Lucy has been my constant companion and bestie for the past 13 years. She has lived with me in three different states, sat with me after many breakups, celebrated with me when I finally married the one. Through all the good times and bad, there was always Lucy the Magic Pug. Words do her no justice. I mean I just love this little dog.
Over the past year, she developed cataracts. She definitely had some sight but it was difficult to determine exactly how much she was able to see from each eye. One day while we were outside, Lucy’s eyes failed her and she ran right into the pool as if it was not even there. As we fished her out of the pool, I could actually hear my heart breaking. In to the vet we went. We were referred to a specialist who recommended cataract surgery. Lucy is such a healthy dog, I decided that I owed it to her to have her sight restored. She came through the surgery with flying colors! For the following six weeks she progressed so well, the vet noted that she was recovering better than most dogs.
Sadly, our joy was short-lived. I came home from work one day and Lucy’s eye was red. I rushed her in but it would not have mattered when we went, because she had a retinal detachment. Retinal detachment is a complication of cataract surgery, albeit a rare one (1% according to our vet). We were unlucky I guess, and the bad luck did not end there. Within a week, the retina had entirely detachment and she was back to having no vision in that eye. The icing on the cake was that at her next appointment (1 week later) she had uveitis and elevated pressure. The vet optimistically hoped that it was merely a result from the retinal bleed and would fade. No such luck. On Tuesday, her pressure was at 25. On Thursday….her pressure was 78. Glaucoma. Extremely rapid onset Glaucoma.
From this point on, my story is no different than everyone else’s glaucoma story on this site. Medications can only delay the inevitable and its hard to tell at what point her pressure could spike again and cause her severe pain. We found out about the Glaucoma just this morning. By the time we got home from the vet, Lucy’s pain had increased significantly. She was shaking her head, pawing at her eye, and generally behaving differently. It seems like there is really only one viable option for my Lucy.
She has an appointment for eye removal on Monday. I am entirely heartbroken. All I ever wanted was to give Lucy her vision back because she is such a great dog and deserves only the best. Instead, she has had surgery, meds, eye drops, and seemingly endless vet visits…only to end up with yet another surgery and still no vision in that eye. For now she does still have some vision in the remaining eye. Luckily, since the glaucoma was secondary to the retinal detachment, we don’t have to worry so much about the second eye going the same way.
I am ridiculously upset about this but found a lot of comfort in this site. It helps to read about others who are going through this exact thing. It helps to read about how well dogs adapt but perhaps it is even more helpful to read about how well dog parents adapt because I think I may be more upset than Lucy. Either way this is happening. She has a few more days to hang out with her right eye and hopefully by Monday, I will have made peace with this horrible experience. Thanks for listening 🙂
I think most owners are more upset than their dogs. I know I was.
Hope everything goes well with the surgery and please provide us with an update.
It actually went very well! Lucy seemed like her old self only a few days later. Everything seems to be healing nicely and she does not seem to be in any pain. The first few days were tough (mostly on me) but I am slowly getting used to her winky pirate eye. Truthfully, I am relieved to have this all be over. No more constant worrying about the redness and pressure along with weekly trips to the vet only to get bad news.
I wish the cataract surgery had turned out differently but alas, nature had different plans. Like many other people have said, I am SO glad that I just did the surgery and did not prolong the glaucoma by trying to treat it with drops. So Lucy is doing great. Im recovering a little more slowly but getting there 🙂 Thanks for the concern.
LOL, I know what you mean when you say that you are ‘recovering a little more slowly’. It’s all quite stressful and yes, after the surgery there is usually a sense of relief about it all. That’s exactly what I experienced.
Glad to see that it all went well.