The Perils of Diagnosis By Internet

Well, the phone has rung but it wasn't the dreaded call. Not yet. Seems there are some follies going on about which veterinarian to go to and what not but the general idea now is that we won't know what's really up until we get some x-rays. So, I've been busying myself with hunting the web to find as much information as possible. Which is always a bad idea because you're sure to find some horrible thing which kinda, sorta matches the symptoms. From any number of sites which might or might not know what they're talking about. And in your distressed, mildly panicked state of wanting to do something, anything, to help fix the problem it's easy to latch onto that and become certain that, yes, something really bad has happened and you need to take immediate action. And run around frantically making things worse because you're not acting rationally or listening to competent medical personnel trying to advise you.

Which seems to be what's happening with my mother and, by now, my sister (the other one) who's....difficult under the best circumstances. And is no doubt driving my mother insane demanding things done exactly the way she wants through artfully crafted guilt trips and emotional hostage taking.

But I have to do something. And there's obviously something wrong - the dog can't walk. It's just there are a frighteningly large amount of things that could be preventing her from doing so. After hearing about the results of her initial exam, we've been tentatively ruling out a stroke or seizure of some sort as we initially feared. Again, we really need x-rays, but it seems like it might be some kind of herniated disc or spinal cord damage instead. Which isn't much better, of course, and at least a few of the syndromes and disorders I've been staring at in growing horror require surgery and the sooner the better. But even as the disease is mounting, the initial shock is fading and I feel much better knowing that there's at least some idea of what's gone wrong and what's to be done about it.