Cross-country trip postponed!

            On Tuesday, July 16, we woke up at 4:00 AM to find Simon having a really bad seizure. It lasted less than two minutes and he seemed to be OK after it was over. Needless to say, it shook us up. By 8:30 AM when we were leaving our campground in Oakdale, WI, Simon still appeared to be OK. Shortly after we began our traveling for the day, he had a mini seizure and within a short time a couple more mini seizures and he began foaming at the mouth. We got off the next exit and found a local veterinarian who took Simon in immediately. Simon was getting progressively worse. While at the veterinary clinic, Simon had more mini seizures and eventually another that the vet characterized as a Grand Mal seizure. Simon was also drooling profusely. The vet stabilized Simon as he attempted to determine the cause of the seizures. By late afternoon it was apparent that Simon needed more attention than what this vet could offer and he recommended that we take Simon to the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Care facility in Madison, WI. The vet contacted the university to make all of the arrangements, sedated Simon and we made the almost 2 ½ hour trip to Madison. The good news is that Simon is getting better but we still don’t know what caused this. He has not had any more seizures since he was stabilized at the UW Veterinary Care facility. Today, July 17, he went through a myriad of tests and everything has come back normal. The doctors are calling his condition Idiopathic Epilepsy and he is being administered medication to prevent any more seizures. He may need to be on medication for the rest of his life. If he continues to make progress he might be released tomorrow, Thursday, July 18. We will stay at a campground just north of Madison for a couple more days until we are confident that he is able to travel safely. We have decided to end our trip and travel back home. It won’t be a disappointment if Simon is well on his way to recovery. Once we get home we will give Simon time to get healthy again and perhaps in September and October we can take off in the motorhome for a different adventure than what we had planned.

 

We encountered so many kind and caring people during this ordeal. The vet that we first took Simon to yesterday called today to get an update on how he was doing and wants us to give him another update tomorrow. The campground where we had originally set up camp didn’t charge us when we had to suddenly pack up and drive to Madison. The veterinary facility in Madison had someone waiting outside when we arrived to help us park the RV and car and then they also offered to let us stay the night in their parking lot. They also had a doctor and an assistant come out to the motorhome with a gurney to get Simon. The campground we are staying at (KOA)in the Madison, WI area has been very flexible and is holding the site we are on for several days and we just need to let them know on a daily basis if we are going to stay another night. Life is good!

 

Hopefully I will have time to post again as we head home. Otherwise, I will let everyone know when we get home.

Simon the Lap Dog

He loved sitting on my lap as we traveled.

(Click to view a larger image)