Mustard is not well.

[farthing]

Haven't been on for a while as Mike's dad is seriously ill in hospital, so everything is a bit haywire at the moment. To add to our worries, Mustard was poorly last night and taken into the vets for blood tests etc today.
He is a but unsteady on his feet, seems to be totally ' out of it', his eye reflexes aren't good and he spent most of the night calling and wandering the corridor, this was after some diazepam.
His bloods today show high ALT levels, but nothing else. He has no temperature. No sickness or toilet problems. They are trying to test his blood pressure and also testing his thyroid levels, at the moment they are treating him with antibiotics. I have kept him in for over a week, as I felt he wasn't right, but there was nothing obvious to tell a vet as everything seemed normal. Yet again I should just learn to trust my judgement, rather than worry about wasting vet's time.
Has anybody else had something like this happen, I'm very worried about our handsome boy as he is only 6 and a half.

[angieh]

So sorry to hear about Mustard. I have no suggestions I'm afraid Farthing - especially as he is a young boy. Do hope your vet can find the cause soon.

Sorry also to hear about Mike's dad. You are going through it at the moment. ((((HUGS)))) and hope things improve soon.

[calismum]

Sorry - can't think what that may be. Hope your vet manages to come up with something. He is young to be so unwell - -perhaps one of these weird viral things? If it is hope it doesn't leave any lasting effects.

Also hope Mike's Dad is feeling better soon. Sending you my best wishes.

[Mags]

Hope your vet can come up with something to help Mustard soon...

My best wishes to Mike's dad, I hope there is some improvement soon...

[Moli]

So sorry to hear about Mustard and Mikes Dad, hope things improve for both soon...

[dandysmom]

Sorry to hear the news; no idea what it could be, but hope the blood work may help the vet sort it out. Best wishes for Mike's Dad .......

[Natalie]

Sorry to hear of your sad news. Here's hoping they are both on the mend very soon

[farthing]

Thanks everybody, I am a bit tired as we were called back into the hospital at 9pm last night and were there until 6 this morning, and had a few hours in bed at 4 ish this afternoon. Mike's dad is still not doing very well, although they are trying to stabilise him.
Mustard's blood tests showed nothing, other than his ALT levels were high, but the vets aren't too concerned about this and his blood pressure is fine. They have sent off samples to test for toxoplasmosis, and are treating him for this with antibiotics and steriods. If it turns out to be an inner ear infection, which is a possibility, they would use the same treatment. He is cetrainly a bit better, but still not right and I am worried we miss something while we are running backwards and forwards to the hospital. We have a very good friend, who knows all the animals and can handle the horses, and she moved into the house last night, she did the same thing on Friday morning when we were called out at 3 am. However, Mustard is a semi-feral, very nervous boy so I didn't ask her to give him his tablets yesterday morning, so I hope he will be Ok having missed part of the course. He is in quarantine until we get the toxo results back and are having to be very careful around Tabatha, as she is more vulnerable being FIV positive.

[Moli]

Sorry to hear Mikes dad is still not good, hope he improves soon.....and mustard picks up too, thoughts with you at this time..x

[dandysmom]

Hope Mike's Dad improves; and that Mustard will be OK missing a dose. Thinking of you, do keep us up to date.....

[farthing]

We got Mustard's toxo results back and it looks like this amy have been the problem. It is one of these tests which looks at antibodies, so they can only say it seems likely to be the cause. Anyway, the vet thinks because we caught it so quickly he won't suffer from any long term damage, which is good news. He will finish his course of treatment and then go back in for another blood test to check he is clear and for then on he should have a natural immunity. At least we know, pretty, much what caused it and it wasn't a stroke, so it seems like it is good news.
Thanks for the good wishes everybody.:)

[Mags]

That's good news Farthing, thanks for updating us...:)

I do hope there has been some improvement with Mike's Dad too......

[farthing]

We are having a really stressful time with Mike's dad. He had a heart attack 2 weeks ago, refused all treatments to help recover. 4 days later he had to be shocked back into rhythm 7 times between 1am and 7 am. Everybody was called out to the hospital in the middle of the night. We were called out again a couple of nights later, but his heart was sorting itself out so he didn't need any shocks. Finally he was persuaded to get an angioplast and had a stent put in. He in now on medication, but still very much at risk of going into ventricular fibrillation. The doctors want to give him an internal defibrillator before he goes home, because once home he will die if he has another episode, and the risk is high.
We spent the whole afternoon trying to persuade him to take the op, but he refused- why, not because he is scared, but because he doesn't want to be in a communal ward. He has finally agreed to it, but to be honest I'm fed up of him wasting people's time, as well as the doctors time. I personally am a bit sensitive as I had to watch my dad die at the age of 52, with a brain tumour. He would have gone through anything to live and it angers me that Mike's father will give up like this.

[Mags]

Oh dear, sorry you've been having such a worrying time lately..:( I'm pleased to hear he has now agreed to having the op........ I would sooner choose the communal ward than risk my life if it were me.

Fingers crossed that all goes well for him with the op and you can start living a less stressful life ......take care (((hugs)))

[dandysmom]

Oh farthing, how distressing for Mike and you. Do you think it might be that he is really scared of the operation but thinks it's not macho to admit it and is using the communal ward as an excuse? Not logical, of course, but fear does make people do odd things..... I do hope you and the doctors can talk some sense into him. Sorry to hear of the sad loss of your Dad. That must have been very hard for you.

[farthing]

Oh farthing, how distressing for Mike and you. Do you think it might be that he is really scared of the operation but thinks it's not macho to admit it and is using the communal ward as an excuse? Not logical, of course, but fear does make people do odd things..... I do hope you and the doctors can talk some sense into him. Sorry to hear of the sad loss of your Dad. That must have been very hard for you.

The operation to put in the defibrillator, is a smaller op than the angioplast, with a much lower risk. It will take about an hour under a local. After the angioplast, he admitted he had been silly to worry about it, so I would hope it has shown him how simple these procedures can be.
I was a tough time losing my dad, but we got a chance to say goodbye, and I am so proud of him, as he thought of us and hid his pain to the very end.

[yola]

Farthing, I can understand your resentment, but I think your partner's father has his own demons that are making decisions difficult for him and he's making excuses to mask the fact.

I hope he makes the right choices to help prolong his life and ensure those who love him have the chance to demonstrate it to him. I know it's difficult, but for his sake try and temper your feelings until he's well enough for you to discuss them with him and explain to him then why you have found this all so hard to deal with.

[farthing]

Thanks Yola, but I won't be letting him know how I feel.
I tried to make him see today, how his decisions will affect his family, it is now up to him. I will treat him no differently to before, but had to get things off my chest somewhere.
I admit it has affected my view of him though and I won't be pushing him anymore to save himself.

[dandysmom]

It's good to have a safe place to vent, and you know we understand.....(((hugs)))

[angieh]

So sorry farthing - that your Mike's dad is causing everyone so much stress - sounds as if he could be a stubborn selfish b*****. Sorry, probably said what you feel by the sound of it.

[Elaine]

So very sorry you are having such a rough time of things Louise xxx

[Natalie]

I'm sorry to hear your having a tough time. I completely understand where your coming from in relation to your father in law. I had/am having the same problem with my mother in law. She is sadly in the last few days of days. Her diagnosis is breast, liver, lung and bone cancer. She has been a very selfish woman in my opinion and myself and my hubby have battled with her for the past 18 months.

We are all here to help and offer a shoulder should you need it. X