A Little R&R (Re-Set and Re-Group)

I've been ill for about 3 weeks and have not been able to be online much lately without feeling worse but tonight seem to have a window of opportunity to write something. At least for the time-being I have enough energy to get a few things done so I'm striking while the iron is hot, as my condition fluctuates throughout the day. I'm waiting for some test results to come back from my very disorganized and haphazard doctor's office, but not holding my breath. One time it took three weeks to get results in the mail that I really should have gotten a phone call from the nurse about.

Alot has happened since my last entry. I have not felt up to working on my jewelry, and various fees sucked up the money I had set aside for the rubber stamps, so it looks as though ordering them, and launching my new line will have to wait until after the holidays unless I happen to make a decent sale (or several) this month.

A friend has fallen on hard times as well, and I am feeling somewhat useless in trying to help. It is never quite so evident as it is right now just how important it is to have enough money to fix all the leaks in the boat that invariably come along when you least expect it, which present themselves at the most inopportune times.

Then another goal had to be put aside (one I'm not at liberty to talk about just yet), but if you've been reading diligently will recognize as that "upsetting event" which required more of my time and resulted in my overdoing it and compromising my health. Sometimes life sends us a message that if we don't sit down it will knock us down whether we like it or not. I am the kind of person that has a tendancy to "get it done or die trying", and I just had to come to a point at which I said, "OK, I'm not super-woman and there is no way I'm going to be able to do it alone." That situation is still up in the air, but the future of that will in large part depend on how much back-up I will have at the crucial time when it's most needed. I have to keep reminding myself that it's not a matter of weakness, but one of my having done it virtually alone for way too long already, and that nobody succeeds at anything alone. Somebody said to me about 2 weeks ago that maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world if that particular goal didn't happen, and that which surrounds it folds, and maybe she's right. If the right people just aren't that into it the way I am then perhaps it would be an empty victory to see it through. Recent events have only strengthened my thesis that man's very survival depends upon each cog in the wheel doing it's part for the whole to function effectively. If that sounds alot like Socialism then so be it; right about now Capitalism as it exists here in America has become way out of hand and a little Socialism, getting back to the basics, whiddling it down to only that which is most important would do us some good.

I was thinking tonight about how we need to re-set our clocks, compasses, and the like; kind of have a "do-over", on a personal level with our busy hectic schedules and priorities, and on a more global level with the environmental and consumerist monster we've created, wanting more, bigger, better, faster...wanting more and more "stuff", mucking up our lives with more and more complexity when really what is needed is more simplicity, to slow things down, and to savor the people in our lives, the art, the warmth, and the beauty in the smallest of details.

People are so upset about losing money in the stock market, but then there are those who don't even have money in the stock market and are worried about how they'll eat and pay their bills, and this avalanche is now carrying with it the bodies of those who only weeks or months ago were most concerned about their investments. In the mass of scrambling and desperate arms and legs such concerns quickly pale in comparison to the more immediate concerns of where they will draw their next paycheck, and how long any money saved will last.

It is just beginning to dawn on people that in a flash of an eye all of this could be gone and husbands must then face their wives, possibly to really see them for the first time since they met, stripped of all the trappings and usual distractions, treadmill turned off, faced with days which seem endless, the sudden quiet, a pregnant pause...hearing the scrape of fork against dinner plate, a sound so familiar, usually drowned out by wheels turning in their heads, and the white noise of perpetual motion.

Last night I snuggled up in my bed wrapped in blankets in front of a good movie on TV, Carmella curled up, her head nestled in the crook of my arm, and although so much had gone wrong in the previous several weeks I looked at her and thought how this was going to be the best holiday ever because she has grown into a beautiful young dog, healthy and robust and very much alive.

It has been an amazing transformation taking place before my eyes over the past month or so. It seems as though her DNA takes turns and a certain breed will show up more prominantly for a few weeks, and then another, all the while making the puzzle of her lineage a little less mysterious. Breeds I was pretty sure she had in her before I'm not so sure of anymore, and some new possibilities emerge. In just the past month her neck and chin have gone through some pretty dramatic changes. The new collar I'd just adjusted for her a month ago is already almost too small for her. I looked closely and found that she has developed loose skin around the throat, and looking at her chin revealed some little crinkles. I'm thinking it's probably not enough to be Bloodhound, but it could possibly be Shar Pei. The only thing is that Shar Peis have very clunky snouts with pendulous lower lips, and she definitely has a much firmer and thinner snout. Although her forehead is wrinkled she does not have the squinchy eyes either nor do they droop. If it is Shar Pei then whatever else is in her must be balancing her out to make her more streamlined. That is possibly German Shepherd and maybe some Shiba Inu. She may have some Pit Bull in her because of her powerful jaws, but otherwise she is looking less like a Pit Bull than she was a few months ago.

Tonight I read more about Dingoes and interestingly, the material said that they have a habit of going for the feet, so that is definitely still a possibility. I also read that Shar Peis often chew on everything and like Pit Bulls can be stubborn with problem behaviors and require special training techniques to overcome those quirks. Carmella chewed clean through the cord on my heating pad in only 5 minutes during when I left her on my bed as I made myself something to eat in the kitchen. I came back through the livingroom to find her gnawing on the detatched pad. I really didn't need to have one more expense on top of everything else. That will have to wait to be replaced next month although I really need to use it now.

In addition, she stripped off the laminate on one half of the door between the garage and the kitchen. I came home from doing my grocery shopping one day to a floor scattered with splinters of wood.

All this got me to thinking again about DNA testing, so I did a Google search and found two companies who now offer over 100 breeds. In case you would like to get your mixed-breed dog identified, Mars Veterinary offers what they call The Wisdom Panel for $125.00, a blood DNA test which can identify 157 breeds of dog; http://www.wisdompanel.com/mixed_breed_analysis/breeds_detected.aspx

The only breeds not detected are; Dogue de Bordeaux, Beauceron, English Toy Spaniel, Skye Terrier, Miniature Bull Terrier, Swedish Vallhund, Tibetan Mastiff.

The other is MMI Genomics, a subsidiary of MetaMorphix Inc., offers the Canine Heritage Breed Test which can identify 105 breeds of dog at present, and costs $120.00; http://www.canineheritage.com/breeds.php

This test is done from epithelial cells inside the cheek in the mouth of the dog.

The following article tells you why getting your dog tested is useful; http://www.webvet.com/main/article/id/1578

Once I get Carmella's current vet bill paid down some more I plan on getting her tested.

If you would like to help with Carmella's vet bill;

* Buy an ad on my blog to the right

* Use the donation button (at top of side-bar)

* Or*

* Shop in my Etsy store at http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

I still have a ways to go before her bill will be paid off completely, so whatever you can afford would be greatly appreciated. Every bit adds up.

My son will be coming for a few hours today. This is the first time he will have seen Carmella. He and his girlfriend took a look at my blog about a week ago and they both thought she was really cute. I haven't seen my son in a long time. It will be nice to get a chance to visit with him, and I hope he will be able to get three days off from his job around New Years. He lives in Athens, GA. which is about an hour and a half away from here. He'll be coming up with his girlfriend who will be driving to Stone Mountain related to her work.

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

Eyes On The Prize

Yesterday was a mix of joy and agony. Our plight continues to find the vet who can and will treat Carmella's Central Nervous System.

After two weeks of this increase in jerking and seeing Dr. Brantly in the interrum, we went to Dr. Norwood's office at 4:30. Felicia was happier than I've ever seen her, smiling and even came out from behind the counter to pet and play with Carmella. It had really sunk in just how much a miracle her treatment with the shot of NDV was for her body, and it seemed that the entire staff was in a festive mood. They all commented on how beautiful she was and how much she'd changed. She now weighs 24 LBS. Only two weeks ago she was just 18 LBS.

Once we'd been put in a room, the female vet tech came in (I can't remember her name, but she is the best one). She asked me if I had had any luck with Dr. Brantly doing the procedure and I said that I thought he was going to do it, but he changed his mind, but that we're still looking. She understood the ramifications of all this, and although happy with the results in the body, knew she was not through yet with what needed to be done in order for the cure to be complete. She commented to another assistant standing in the doorway that this dog was a miracle, beaming from ear to ear.

Dr. Norwood came in and started checking Carmella's reflexes, looked into her eyes, and saw her walk down the hall. She did pretty well, but stumbled at the end once when coming back to the room.

Carmella was in almost constant motion and we had to get her to calm down before he would see the jerking. Eventually she stayed still enough that it started up again and he definitely saw it.

He told me that he'd had no luck with Tuskegee, and was getting pessimistic about whether any of these Universities would help unless they were already doing studies on Distemper. He was still very mousey about calling them and said he'd do it but it could turn out to be another dead end and he couldn't promise anything.

"Like with Dr. Johnson, I can't make them do it."

"Well just make an empassioned plea, show them all that you've documented about her success from the NDV in the body, and advocate as if it were your own mother who was sick and needed treatment."

At this point there were no other real prospects on the table, so I figured this had at least as much chance as anything we've already tried. Up until now we'd just been approaching private practice vets. If this is still considered "experimental" then so be it; we'd just take her somewhere where they do experimental work. Seeing as that UGA is considered one of the best veterinary schools in the Southeast, they should be able to handle this. We just need to get them to try.

Dr. Norwood seemed to be angling at cutting our losses and just going with the partial cure (what we'd gotten in the body).

"The myoclonis could be permanent damage to the myelin and white matter, just residual effects of the disease."

"If that were the case then it wouldn't be increasing over time."

"We could give her Klonazapam, a veterinary version of an anti-seizure drug used in humans." I already knew what it was. Both myself and my son had taken it in the past for our seizures.

"The point is, that if the virus got into the CNS, which it would have to in order to cause that damage, then being in such an enclosed area it would still be present. To assume it's no longer there would just be guessing".

Dr. Norwood was rationalizing to make all the rejections by all the vets we'd appraoched easier to swallow. Maybe for him it would be easier to tell himself that the job was complete, but the idea of leaving this to the imagination and then ending up with worse problems down the road because we made the wrong assumption didn't sit well with me and it didn't make sense based on the biochemistry of the disease.

The CNS is a veritable fortress, and with good reason. It protects the most vital part of the body, the brain; the control tower on which all other function depends. An infection with the deadly Distemper virus is not something you want to leave sealed up for eternity in a dog's head, on a gamble that it will have mercy and not do any further damage. You can hide from it, reframe it, pretend it's not there, and remove yourself from watching its ravages, but it doesn't change the truth. Either it's there or its not. Once it gets in it doesn't just decide its had enough and go away. It's stuck in there and can adapt, hide, and mutate. It gets in via the lungs by piggybacking onto cells that already are able to cross the blood-brain barrier, but it cannot leave the same way it came.

By the end, Dr. Norwood had to admit that the only way to isolate and be sure to eradicate the virus would be to do a spinal tap. He said that UGA would want to do their own tests and probably wouldn't accept his, and it would involve spending more money. I replied that if they ended up doing the procedure then it would be worth it, and besides, if she does have permanent damage the neuro vets there would be the ones to do imaging tests to find any lesions that are there and assess the extent of the damage. If we want to weed out what is damage and what is active disease that's the way to do it.

Dr. Norwood agreed to try again to call UGA's referral coordinator the next day but had been unable to get through the day I came in.

I was up until around 5:00 AM this morning and was too desolate to post an update, and my muscles were starting to ache so I went to bed.

Dr. Norwood was in with a patient when I called this afternoon. Gwen, the office manager took a message that I was asking about the referral to UGA and said she'd have him call back, but he didn't.

I hope he's not wimping out when we need his support the most. When it's all done there will be time to celebrate, congratulate and let our guard down, but until then we are still on high alert. Failure is not an option. Carmella's life may depend upon our level of endurance and ability to go the full nine yards. Perhaps UGA's symbol; the Bulldog, should be our guiding example.

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com/

Pulling A Weed Out By The Root

Sometimes working on a scale of one isn't enough. Last night I wrote another neuro vet, but I began thinking larger than Carmella's case alone. It dawned on me that in order to get the right people to care about her I was going to need to tackle this problem systemically. Having worked as an advocate for a number of other causes in my lifetime I knew this to be the case in many instances, and the negative and opposing forces I've come up against in the past few weeks called for bigger guns that what I'd been packing so far.

Identifying the problem as one of globalized and system-wide attitudinal fear, I knew that the way to remove such barriers can only come with a multi-pronged approach. Just getting one vet to think outside the box would require that I affect the current thinking of the field in which he/she works, at least begin to make in-roads in that endeavor. Like human doctors, vets are guided to think and to act by whomever's opinion they respect and see as Gold Standard. God himself could come forward and unless He had the official "stamp of approval" ordained by those who set the requirements, they'd dismiss him out of hand even if he walked on water before their very eyes.

Tonight I set about searching the internet for studies to send to Dr. Brantly, sent off 13 that I thought might prove that she needed to be treated now, shocked to discover that nobody besides Dr. Sears was even doing research on a cure, only better vaccines to prevent the disease! Then as I was browsing around I stumbled on a website of Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine, Baker Institute of Animal Health that mentioned Distemper. As I read about a man who'd been memorialized in the school's newsletter as instrumental in developing vaccines for distemper, something bothered me. There was a statement in the write-up implying that Distemper had pretty much been wiped out. Right away I knew I had to correct that misinformation because the perception that the disease isn't really a problem is one thing that only adds to the field's lack of urgency in promoting a cure for it. There are those who find ignorant solace in believing that adequate vaccinations are given to all dogs and that there are no homeless dogs not getting these vaccines, and none spreading the disease in shelters. There are many who still assume that shelters give all the needed vaccinations, but these assumptions are dangerous untruths that prevent Carmella and dogs like her from getting the help they need. One only need go to some of these shelters and look into the vacant, glazed, and squinty dogs' eyes and look at their concentration-camp-survivor-like gaping ribcages, because once you learn what an untreated dog with Distemper looks like you will never forget it!
I just had to write Cornell Veterinary School and let them know that Distemper is still a threat here in the US and that as an academic institution there is an opportunity here once informed for them to be part of the solution.

Below is a reprint of my e-mail to them:

To Whom It May Concern:

I read the article on your website about Max Appel, the man who came up with vaccines for distemper. It says that Distemper (among other diseases) is "a thing of the past". This leaves one with the wrong impression that there is no current problem. I wish! I adopted a puppy from a local shelter that I absolutely fell in love with, brought her home, and found out that she has/had distemper. Now I have spent over $1,000 in only a few week's time to save her life, and had to pursue a rare treatment with Newcastle Disease Virus Vaccine (the LaSota strain) used off-label. She has done remarkably well after the IV, but still needs an injection of it into the spinal canal to kill the virus still remaining in the CNS, only the problem is I can't find a vet willing to do it. They're all too afraid of liability because it's "experimental". Well, I looked tonight for several hours and absolutely nobody in medical journals from what I can tell is offering any kind cure and it seems nobody’s even interested in one.

The man who developed this, Dr. Alson Sears DVM, now 71 and retired has tried and tried to publish his findings but nobody in power wants to hear it. Unofficially, he is sought by word-of-mouth all over the world because his treatment works! Right now there is a real epidemic in shelters needing to be addressed but nobody's openly talking about it either for the most part. Distemper, unfortunately is alive and well in the US, and I think up and coming researchers need to promote this new discovery, test it, and publish it. These dogs don't have to suffer and die, but in order to bring that into being vets need to start using this, not just leave it sitting there. What would happen if all the major discoveries for other deadly diseases were just tabled indefinitely because they were “experimental”? I think we’d be an endangered species and so would our dogs! Everything in medicine is/was experimental at one time, but I think we really need to ask ourselves who we are serving when somebody comes up with something that shows real merit and the medical journals won’t allow that researcher to publish it. That is really unfair because it makes the doctor look like some fringe nut when in fact he’s really onto something brilliant, and it deprives perfectly viable dogs of life and allows them to suffer. Sure, doing a spinal tap is not without some risk, but when dogs have a deadly disease like Distemper and the virus has crossed the blood-brain barrier the benefit is worth that risk.

I believe that if some researchers were to take this on and start doing and publishing clinical trials (and even publish case histories) it could revolutionize the quality of life for pets and their owners, not to mention drastically cut costs of shelters, as NDV only costs about .38 a vial. Promoting prevention is all well and good, but what about all the dogs who are infected on the street and in shelters who will then be adopted out (or euthanized) set up for a life of tragedy?

Right now it is generally accepted for dogs in Carmella’s condition to be given “supportive care” and most vets seem perfectly OK with letting the standard stay that way. They should not be. Just as advocates pushed to get a cure found and recognized as a priority for breast cancer in humans, we should expect no less for our dogs. Researchers already suspect that there are many parallels between Distemper in dogs and MS in humans, so the life you’re saving in taking on this cause, one day just might be your own.

It sure looks to me like the evidence suggests that we now have a cure for Distemper ready and waiting, but until the powers-that-be legitimize it vets in practice are not touching it with a 10 foot pole.

My dog, Carmella now has chorea in her right front leg which has gradually gotten worse as I ask one vet after another to please help her ASAP, they say they’ll “think about it” and then one by one they say no. Some of them neatly rationalize that “maybe” it won’t progress any further, and that she “might still live a normal life and do well”, but this is not a guessing game anyone would gamble their mother’s life with. To many of us our dogs are not merely animals, but another member of the family. I searched for the right puppy for a very long time, very intensively, looking through hundreds of listings, and quite a number of shelters, and I’m not about to just consider her not my problem as these doctors (who have vowed to help animals and preserve life) have done.

I have taken pictures of Carmella’s recovery thus far, so I know that this stuff works, and I’ve seen it with my own two eyes, as has the vet who treated her with it for the rest of her body. He has never done a spinal tap, so that’s why we need to find another vet to do that part. Her paw pads started healing within only 2 days after her IV of NDV, and she completely turned around (except for her neuro symptoms). She started eating and drinking normally, growing, her coat is healthy and her eyes are bright and wide open, she is interested in her surroundings, and she can now be active and play like any other puppy. When I first got her she was emaciated and now she’s gained weight. Unless she were lying down you might not realize that she’s still sick, because that’s when her leg starts jerking, an ominous reminder that the virus is still lying in wait.

I am talking with people here in Georgia about putting in a proposal for a clinical trial, but I think it would be really important for other University vet schools to do the same. Doing so could help a lot of dogs, and how many times do you get the opportunity to be on the ground floor of proving a new cure!

Please run this by some vets you think might be up to the challenge, and let me know what they say.

I’m attaching a picture of Carmella so that you can see what a gorgeous dog she is! Hers, like many others’ lives hangs in the balance.

Sincerely,

Pippit Carlington

You can help Carmella get well by purchasing something from my Etsy store. Proceeds are going to pay off her vet bill. If you buy jewelry somewhere I ask that you buy it here and make your purchase really count. Thanks for your support.
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Chicken...Buck Buck Buck!

And I'm Not Talking About What's In The NDV Vaccine

Photo: Courtesy of Greenfingers.etsy.com

maker of smudge sticks, other herbal preparations, and eco-friendly items

Dr. Brantly came sheepishly to the phone this afternoon, intent upon making his point, and with voice quivering he said, "Hello? Ms. Carlington? Are you calling about Bear?"

"No, Carmella, " I replied thinking that not enough sleep and too little coffee was possibly muddling his head for a short second.

"Oh, yes, Carmella." The doctor seemed to snap his mind back into focus.

"So, have you had a conversation with Dr. Sears yet?"

"Nnno...?" he hesitated. "I haven't called him just yet. I'm still planning to though, just mainly to get information, ask questions, and discuss with him. " There seemed to be a "but" coming and there it was. "I, I, um really don't feel comfortable doing the injection at this point. After all the reading up I just don't know whether it would be safe unless she were faced with imminent death."

"Well according to Dr. Sears she will be sooner or later even if she's not going to die immediately. I'd rather she not die at all until she would normally. I don't want her to continue to get worse and then have a lingering horrible, and certain death in which she suffers."

"She might not". He sounded as though grabbing at straws, and in fact he was.

"Do you mean you think her immune system could fight off the virus in her brain on its own?" I asked dubiously.

"Yes, it's possible. Some dogs have static symptoms like seizures or jerking and still do quite well."

"And you're saying that antibody tests show that those dogs have killed the virus; that it's no longer detectible?" I had him there.

"Well...no. Very few vets will even do a spinal tap to test the CSF for antibodies. We really haven't gone that far to see how those dogs did. Just based on their symptoms, they seemed to not be progressing."

"I'm not sure what you're mainly worried about. Is it doing the spinal tap or the injection? Are you worried that you might hit the chord and paralyze her?"

"No, that is a risk, but it's not that. It's the way the NDV's shelf-life is preserved that I'm worried might not be good to be injecting into her spinal canal." He also expressed a fear that she'd go into shock, and I said that from what I've learned from Dr. Sears if you run IV fluids that will handle that effectively.

"You're worried about the preservatives they use being harmful?"

"Yes".

"Well have you read the formula to make the dog-based serum from scratch? That wouldn't be filled with preservatives". It was beginning to look as though the man was quickly running out of viable excuses.

What now? I thought, and there it came...predictable.

"Yes, but I still don't feel comfortable doing it. It's still too experimental". The last desperate defense of a man who had no defense. So is everything, I thought, until it becomes commonly used. What kind of logic was that, I wondered. Certainly not scientific. If all the techniques used now in other deadly diseases had been simply tabled indefinitely because they were "experimental" chances are we'd be an endangered species by now, and so would our dogs.

Then a brilliant idea struck me as if fired from a gun. Last night I had been searching on Google to look up Distemper research and it became apparent that the drug company that manufactures NDV, Merial, had done quite a bit of research on Canine Distemper, but mostly in Ferrets.

"Merial seems to be quite interested in Distemper. They had links all over Google as I was reading last night, and people who own ferrets seemed to be a strong advocacy group for that sort of research. I didn't find as much in dogs, but what if some vets were to team up and submit a funding request to Merial for grant money to do a clinical trial? It seems to me that would put alot of this fear to rest, and once an offocially recognized study were done vets could stop freaking out about it. If there is real merit to this and it is the only real cure for Distemper don't you think it deserves a chance?"

"Yes, that is a good idea, but it would probably be the academics; neuro vets with the big credentials; those in research facilities who would be the best ones to submit a proposal. Places like UGA have all the equipment, MRI, CT, and contrast for guided imaging."

"Yes, or ones in private practice specialty clinics like Dr. Johnson."

Dr. Brantly agreed. He sounded relieved to put this responsability on the academics and the specialists.

"Well, maybe a task force with those as the lead investigators and including other vets who are interested could be put together. It seems to me that the only way that vets in the community will get used to this is by being directly involved, because there are only so many neuro vets to go around. I found exactly two board certified ones in Atlanta; Dr. Johnson and one other, a woman in Sandy Springs, and about 4 in Athens around (or on staff of ) UGA. I did find out a few names and I'll be contacting them too."

"I did contact a vet in Alabama who has had great success using the dog-based serum."

"Well, good! What about having her treat Carmella?"

"She has only done the first part (in the body; not in the CNS), and she also is afraid to attempt the tap procedure."

"Well that's exactly why a clinical trial really is timely. If vets don't use it then what good is having a cure?"

We left it that I would send him any relevant research that implied this would be safe and effective, and that he'd call me to let me know if he thought of anybody who did feel comfortable doing the procedure, and he asked me to let him know if Carmella got any worse.

When he and I got off the phone we both knew the unspoken truth; that he could not scientifically guarantee me that she wouldn't.

When I checked my e-mail there was a message from Dr. Sears.

"Just about any vet can stick a needle in the Foramen Magnum without an ultrasound or MRI. Find one that will try."

In response to the fact that Dr. Johnson was working on Interferon he had this to say, "As to interferon, it does not work. Does not interrupt the distemper virus. We tried that years ago. There are now 9 different interferon's and none of them work against this virus. They do work against some but not this one. Induction with NDV sets off a variety of Cytokine's, many of which we have no names for. They just work. Especially against distemper."

And his response regarding shock happening: "Absolutely, once the NDV is introduced into the spinal space shock occurs. So what. If an IV line has been placed before anesthetic then fluids can be given and the shock is under control. Treat or death is the eventual outcome."

Regarding the trouble I've been having finding a vet to commit to this procedure, (I had to leave a few choice statements out in the interest of decorum, LOL, so as not to alienate other vets who might end up being important allies), but I can include some of it.

"I was able to find a Vet in primitive Indonesia. I cannot believe that there isn't a vet with needle savvy in all of Florida (he meant Georgia). I have now treated 4 dogs (in the CNS). One 36 years ago, and 2 10 Mo's ago, and 1 three Mo's ago. The 2 in Indonesia are both alive and without secondary symptoms at this time, Daveyo's dogs.

Hopefully yours is next.

Doc Sears"

Carmella still needs your help. Her bill is growing. Your purchase from my Etsy store is much appreciated. I'd like to thank the few individuals who have recently bought jewelry in the last 2-3 weeks. I just tonight added a new pair of earrings to my Carmella Collection. Remember that with love and action, all things are possible!

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com

Carmella Collection- Lillies of the Valley (earrings)