A Hopeful Frisco Update

Jul 16, 2006



A Hopeful Frisco Update

Hi all,

There is a disease called Geriatric Vestibular Syndrome, which seems
to be almost unique to golden retrievers and closely mimics the
symptoms of neurological tumors -- except that it is not fatal
(except as a cause of unnecessary euthanasia). It seems possible that
this is what Frisco has been suffering from, because he has been
recovering steadily for the past several days. There’s no guarantee, but this COULD be a hopeful sign.

I've been trying to give Frisco as much as I can of his favorite
experiences, on the thought that each outing may be his last. Tonight
I took him swimming at Bull Creek Park. I had known he was feeling
better, but his trip to the park was a very pleasant surprise.

He ran and swam like a puppy, for over an hour. About half an hour
into it, he lost the racquetball, but he spent the next 45 minutes
running around like a maniac, tail wagging and slinging water in all
directions as he crashed through the bushes looking for his missing
ball. He did lose his balance and stumble a few times, but only a
few, and I didn't have to help him out at all. Once he flopped over
with a huge splash in the creek in front of me, and he looked over at
me with a surprised expression, like "Dang, Dad, what happened? Am I
okay?" I told him "you're fine, critter," and he hauled himself up
and trotted off to crash back through some bushes that he'd already
crashed through a dozen times. He's still the same old goofy dog!

Frisco has always been an enthusiastic dog, but I suspect his
pointless thrashing had a bit more jubilance in it tonight because he
has spent so many days trapped inside his own spinning head. He's
still an old dog, with bad joints and a sunken eye that I doubt sees
very much any more -- and his current improvement could still turn
out to be illusory -- but it looks as though he's going to live at
least a little while longer, and he knows it.

A lot can be read from a dog's own attitude, though of course they
don't want to tell you when they're really suffering. For the past
three weeks Frisco has wanted to be next to me at every instant,
snuggling up against me for a bit of calm and reassurance. Tonight
he's lying across the room from me, utterly crashed out from his work-
out at the park, one eye halfway open in case I do anything
important, but comfortable being a little way off on his own. I think
he feels safe again.

Thank you again, everyone, for your expressions of concern during the
past couple of weeks. It's been tough, this dress rehearsal for his
inevitable mortality. I could never have envisioned the extent of
grief I felt when I carried his limp and spastic body to the vet's
office for what seemed like a final time. Finding out how many people
had been touched by my boy was agonizing comfort when I thought I was
losing him.

I don't know how much more time I have with Frisco (an average life-
span would give him another year, maybe two). But I know I will
appreciate it all the more for having been through this horrible scare.

RG