Distemper Cure-Letter To The Editor of Time Magazine

Last night while searching on Google to see if there had been any more written on Distemper I ran across an article called "Distemper Cure". I clicked on the link and found that it was on Time Magazine's online news version along with articles about Obama, the Blegojovitch scandel, and various other current events and editorial topics.

The article painted a very bleak picture of dogs with the disease, stating that dogs who got it were pretty much hopeless, that they were religated to limping around the yard in various stages of wretchedness until they met an inevitable and pathetic death. The article stated that there is "no cure".

I just could not let that stand if there was hope to offer, and so I decided to write in. I sent the following letter to the editor;

letters@time.com
sent by e-mail 1/10/09

Dear Editor,

My dog Carmella has recently had a rare treatment/cure for Distemper. In your article it says a cure does not exist, but Dr. Alson Sears, DVM has discovered one and I can attest that it works. The first two surviving dogs are Dachshunds living in Thailand, and Carmella is the first documented case on US soil (the third dog in the world), then the 4th was recently treated successfully (a Boston Terrier).

This protocol involves the off-label use of Newcastle Disease Virus vaccine (Newcastle Disease virus only infects chickens, so dogs cannot contract it, but because it’s in the same Paramyxovirus category as Distemper it elicits a heightened immune response in the dog, allowing its own immune system to kill the Distemper virus. The first part is given as an IV to treat all symptoms in the body, and then more is injected into the spinal canal at the base of the skull (where spinal taps are done on dogs) to eradicate the virus in the Central Nervous System.

I have carefully documented Carmella’s results in my blog; http://artlifenewsblog.blogspot.com/ and taken photos which clearly show her healing. This was not a spontaneous remission, as she was progressively getting worse until the time at which she received this treatment, first for the body, and the second part for the Central Nervous system.

Dr. Sears has not been able to get the right research facility interested in his cure because too much emphasis is placed on prevention and that’s what tends to be funded when it comes to clinical trials.

I myself contacted several University Veterinary schools including UGA and The University of Florida and both were very guarded about even looking into the science involved. It seems to be a taboo subject but if dogs’ lives can be saved by this discovery then vets should be using it and research facilities should be willing to invest in clinical trials.

As I see it, merely focusing on prevention does not solve the problem. There are always dogs in shelters who were inadequately vaccinated, puppies born in the woods, and even cases where dogs get the disease from the Distemper vaccine itself! My vet who has spent his life educating pet owners about the importance of vaccinations had to admit when the facts became apparent that this approach alone was simply not preventing the disease. Many erroneously believe that Canine Distemper has been almost eradicated in the Western Hemisphere, but in reality many cases are not represented in the statistics due to dogs being quickly “put down” and many dogs that are not ever diagnosed but instead are assumed to have and are wrongly treated for bacterial infections which never respond to antibiotics.

If you would like to do a follow-up article for either your online or printed magazine I would be willing to be interviewed and have your staff include the evidence that exists that Carmella is in fact recovered.

I would also be willing to put you in touch with the man who owns the two Dachshunds in Thailand, and possibly the owner of the Boston Terrier (if she is willing).

Dr. Sears has his e-mail address as contact person on various documents displayed online regarding the protocol and is open to any fair inquiries about how this works and the science involved. He can be contacted at AntiDistemper@aol.com

The two vets who treated Carmella in this two-part process may be willing to speak about this as well, as they are considering writing a case history on my dog at some point.

Within only 2 days after the first part of the treatment Carmella’s hardening and scaling paw pads began healing, and within only 2 weeks they were completely healed! This part was no less than miraculous. She gained weight, started eating suddenly, became active again, her eyes lost their haziness, and she more than doubled in size within a little over a month.

It took so long to find a vet who was both willing and able to do the CNS part of the treatment that while waiting Carmella developed some brain damage which left her with myoclonic jerking in the right, front leg that is pretty pronounced. Although less dramatic than the body treatment, the jerking/neuro symptoms stopped worsening immediately as soon as the NDV was injected into her spinal canal. It was obvious to me because of the almost daily disease-progression she’d suffered prior to the procedure that the NDV had in fact stopped the disease at that point.

She continued to become more and more robust and developed incredible muscle tone in the months afterwards since October 1, 2008 when this was done.

Please contact me at (e-mail witheld for public re-print) to let me know whether or not you can do a story about this. I believe this is news that will be of interest and a great help to many dog owners, shelters, and vets.

Sincerely,

Pippit Carlington

Carmella's Mange continues to heal, slowly but surely, and today I found some Borax at Kroger. Surprisingly they did not carry it at Walmart.

Every day that goes by she is looking a little less red and inflamed.

Last night I tried my best to file down her toenails with that Pedi-paws sanding device and although feeding her pieces of kibble from my other hand allowed me to sand some nails down a little bit, it soon became a wrestling match with her chewing on my hands as though they were steak bones.

Then she began trying to tear apart her nice new bed, first with her claws, and then with her teeth. She looked for all the world like a child throwing a temper tantrum when she didn't get her way. I was horrified and yelled at her that she better stop that right now because I just bought that!

I'm glad she did not cause any damage to it and has not tried to do it again. I lucked out in finding such a high quality dog bed and hope it lasts a long time because I don't know how long Sam's Club carries those.

Be sure to take a look at her on the Carmella-cam now, as you will have a bird's-eye view of her in her bed.

The seedpods have been fired, but I need to re-attach new headpins at the top where they'll connect to the chain.

I hope to start the watercolor series on Carmella soon!

***This just in***10:12 p.m. EST

I heard back from Dr. Sears after sending him Carmella's update. He now has a website for questions and answers regarding the treatment with NDV and about the dog-based serum that he invented using cytokines produced by a healthy donor dog after the introduction of Newcastle Disease Virus Vaccine, spindown and seperation from red blood cells.

If you or someone you know has a dog with Distemper or you think a dog might have it go to Dr. Sears' website here;

http://www.treatment4distemper.com/

The site is still relatively new but it has a blog, still photos, podcasts, description of the protocol, including the most up-to-date understanding of the science behind it, and several short video clips showing dogs with Distemper-induced seizures. These clips are rather disturbing and have somewhat spooky music in the background, but they are effective.

I've written him tonight after looking at the website and asked if he would like to use any of the pictures of Carmella before and after treatment, and a video clip showing her myoclonic jerking. Once the site fills out some more and is made a little easier to navigate I think it will probably climb in Google position, as it's very nicely done.

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

Back To Dr. Norwood

Carmella saw Dr. Norwood for the first time in over a month. I got her up early this morning and she had her first bath since she had been diagnosed. She can finally now get into the water without fear of disease-progression. It was still pretty new to her and so she was a little nervous about getting rinsed off and then dried with a hair dryer, but got through it and felt spry and renewed, barrelling down the hall in the house, and when my ride got here to go to the vet she bounded up for that rare ride in the car.

When we arrived a little early there were several other dogs in the waitingroom, and my friend who lives near me brought her cat at the same time to have her claws clipped. The office is divided in half in the center of the room with a seperate entrance for cats and the other for dogs, so we had to sit across the room from each other and shout over the central office cubicle in order to talk, so we did little of that.

A small Bichon Frise came in and Carmella whined and pulled at the leash as though it were a rabbit she wanted desperately to get to, and then a large black male dog entered not long after that appeared to be part Labrador and possibly a little bit of Newfoundland. Both he and Carmella were straining and wimpering loudly, wanting to play. Christian soft rock played from a speaker mounted at the top of the counter, and I noticed that they were also selling scented candles as a sideline. I suspected that the economy left them with less regular business, so they were trying to supplement what losses they had taken due to that. Felicia came over and petted Carmella and commented on how good she looked. Then said to me, "You are one of the most determined women I've ever met."

"Yes, but Carmella really is a miracle" I responded.

It wasn't long before Carmella was called back, and Gwen came in and took down the information about what her current situation was. I reminded her about the anticonvulsant and that Carmella needed to be wormed again (I'd seen one crawling right out of her yesterday), and asked if Dr. Norwood had said any more about publishing her case history. She said he hadn't said anything else to her since the day the drug reps had come.

Carmella jumped up on her and darted around the room in excitement. She seemed to be able to feel the love coming from her and from the other staff and she remembered all of them. Gwen took her into the other room where there was a scale and weighed her. She weighed 31 pounds (1 more than last week). Her weight has more than doubled in the time they'd been seeing her!

After awhile Dr. Norwood came in. He had cut his hair and looked refershed from his trip to Aruba. Around his neck hung a large shark's tooth on leather string. He was not wearing his usual glasses. He came in smiling and Carmella went over and jumped up on him right away. He asked how she was doing and I told him she got through the procedure with no problems, that Dr. Muller used saline with the NDV instead of the delutant, and that aside from the usual jerking everything was going well.

Then I asked about his publishing and he said that he would like to do it jointly with Dr. Muller rather than seperately, but that he hadn't gotten in touch with him yet about that, that he was going to soon.

He said as for the anticonvulsant that he could write a prescription and I could get it filled at a regular pharmacy since the same drugs are used in humans.

I asked about a minor thing about Carmella's nose (some intermittant snorting that developed over the past few weeks that sounded related to congestion) and he said that most likely it was allergies but if it got any worse to let him know. He said there was not much they could see up the nose without putting a scope up it anyway.

Then he left the room to look at some books regarding Phenobarbital and Klonapin, saying he'd come back with a prescription.

I waited for some time and he did not return. Then the male vet tech came in and told me that Dr. Norwood had decided not to prescribe an anticonvulsant after all, but would just monitor to see if there were any seizures that came on later. My mouth fell open. I said didn't he know that myoclonis is a form of seizure, and he said that he took it to mean a Grand Mal seizure. I told him that having had this myself in the past and both me and my son seeing neurologists this had been explained to me by doctors as a form of seizure and that they do prescribe anticonvulsants for this too. I asked why Dr. Norwood offered to give Carmella Klonapin before she was treated and now that we don't have to worry about masking it that he does not want to do it when it's appropriate. I told him on no uncertain terms that Dr. Sears, the Distemper expert had recommended it and that he was not going to be happy about her not having it, that the jerking was interrupting her sleep, and I'm sure it's exhausting. He said he was just passing on what Dr. Norwood told him to tell me and kind of shrugged. Then I asked if he remembered about the worming shot and he looked like a deer in the headlights.

He flipped through Carmella's chart absent-mindedly. "Didn't she just have it?"

By that time I was starting to really get annoyed. "Yes, over a month ago. A worm just crawled out of her butt yesterday, so she needs to be treated for it again."

"They get those from fleas. Have you seen any fleas on her?"

"No, not recently, but she did have a few before I got her on flea drops. She's on Vectra 3D. Also she's on heartworm preventative that's supposed to also cover other types of worms. " I described what came out of her yesterday as a white worm with a triangular head.

"That only protects against round, hook, and whipworms, not tapeworms. That sounds like tapeworms."

"Gwen wrote that all down and I told them over the phone that she had worms again and needed it again. Are you not reading the chart? Also, would you please have him come back in here (Dr. Norwood)?"

He said OK and then went to get the worming stuff from the back.

He took a long time. Then Gwen came in and said they were getting ready to close and could I come out to the waitingroom, and I told her I was waiting for Carmella to have her worming shot and to talk to Dr. Norwood about something else.

"She hasn't been given that yet?"

"No, the vet tech didn't seem to know anything about it. I had to remind him. Somehow he's not getting the message of what's been written down here."

She went back and hurried him up and soon he came in with the injection. Gwen held Carmella and he gave her the shot, saying it might sting a little. Carmella wimpered slightly and then it was over.

I went out, settled up my bill with Felicia at the front desk, and then saw the friend I'd come in with standing near the side exit door.

"Aren't you done yet?" That seems to be her mantra. This woman has gotta-go-gotta-go syndrome. It doesn't matter where we go, she's always "gotta-go."

Gwen said, almost; that I just needed to speak with the doctor for a minute.

I went back into the room and Dr. Norwood entered soon after. We had the same conversation I'd had with the vet tech regarding Myoclonis and he claimed it was muscular, not seizure. He said he'd show me the book. In a minute he came back with a medical book to show me the definition of myoclonis. Although it did not list a cause it alluded to it, referring to a "disorder involving motor neurons" and that it "originates in the CNS." I pointed out how all that is true and it is not mutually exclusive of seizure, that upon EEG patients with myoclonis show seizure activity in the brain. He may have meant well but he didn't seem to fully understand what causes myoclonic jerking. Granted he is a GP of veterinary medicine but I think my human GP would know the answer to that question. The issue is really that he has never had a case of myoclonic jerking, only seen Grand Mal seizures.

Then I also told him about Carmella's incessant need to chew on people all the time and how it coincided with the time period in which the jerking began. He responded that we don't have any way of knowing whether it is due to something that resulted in the brain or not. He seemed to feel that if he didn't know then he was going to assume it was behavioral. I said that I'd trained many dogs and that she was very intelligent and I'd successfully trained her to do other things, but this so far I've been unable to break her of. I also said that it did not seem to transfer to long-term memory if she stopped once in awhile. She'd go back to it again as if she'd never learned not to the next time.

Then he brought up the possibility of liver damage. "I don't want to fill her up with drugs", said Dr. Norwood. "I usually give this to dogs that are having convulsive falling down, foaming at the mouth type symptoms. I usually give it for a full year."

"Dr. Sears says it will take 4-6 months..."

"6-8".

"...before we'll see any improvement in the jerking and that she should be given treatment for neuro symptoms in the meantime until the NDV started allowing her stem cells to create new myelin. He says this will help all neuro symptoms. He might not even think a whole year is necessary."

"Let's just see if the treatment works and that's all we can do" Dr. Norwood said edgily. "I can show you the protocol. It says for seizures. Maybe he just meant as a preventative."

"Talk to Dr. Sears and lets get this clarified."

"OK, I'll talk to him on Monday".

If it looks like it will be OK to prescribe it can you call it in? My friend was going to pick up her own medication at the pharmacy today so we thought we'd get Carmella's at the same time, but it's always iffy as to when she can bring me out here."

"Yes, I can do that. I'll call him Monday and let you know."

I thanked him and he asked me to schedule another check-up for Carmella at 6 months. We agreed that she might aught to have antibody tests to confirm a clean bill of health in the body and another spinal tap through Dr. Muller every year for the next 3 to confirm the virus is gone in the CNS.

My friend, V had taken her cat home and then come back and was waiting for me in the parking lot. The door was locked and I had to get Gwen to unlock it for me.

"V left to take her cat home."

"She's very antsy" I said motioning out the exit. She's waiting out in the car."

"She doesn't like to wait around?"

"No."

I came home, put Carmella back in the kitchen, and went to Sams Club with the same friend, came back, and let Carmella out in the back yard to run around while I vaccuumed and mopped the kitchen floor. It was kind of hot and stuffy in the house so I opened the front door and turned on the ceiling fan. When the floor was dry I let Carmella back inside. I washed a load of dog towels and her two black cushions. Now everything smells fresh. Carmella's fur is nice and soft, and she's all comfy and cozy.

Be sure to take a look at Carmella-cam and watch her live in the kitchen. You may catch her doing something really cute!

Next order of business is to try to find a vet school that does the test on the strain of Distemper found in Carmella's cerebrospinal fluid. There's a researcher in Italy who told me he'll do the test for free and I'd just pay shipping but it turns out shipping to Italy for something that needs to get there soon is around $111.00. Also, they may consider sending active Distemper virus through the mail a bio-hazard. Their list of prohibited or restricted items to that country is pretty extensive and open to pretty broad interpretation. Uh...I think I'll pass on sending it there, LOL. I'll keep checking with US university vet schools. Maybe Auburn does it (in Alabama).

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

A Little Panic For A Moment but We're Ready

This afternoon I was tying up alot of loose ends and taking more pictures of Carmella when I decided it might be educational to show on my blog what NDV looks like, so I opened my refrigerator and held it up to the light and took a picture of that and another of the dillutant that goes with it.

Everything was going smoothly when I got down to cropping and editing my pictures and when I came to that one as I cropped it and showed it to "fit on screen" I saw the magnified tiny lettering below the title and it said B1, not LaSota strain. I freaked out because this was why the procedure was rescheduled the first time, thinking that would not work, but this time it was too late.

I rushed around writing e-mails to Dr. Sears and Dr. Norwood in a panic asking if they knew whether this strain would do the same job or whether it would hurt her if it was not LaSota strain. Being around 6:30 pm Dr. Norwood was already gone and I figured I may or may not hear from Dr. Sears in time unless he checks his e-mail in the evening. I waited until around 9:00 pm and kept checking and since tomorrow when I got up would probably really be the crack of dawn for him I figured I better call him.

He answered the phone and I told him the predicament. Luckily he said it would still work and that as long as it did not have other viruses mixed with it there would be no risk of a reaction. I took a magnifyer and looked at the little bottle very carefully. There were no other names on it, so we should be OK.

Dr. Sears told me that we should not expect the fast kind of recovery that we saw in the body to take place in the CNS, and that for the kinds of symptoms due to demyelination that Carmella has we should not expect to see noticeable improvement for a minimum of 4-6 months. He said that's how long it takes for the regeneration of myelin and new pathways to be created via stem cells. This in and of itself is exciting because in documents written earlier he is conservative on the prospect of regeneration but focused more on the heading-off of further damage, although it is alluded to in certain paragraphs.

He asked me to stay in touch and I said I would. I was too nervous to stay on the phone for very long.

As an aside; it is uncanny that the theme of regeneration keeps showing up in my life.

Both Carmella and I have been nervous as hell this evening. Everytime I go into the kitchen she wants to chew on me. I tried getting her to eat as much as she could earlier because after 10:00 pm she is not supposed to eat anything and she can just have a little water. I need to take her outside on a leash tonight before I got to bed and in the morning because she will eat anything she can get off the ground, even sticks or dirt if I don't stop her.

Tonight I put together a folder with her medical records, the protocol procedure, and other related papers and took out all the stuff from it that would not be pertinent.

Watching the news coverage of the gas shortage I am still a little nervous about taking a taxi in the morning, as the forecast is that lines are shorter but many stations are still running out. I hope there are enough drivers working tomorrow so that they are not too backed up. I plan to call at 7:00 (two hours before we need to be there) just in case.

I also wish that a friend could sit with me while I'm waiting in the waitingroom to see how the surgery comes out. It feels alot like when my son was in the hospital being evaluated for brain surgery. I was pretty much handling it alone.

Well pretty soon the hard part will be over, the last shreds of the virus will be gone, and Carmella will be out of the woods. I'll be glad when she is home, safe and sound.

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com

Preparing for The Cure!

Today started out full of activity. Having eaten late before I'd gone to bed I awoke with a slightly upset stomach and the alarm seemed to go off way too early. The repairman was coming to get the security lights put up and take care a a few other odd jobs around 9:00 and I wanted to call and get the news from Dr. Muller as to whether he had located the NDV and talked with Dr. Norwood yet. When I called a receptionist told me that he wouldn't be in until 2:00 today. She said that Dr. Norwood had just called and she had to take a message. I asked her to have Dr. Muller call me so I could find out if everything was set.

A little while later the receptionist called back and said she'd gotten in touch with him and that he said I should bring Carmella in Wednesday and get the NDV from Dr. Norwood's office and bring it when we come. I assumed that the two of them had spoken by that time, but the receptionist hadn't asked. She said she'd ask him that and ask whether Dr. Muller felt the vaccine was still viable that Dr. Norwood had.

Then I called Dr. Norwood's office to find out whether they could have it up at the front around 4:30. Felicia had to check with Dr. Norwood and see if it "came in yet" so apparently he had ordered a new batch!

While I waited to hear back from Dr. Norwood's office I took care of some Etsy-related things and wrote Dr. Sears several e-mails and also Dr. Muller to give them the link to my blog and the Carmella-cam.

I called back and Gwen told me that it was ready.

The woman who lives just a mile away got off work early and picked me up and we headed up there.

In the waitingroom was a woman sitting there with two dogs; one tiny little Chihuaua puppy and an older Dachsund. I commented on how cute the puppy was and pointed him out to my friend, saying you could hold it in the palm of one hand. The owner smiled appreciatively and jokingly commented for the other dog, "What about me?"

Felicia turned around as we approached the front desk smiling broadly. "So you found somebody to do the treatment! That's great!"

I said yes and gave her a thumbs up. "And it's just in time. She has gotten worse over the weekend".

"So you won't need the news media?"

"Well, not to get her treated but once she's had the procedure it will be an even bigger story. I'll just need to change my press release."

Just then I noticed Dr. Norwood standing to my left inside the half-door leading to the back. He was smiling and seemed to have come into the room nearly unnoticed.

"Hi!" I said looking his way. "Yes, sometimes she jerks so much it's like she's dancing in place". I did an immitation of Carmella's jerking with my arm and hand on the desk in front of me.

"Oh, wow", he exclaimed, concerned. "I'm glad you were able to find one."

"Did you make contact with Dr. Muller today?"

"I tried, but they said he was out until 2:00, so I e-mailed him, but never heard back" Dr. Norwood responded. "I had a hard time getting this" he said, as Gwen brought out the box containing the precious vaccine and proceeded to tape up the box. "There's two bottles in there but he'll probably only need one."

"When are you taking it over there?" Gwen asked.

"Wednesday. Our appointment is at 9:00 in the morning. I was just going to put it in the refrigerator at home until that day."

"Oh, OK, then the best thing is to take it out of the box when you get home and put it in the refrigerator and put the ice packs in the freezer, then put it back in there together before you leave for the appointment."

I asked Dr. Norwood if he gave Dr. Muller the contact information in his e-mail for the supply company so he'd know in the future where to get it. I didn't quite register his answer, but it seemed as though they might not have normally carried it. The box had an Atlanta address on it which was stamped "late delivery" but no date.

"How's she eating?" Dr. Norwood asked me.

"Great! She almost finished a whole 50 Lb. bag of dog food in one month! I have a webcam on her now documenting her recovery. I hope that with Carmella's recovery we can educate other vets about this so that they realize that rather than putting dogs to sleep there is a real option. If you decide to publish this you and Dr. Muller should collaborate", I said to Dr. Norwood. "After all, your name should be on that paper, because you were a big part of this."

Tears came to his eyes, and suddenly my peripheral vision sensed movement from all corners of the room. I realized at that moment that there was an audience. It seemed as though over the previous minute or so 6 or more people had slowly gathered to watch this unfold.

"When should I bring her in next for you to see how she's doing?" I asked him.

"Well I would bring her in a week later, then a month, then at 6 months, then at a year, but I'm sure he'll want to see her for a follow-up too. Anyway I'm sure he'll want to keep her a few days for hospitalization or at least overnight."

"I hope she gets rid of the jerking."

"We won't know for awhile whether that's temporary or permanent" Dr. Norwood replied.

"Yes, that's true. But myoclonic jerking is considered a type of seizure, so maybe it won't be permanent."

I thanked them and headed out the door, the box in tow.

Once at home I found Carmella stretched out in front of the kitchen entrance as I entered. This was not normal, as she usually jumped up and waited with nose pressed against the crack as soon as she heard people in the garage and jumped up enthusiastically as I came in, but not this time. In fact I had to squeeze by her and move her aside to come in. That worried me.

I unpacked the box and looked closely at the bottles inside. The NDV bottles were amazingly small, each only about one inch high, and they were each packaged side-by-side with a very large bottle of delutant liquid about 5-6 inches tall that was sort of bluish in color. It occurred to me that the vaccine must be very concentrated for such extreme proportions. The writing on the bottles of NDV was very tiny. One would need a magnifyer to read what it said. After putting them into my refrigerator and the ice packs in the freezer I sat down on the floor to play with Carmella. She started trying to chew my pants leg but still seemed particularly inert and avoided standing, moving about mainly by tossing and turning from one side to the other, rolling onto her back and onto her stomach.

She had been outside several times earlier and had been energetic, but usually she has not remained tired for very long after exerting herself. Tonight she seemed notably different, as though her limbs were sluggish and it took some effort to move them. If she can just manage to hang in there until Wednesday everything should work out.

Be sure to check out the Carmella-cam at the top right in my sidebar to see her live.

If you'd like to help Carmella please use the donation button in my sidebar, buy an ad slot, and/or purchase handcrafted and unique art jewelry from my Etsy store; http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/ in advance of the holidays. Proceeds are going to pay off her vet bill. Many thanks to those who have already given, and to those who have commented and given other types of support. Keep reading, commenting, and do whatever you can. Carmella still needs your help, good thoughts, and prayers as she embarks on this next phase of recovery. The next few days are going to be very crucial.

Watch Carmella Live!

You can now see Carmella in motion! Even better than still pictures you can even hear her. Just click on the link at the top of my sidebar that says "Carmella-Cam" and it's almost like seeing her in-person.

The computer technician came out and installed it today and it's really cool! I can even spy on her from the other room and know when she's chewing on something she's not supposed to. That is a big surprise when she hears me but can't see me. She looks around, wondering how I could possibly know what she's up to all the way from the computer room.

When she's not sitting under the kitchen table you can see her quite well, but even in the relative dark under the table you can see her leg jerking quite overtly. I have noticed the past day or so that her back left leg also jerks sometimes.

Hopefully tomorrow Dr. Muller and Dr. Norwood will have spoken and the NDV will be on its way to Dr. Muller's office.

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

Scheduling The Procedure

Yesterday was a mad rush. I got a call late in the day asking me to order the NDV myself and was given a link to the company a vet tech had located, but upon closer inspection it did not say in the description whether it was LaSota strain or another. (NDV comes in a whole variety of strains). We were shooting for tomorrow as the day for the procedure but when I went to the website I saw that they only ship 2-day service Mon-Wed. and it was already the end of the day, so it looked like it would really take a miracle to get ahold of the right stuff in time for an 8:20 am appointment tomorrow. Besides, the customer service line had already closed, so I had to wait until today to contact the hatchery supply house.

When I got up I called only to find that the strain was B-1, not LaSota, and that was all they had. They also didn't know where to get it, so I called Dr. Norwood's office to get his source, but he was tied up.

Then I put in a call to Dr. Muller at Briarcliff Animal Clinic. It took him a minute to realize who I was but then remembered and I told him that I was trying to get Dr. Norwood's source since we knew he was able to find it for the first part.

Dr. Muller told me also that he had a female vet friend whose husband was a researcher and owned a hatchery and that he could probably get it through them. I don't remember which part of Georgia their place was located but it sounded as though he thought we could get it before the end of next week.

We talked about possibly Wednesday and hoped to get it done before next Friday so that she wouldn't get any worse in the meantime.

He said he was excited about meeting me and Carmella, and was very nice.

Gwen, the Office Manager at Dr. Norwood's office called to get Dr. Muller's phone numbers and e-mail address because Dr. Norwood wanted to contact him with the information directly. I gave her the information, and asked if everything was OK because I hadn't heard from Dr. Norwood in ages. She said that he had just had an unusual number of surgeries and emergencies lately.

He'd had a meeting with some drug reps recently who specialized in vaccines and he presented Carmella's case to them. They were very impressed and urged him to publish his findings!

All this is great news but it also comes at a time when the one friend who is usually home that time of day can't be with me because she'll be out of town the entire week. Carmella and I will probably have to take a cab at least on the way over there, and I won't know if they'll be keeping her overnight until that afternoon when she wakes up from general anesthesia. I'm sure I will be nervous as hell on that day waiting to see how she is afterwards.

Tomorrow I am going to the first bead show I've been to in many months. I need to get some good accent beads to go with my new line.

The woman doing proofs for my custom stamps still hasn't gotten back to me with all of them but I hope to hear from her this week or on Monday so I can decide which ones I want made first and put in an order.

Carmella has been as rambunctious as ever, grabbing at my legs and chasing sticks in the back yard, but I can tell she knows something's up. She has started whining at the baby gate even when she doesn't have to go to the bathroom when I put her back in the kitchen so I can do my work.

If my bedroom door is open she runs and takes a flying leap onto my bed and wants to stay there but pretty soon she starts trying to chew on me and gets restless, then begins looking for trouble to get into on the floor and I have to put her back in the other room.

If the debate isn't cancelled between McCain and Obama tomorrow night I want to watch it. Current events in this country seem to have risen to a general state-of-emergency. Except for snippets of news here and there I've been so busy trying to get treatment for Carmella I have missed alot of what's going on lately.

This gas crisis reminds me of that movie "The Day After" with people operating on a basic survival level fighting over their place in line and arguing over who needs it the most.

Once this treatment is complete Carmella will probably start to calm down. The virus is most likely messing with her head and once the virus is gone she can really begin to start living instead of merely surviving.

If you'd like to help Carmella (God knows what this next part will add to the bill), you can purchase ad space here on my blog through Scratchback, use the donation button, and/or purchase handcrafted jewelry here:

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Ding, Ding, Ding! We May Have A Yes!

I don't want to jump the gun, but I believe I've found a vet to complete Carmella's treatment!

While looking over that recent list I decided to start with clinics I had been to before even if it was many years ago and I called Briarcliff Animal Hospital. This was a place I used to take my dog to when I was a teenager, a dog named Hector who was half German Shepherd and half Collie. I had her from the time I was about 8 years old until I was 17 or 18. You may be wondering why a female dog was named Hector. Well, my mother brought her home one day after having been told by the owner of the mother with a litter of puppies that she was a male. She was so covered with hair you really couldn't tell by turning her over, and it wasn't until she was 6 months old when she went into heat that we really knew she was a female. When all the male dogs in the neighborhood started lining up in the front yard and we found drops of blood on the kitchen floor that answered that!

I remember first when my family moved to Atlanta from Baltimore we took her to Dr. Tyree who then worked at Briarcliff Animal Hospital. At the time it was a tiny building not much bigger than the one Dr. Norwood works in now. Dr. Tyree was great and the place was within walking distance from my house. When me and my friend Charlotte who lived down the street found injured animals in the woods; stray dogs, baby birds, etc. we'd walk over there and take them to her. Usually there was no charge for these wild animal consultations, and when an animal died she never charged anything for the emergency care to try to save it.

At 15 I started volunteering for a local dog breeder on weekends and after school a few nights a week to help with her obedience classes and show training classes. This breeder took all 25 Irish Setters to Dr. Tyree also.

At some point Dr. Tyree moved on and then in her place came Dr. Hedge. I had forgotten about Dr. Hedge until the male receptionist mentioned her. I think I may not have taken my dog to her for near as long, and as I remember she was not quite as open to treating these wild animals for free, and since the dog breeder already had a paid assistant and couldn't afford to pay two I had very little moneyt for vet bills so I didn't go in there as much when she came on the scene.

Monday morning when I called the receptionist listened to Carmella's story and he said that Dr. Hedge was still there and that there was one other vet, Dr. Muller. I told him all about Dr. Sears' treatment for Distemper and how well Carmella had responded to the injection of NDV in the body, and how I was having trouble finding any vet who would do this second part. He told me he'd ask the two vets there and get back to me.

I actually thought it would be Dr. Hedge if anyone from there, but in an hour or so I got a phone call and it was the same male receptionist on the line. He said he'd spoken with Dr. Muller and that he wanted to know whether I'd tried Loving Touch since they did holistic veterinary medicine, and I told him that the guy there was almost going to do it but then got cold feet and backed out.

What the receptionist didn't tell me right away is that Dr. Muller had said he'd do the procedure if there looked like there were no others who would! He said it almost in passing and I had to do a double-take.

"Really? He said that?!!!" I could hardly keep myself from jumping up and screaming. Not wanting to jinx anything I tried my best to remain calm. "Well I've been going through this long list, and I've checked 5 board certified neuro vets, 2 of them at UGA and one at GVS. I've asked at least 20 vets in the past month since she's been sick and was making my way through this current list..."

"UGA and GVS already turned her down? Well that's good enough for me" said the receptionist. "I'll go back and let him know all this."

"Do I need to set up an appointment for him to see her?"

"Well let me see what he says and I'll have him call you himself."

I was floored. "Thank you! Thank you! This is such a relief! I didn't know what we were going to do."

"You're welcome" he said, after a brief hesitation, a bit self-conscious by my show of emotion. It seemed as though he was smiling on the other end of the line.

I didn't hear anything later that day, and nothing by around 1:00 pm yesterday, so I called back to see if Dr. Muller was in and if he had indeed gotten the receptionists' message. I had to leave a message on his voicemail. Then around 5:00 pm the call came in.

"Hello, Ms. Charlington?"

"Ms. Carlington; yes this is she."

"This is Dr. Muller from Briarcliff Animal Hospital."

"Oh yes! Great!"

"I understand you want to have a spinal injection done on your dog who has Distemper?"

"Yes. Did the receptionist tell you all about it?"

"Yes, I think it was David"

"The other receptionist told me she thought it was Dwight"

"Well it could have been him. He said you moved here from California?"

"Oh, no not me. It was Dr. Sears who moved from California. I live here. Dr. Sears who developed the treatment is retired and he moved from California to Utah."

"So it's Newcastle Disease Virus Vaccine that's injected into the spinal canal?"

"Yes, into the Foramen Magnum; the same way they do a spinal tap."

"That's interesting. Some vets are now starting to give epidurals for surgery these days, so that isn't so far off from the way that is done."

"And Dr. Sears can give you exact instructions for this. He told me he'd work with any vet I work with on this."

"And he has never had any problems with the dogs he's treated?"

"Well there was one he had problems with, but it was too far gone by the time he tried to save it, in the full paralysis stage. The others were successful. I'm hoping that this will be done on Carmella soon before it's too late for her. She could still be saved, but she's been getting worse neurologically."

"Oh, she's already got neurological symptoms?"

"Yes, myoclonic jerking in the right front leg".

"Oh, seizures", he said as though making a mental note to himself.

"She's a beautiful dog and otherwise healthy. The first injection cured every other symptom in the body. Her paw pads started healing within two days afterwards, and two weeks later they were completely healed."

"Oh really! Cool!"

"Yes, since Newcastle Disease is related to Distemper but in birds Dr. Sears just theorized that it would work, stumbled upon it and decided to try it, and it worked. The manufactured stuff is made by Merial, but Dr. Sears also came up with a formula for a dog-based serum."

"Is that antibodies?"

"I'm not sure, but it could be."

"Yes, I bet it's antibodies, spinned down. This is quite interesting. Did you check with Loving Touch?"

"Yes, there was one guy there who was going to but then got freaked out because it was "experimental" and talked himself out of it."

"How come your regular vet wasn't able to do it?"

"He's never done a spinal tap in his life and there'd be too much risk that he'd hit the spinal cord."

"Oh."

"Don't you pretty much have to do it by feel to knw what you're doing."

"Yes, true. They don't always teach that at least in any depth in all vet schools."

"I know. He has never done one and I can imagine if you don't know how far to push the needle it's not something you can just do from a book. You had to have had some actual practice to really know how."

"Yes, I see. Well I've done it, not tons of times, but I'm capable of doing them. I just wish a neuro vet could do it. They do that kind of thing all the time. I'm not afraid to do it myself, but I just want to make sure I don't make her worse neurologically than she already is."

"Well, that's the thing that really kills me. The most qualified board certified neuro vets won't seem to touch this and they're willing to let her die rather than do something new to save her. If somebody doesn't she's going to eventually die. They know that and still they won't do it. She has had no side-effects from the first injection, only positive results. Her coat is shiny, she got rid of the pneumonia, her pads are healed, she doesn't have crud in her eyes, and she's eating, drinking, and very active, just like a normal puppy. If you didn't see her jerking you might not even know there was anything wrong with her. She looks good, but the ironic thing is the virus is still in the Central Nervous System and the neuro symptoms are getting worse. Do you want me to bring her in for a preliminary appointment?"

"Yes, that would be a good idea, but let me call Dr. Sears and find out all about this, and I'll call you afterwards. I'll call him around 10:00 or 11:00 am tomorrow morning and then get back to you."

We got off the phone and I felt stunned. It had all happened rather quickly, but I was glad because that probably meant this guy will take action. I think he gets it that we don't have all the time in the world and that each day she goes on without the treatment the virus damages more of her brain. There's only one solution and that's to kill the virus. Then she can look forward to a normal life, this will all be behind her, and the black cloud will be gone. Things can only get better from there.

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