Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2000
Hello everyone,
First time writer, 3 months "reader and watcher" of the site. My name is Serena and I have a "newly" blinded basset hound named Shalli. She is nine years old and we are coping w/ the loss of her sight. Bless her heart, she is so strong. She came in from her usual sunning of herself one day in May with both eyes rolled in the back of her head. Long story short... they diagnosed her w/ glaucoma in her left eye. Right eye was fine. Opthamologist decided it was best to remove her left eye since there was no sight left. We were told to watch her right eye closely and give preventative drops. Midnight in August, I saw what I dreaded... that "snowstorm bluish" color in her remaining good eye. We immediately took her to the emergency vet. clinic an hour and a half away and they started IV Mannitol. Another long story shortened... vision lost in the remaining eye. She had the surgery to try and correct the glaucoma, however, her sight was lost. Pressure good....no sight. We went through soooooo much to try and save the vision in her remaining eye.....we thought if we lost the vision, we would lose her. We really believed that a blind dog really had no reason to live and that it would be unfair for her to keep her alive. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?! I am sooooo thankful for the blind dogs website. If it wasn't for this site...well, I can't even finish the sentence. I don't know what made me do a general search on blindness in dogs....but thank God I did. I had no idea all of you were going through or had gone through all the things we were dealing with. It's truly amazing how our fears and anger changed as soon as we starting learning about all of your beautiful creatures and how well they were doing. It was like new hope! It was like someone gave us a gift of life for our sweet girl, Shalli. All the advice, all the suggestions, have help us so much. She is doing great... finding her way, listening for my voice..using her nose...bumping still, but less often. We are working through it together. She is better at it than I am. She is a wonder dog. All of your dogs are truly wonder dogs. How lucky we are to witness such amazing strength, trust, and love. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks.
Serena and Shalli and Shammi (1 yr.old basset,sighted) and Maxx (Himalayan Kitty)

Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2001
Well, I guess it was just a matter of time before it was our turn to post. Shalli's (9 Yr. old Basset, glaucoma) last remaining eye (her first one removed in May) started to enlarge last night. Took her to the vet this AM, gave her Mannitol IV and Daranide pills, pressure was 45... too high... She is blind in this eye anyway, but we thought we could still keep it. She had surgery in Sept. to try and correct the Glaucoma in the remaining eye, but it failed as far as keeping her sight. Doc said we could stop the meds. and keep the eye (even though it was blind) , as long as the pressure stayed down and we watched that she wouldn't poke it... well it stayed down for almost 4 months and now we have to DECIDE. We called the eye specialist today (he gave us his home #) AND.....we are deciding to have the eye removed on Wednesday. Like someone else on the list posted recently "all she'll miss is the pain". I can tell she is uncomfortable and I want her back to her good ol' self. I think we knew it would come to this, but we just shudder to think of the post surgery... that eye removal looks sooooo bad afterwards. The last poster was correct, it is ghastly... she looked deformed for the first few days of her first removal. It looked soooo painful... but it was temporary. So, I try to remember that. I know it is probably worse for us then for them. They don't want an eye that cant see. Anyway, we are looking for prayers and good wishes (for mom and furbaby) in hopes that all goes well on Wednesday. She is an older basset and of course I am worried to death. She is my love. Thanks for reading this and thinking of us. We'll keep you posted. I've attached a picture to this email so you can all see her!
Serena and Shalli, 9 yr. old bravest Basset, blind due to glaucoma

Sent: Monday, January 22, 2001
Hi. Well, her eye is horrible now... Swollen, she cant open it, I can tell the pressure is way high and she is hurting. The Daranide is making her pee .... so much so, that she cant make it to the door, and then pees on the floor ... which stresses her out because she knows that is a no-no. We tried to let her know it was ok, but I can tell it upsets her. We just spoke w/ the eye vet... he is fitting her in tonight around 7-8 pm for an emergency operation. We cant let her be in this pain till Wednesday, when the surgery was originally scheduled. At this point, we don't care about keeping that stupid eye... we just want it OUT! So, please everyone, pray that we make it through today and tonight. That her surgery goes well, and she is comfortable. Please help me, my husband Chris and our sweet shalli get through this.... Thanks soooo much for your kind words and support. We really need them.
Serena , Chris and Shalli 9 yo Basset w/ Glaucoma, (one eye gone, and one to go)

Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001
Our sweet girl came out of surgery last night around 10 PM. Eye vet said, the surgery went very well. She came home w/ us around 10:30... was a little groggy and slept the entire 2 hours home. Bless her little heart. She was sooo brave. I thought the "eye" looked pretty good. She woke up this morning, just a few minutes ago... and wow... talk about a deformed poor little baby. Her "eye" is very swollen and there is a little bit of dried blood around the stitches. Doc. said to expect that... and her first eye was the same... It looks soooo painful and she screams when Shammi, our 1 yo basset gets near her. We keep her separate now. I imagine the first day post -op will be the hardest. I asked the vet last night for pain meds for her and he said.... She won't need them... "The source of pain was the eye and now that is gone." We are having trouble giving her her morning dose of antibiotics... She is snubbing even the hamburger/rice meal and pieces of steak w/ pill inside. We tried to force it by opening her mouth and pushing pill down, but it is too difficult to be around her face w/out her getting out of sorts... sooooo, we'll move to other tactics after we let her rest some more. I think I'll have to go get some sliced turkey... that may help. We bought her a big fluffy new bed while we were waiting for her to be done and she hasn't left it since we got her home.
I think she's going to be ok everyone. I want to thank you all sooo much for your warm thoughts and prayers. I know that helped us stay positive and know we were doing the right thing. The first time around we cried forever.... now, it feels more like, "yes, this was the right thing" and "yes, it will be better for her". You all are amazing people, just like your little furbabies! I'm going to try to make a web page w/ post op photos of her so that others will know what to expect.
She sends her sloppy kisses to you all. My husband and I send our heartfelt thanks. We'll keep you posted on her status again in a few!
Serena and Shalli, the bravest basset I have ever met. 9 yo. Basset Glaucoma Free!

Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2001
Just wanted to let you know how my sweet Shalli is doing. Two weeks since her eye removal and you know, you all were right. She seems so much happier now that the eye has been removed. Her ol' self seems to have returned. We have post op photos to post, however, as she was walking under the computer desk, she got caught up in the digital camera cords and pulled the camera right off the desk. The camera is temporarily (I hope) out of order! So, once I figure out why it wont work , I will be able to get some pics. of the ghastly enucleation look and give others an idea of what to expect. Again, we want to thank you for your prayers and warm wishes. I have to say that I believe it made a tremendous difference (in her recovery and in our coping with it). The first eye removal was pretty bad.... that was before we found all of you. The second eye removal and recovery was no problem and healed pretty quickly. So, thanks so much!
We are praying for those still having some problems w/ their babies and we are praying for those who went to the bridge.
Serena and Shalli, Eye-free and Pain-free! 9 y/o Basset Hound