Medical and Maternity Hold

Our Christmas Wish… yes, that’s her name. Wish was born on Christmas Eve, 2022 on the cold cement floor of an Oklahoma animal shelter  with an abnormal defect (encephalocele) on her skull. Her updates are listed below, and you can follow her story on our Facebook page. Search: “#SavingWish”

Encephalocele is a sac-like protrusion and projection of the brain and the membranes that cover it through an opening in the skull.

♥Pupdate 1/15/23♥ This little family arrived today, and we have several issues in this litter of tiny beebees. Our little Wish is not in good shape. She is alert, eating well, and growing…sort of. She appears to be both physically and developmentally delayed.  She is 3 weeks old today and weighs 1lb 2oz. The suspected encephalocele has gotten smaller, but is still protruding from between her open fontanelles. We have also discovered an umbilical hernia and 2 inguinal hernias. On top of this… we suspect that Wish may be blind or severely vision impaired. 

♥Pupdate 1/23/23♥ Wish had a consult with the neurology dept. at CSU. The findings aren’t great. She does have the meningocele/encephalocele. She has bilateral hydrocephalus, which is worse on the left, and minimal on the right. She has brain malformation in the frontal lobe and cerebellum. She also has severe vision impairment though her pupils do respond to light. We will continue to monitor her vision and evaluate this as she grows. We are currently working to find a neurologist for a second opinion to see if medications might help to slow the production cerebral spinal fluid that is putting pressure on her brain. 

♥Pupdate 2/7/23♥ We had the entire family in to see Dr. Song (neurologist) for neurological evaluations today. Thankfully, Mama Evie, Nick, Merry and Chestnut all checked out GREAT! Baby Spirit appears to have some deficits, possibly cerebellar abnormailities, but she is ambulating, eating, drinking, playing and doing all the things a normal pup would do. Just with a little extra pep in her step!  Baby Wish is, as expected. We were mostly hoping for a second opinion today to confirm what CSU found in January, and to discuss the option of starting omeprazole to help reduce the CSF fluid that is putting added pressure on her brain. We got the meds! We will continue to follow up with Neurology until such time that we can get an MRI for our little Wishy-Washy baby. 

♥Pupdate 4/10/23♥ Wish and Spirit had a follow up with neuro today. Spirit has made improvements in her gait, and the doctor isn’t concerned about hydrocephalus at this time. Spirit was cleared to stop medications and is cleared for adoption to a special family who understands that we can’t know her prognosis, but that she will always be a special baby.   Wish, on the other hand, will not be going anywhere anytime soon. She has developed a rather pronounced hunch in her spine, which the doctors feel could possibly be spina bifida, or perhaps her body is growing faster than her ligaments. It is affecting her mobility slightly at this time, but the hunch continues to grow at a rate which has her rescuer (not her doctor) very concerned. Again, we were informed that we cannot do any xrays or MRI testing until at least the end of June, when Wish is 6 months old and more skeletally mature. The wait is excruciating. Wish will continue her omeprazole. She is not in pain. She is a happy, darling, sweet little peanut who wins the heart of absolutely every person she meets! It is our primary goal to keep Wish happy and healthy so we can get the needed tests performed in June. 

♥Pupdate 5/26/23♥ Wish had her MRI done at Animal Emergency & Specialty Center today. Hydrocephalus/Encephalocele was confirmed. Her brain is being SQUISHED by the cerebral spinal fluid accumulating in her brain. This is greatly affecting her vision and mobility. Her spinal abnormalities were diagnosed as scoliosis/kyphosis. We have posted a detailed video about the findings on our Facebook page and hope to have that uploaded to the website as soon as time permits. Wish is a GOOD CANDIDATE FOR BRAIN SHUNT SURGERY! We will be fundraising like CRAZY to help this baby! 

♥Pupdate 7/3/23 – The pressures in Wish’s brain are increasing. Dr. Song, her neurologist has told us that Wish is running out of time and we need to do the surgery within the next couple of weeks! The shunt has been ordered and we are waiting for the call to schedule. The surgery will be performed at Animal Emergency & Specialty Center in Parker, Colorado.  The surgical quote is $15,000! We are fundraising like crazy on our Facebook page and on Wish’s fundraiser page. We have two VERY generous donors who (combined) will match donations up to $7,500! Your donations NOW will be doubled! Please, please help us to help our baby girl ♥

♥Pupdate 9/13/23 – After Wish aspirated her liquid medications, her shunt surgery had to be continually postponed as she was hospitalized in ICU to help her recover from pneumonia. During this time, the effects of the hydrocephalus were making drastic impacts on her day-to-day life and abilities. Just as we were starting to make some headway on the pneumonia, Wish fell into her water dish and aspirated again. She has been in our oxygen chamber, receiving round-the-clock care since 9/9/23. Her neurologist decided on 9/13 that we can no longer wait to perform the shunt surgery or the hydro will kill her. Shunt surgery is scheduled for 9/19/23. Prayers are desperately needed at this time. Follow us on Facebook to follow along on surgery day.