Since the last time I shared a story with you I have celebrated a birthday and what a beautiful day it was, a bit chilly but what else can one expect from winter. Shortly after my birthday it all started going what you humans call downhill. Most of you would say it was due to old age, but I consider myself a spring chicken at 6yrs old.
I’m not exactly sure what I did or exactly how it happened, but I somehow managed to injure my right eye. It had a really large laceration and looked like it was popping out of its socket.
As you can guess, daddy took me in to work and had one of the vets look at my eye. Going to daddy’s work is nothing new for me and I am normally really comfortable around his colleagues. (As mentioned in my previous story daddy is a specialist anaesthetist for animals.)
After my eye exam daddy came and sat with me and told me he wanted to chat to me about my eye. Daddy gently took my paw and stroked my head when he told me the vet advised to remove my eye. At first it didn’t really register, so daddy looked at me and explained that the vet wanted to take out my injured right eye.
I was filled with emotions. I was sad and relieved all at the same time. Sad that I was going to lose my eye but yet relieved that the pain would be gone. I looked at daddy as a tear rolled down my cheek and he knew it was the right thing to do.
No time was wasted and I was operated on the very next day. As always, I was treated with great care while in hospital. Within the blink of an eye I was discharged and daddy and I were on our way home. It was going to be an adjustment, but I was sure I would manage with just one eye.
As the days went by, I started paying more attention to sounds and vibrations in and around the house. My family also realised that they should be careful when approaching me from my blind side and made sure to make a noise when approaching so I knew they were coming.
I would say within a short period of time we all adapted to the new norm until….
Dr Lo-Ann the eye specialist suggested doing stem cell treatment on my eye. This is something I have never heard of, so she explained a bit more. A stem cell is a cell with the unique ability to develop into specialised cell types in the body.
They would need to inject stem cells into certain areas around my eye as part of my treatment, this would be done while under anaesthetic. Without hesitation daddy agreed to the stem cell treatment and my booking was made with the eye specialist.
When I woke up my eye was a bit hazy but I didn’t feel that uncomfortable itch. The eye specialist came past and explained to me she was happy with the stem cell treatment and that I should be noticing an increase in tear production from my tear duct which will keep my eye more lubricated and preventing it from becoming dry. In the long run, this will mean either less or no more eye drops for me.
I am so excited that daddy agreed to the treatment. Less eye drops or possibly no more eye drops sound great to me. Even better is the fact that I should have less itching and irritation in my eye. I am just so happy that something could be done for my remaining eye.
