a very little girl made a donation in Fury’s name here: http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/friends_supporters/pet_trust.shtm . Thank you so much.
Fury is buried up at Joanne’s with other greys that went before him, so the girls can go and visit him. He was a wonderful boy, and we will miss him very much.
Xoxo
Cookie and Fury, November 2005.
Fury came to us in the summer of 1999; our first summer living in Hamilton. At that time we had only been married for two years; and Fury was our first "baby". Kevin had fallen in love with greyhounds in Montreal. There is a flea market in Hudson that we used to go to on the weekends, and the local rescue would do "meet and greets" there. Fast forward a few years, to our first summer here. We spent the day with Andrew who had taken us to Niagara-on-the-Lake for the day. During the drive we were talking about dogs, and Kevin had said how he would love to have a greyhound. Andrew being Andrew said that he had friends with an ex-racer and why didn't he give them a call to see if we could drop by to see them. It turned out that they were more than happy to let us come by and meet their greyhound; and that day they also had another dog there who hadn't been adopted yet. That was the first time we ever saw Fury. He was skinny (yes more than usual), his coat was awful, and he was terrified. That day we also met Joanne for the first time.I knew Fury was the dog for us. He was such a spook, and it was quite a road.... We used to go up every night after work to walk him so that he'd get used to us. He got to the point where he would be waiting at the screen door for us. Eventually he came for a trial weekend to see how he did with us, especially since we lived in an apartment at the time. Well he never left. When he first came to live with us he spent a lot of time afraid of everything, and would never take cookies from a stranger. That is something that never changed. Actually it took quite a while before he would take treats from us.When we'd had him about six weeks he went to Montreal with us for the first time. My Dad said that there was a cheeky dog under all that spook. It took years for him to come out, but boy was he funny; he could get very silly.Fury was there for the births of our girls, loss of loved ones, buying our house. He put up with devil puppies, and fell in love with Cookie. He survived Tabby, and tolerated Maggie. When Morgan was about six weeks old, I caught his tail in the front door, requiring an emergency trip to the vet, and a very long recovery. When Paige was five weeks old, Morgan caught his tail in our bedroom door, requiring a trip to the emergency vet followed by a visit to our clinic every week for eight weeks. Two winters ago his tail got caught in the patio doors; recovery was shorter that time because I was by now a pro. We did have a little chat in which I told him that if he did it again I'd have it amputated.About a year ago I'd say I looked at him, and said to Kev that he was looking old, he was getting white in the face, and stiff a bit and I watched him more carefully. This spring I started watching even more concerned, and in the last few weeks it became apparent that he was very ill. Our vet was very supportive through the whole thing, and I can't thank her enough. She sent me a card with this enclosed: http://www.anangelsdestiny.com/pet-memorial-poems.html, get out your tissues if you go and read it. Also AJ whose Golden’s Alice and Toby made me fall even more in love with dogs when I was a very little girl made a donation in Fury’s name here: http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/friends_supporters/pet_trust.shtm . Thank you so much.
Fury is buried up at Joanne’s with other greys that went before him, so the girls can go and visit him. He was a wonderful boy, and we will miss him very much.
Xoxo
Cookie and Fury, November 2005.
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