Re: New diagnosis and treatment fears
Hi and welcome to you and your baby boy!
Boy, do I understand the fear part of your title! When my 7 year old Squirt was first diagnosed in 2007 I started to panic almost immediately. For hours on end every day I sat at my computer trying to learn all I could about this disease I had never heard of and how to address it. The more I read the more terrified I became until I could barely function. Not only was I scared I was angry, frustrated, felt so very guilty and confused. I found several groups and what were called "lists" back then and started talking to people who were supposed to be experienced in Cushing's. Only one group seemed supportive and positive but they overwhelmed me with links that seemed to be written in Greek and a long, long list of questions I couldn't answer....which added to my guilt. The other places I found are best described as cruel - one lady told me I might as well put a bullet in Squirt's head if I followed what her vet prescribed. That was the tipping point for me, mentally and emotionally - I fell off the edge of sanity and into a dark world of intense loss and sadness because I felt so hopeless and helpless. I was going to lose my Sweet Bebe, who was my heart and soul, and there was nothing I nor her vet could do to help her.
Then I found the people here. I had given up on all the other places I had found and really didn't want to go thru all of that again but because she was my world I had to try one more time. By the time I got here I was a complete basket case. But they saved my sanity and my baby. Thru their gentle support and guidance I began to breath again and started learning how to help Squirt have the best life possible. Their questions were plenty but kindly put and came with explanations I could understand. If I didn't have the answer they told me how to get it. I started to learn and by learning my fear left.
Now, 12 years later, my beloved Squirt has gone ahead but she lived to be a little over 16 years old, passing from old age and not Cushing's. She lived a good life and was treated with Lysodren when the time came to treat. Her story is not the typical cush dog story but her story contains some important lessons that I will share with you one day soon. But for today I simply want you to know that we DO understand being afraid at this point and we are here not only to help you learn about Cushing's but to hold your hand when needed, to offer a shoulder to cry on when needed, to always have an ear to listen to anything you want to share, and to walk every step of this journey with you - you and your precious boy will never be alone. So take a deep breath and try to relax; you are in the best hands possible.
Hugs,
Leslie
"May you know that absence is full of tender presence and that nothing is ever lost or forgotten." John O'Donahue, "Eternal Echoes"
Death is not a changing of worlds as most imagine, as much as the walls of this world infinitely expanding.