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A silent killer in my house By Aliza Sherman
I
knew something was not right. Deep in my gut, I knew. I learned a hard lesson one winter about the importance of the air in my Anchorage home. I still struggle with the fact that I learned this lesson the hard way and a little too late. In September 2005, while I was pregnant with my daughter, my beloved dog Chewie — a black and tan, 10-pound Chihuahua — got sick. Very sick. The illness was completely unexpected because his most recent veterinary visit a few months earlier confirmed a clean bill of health. Now his vet didn’t know how to diagnose him other than to say he probably had a brain tumor. Chewie’s symptoms included: falling down, bumping into walls, walking in circles, and an inability to stand while 30
September 2020 — AlaskaPulse.com
eating at his dog bowl. Soon he began having mild seizures. The entire time he was sick, I had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. Yes, I was emotional because my dog was dying, but his decline seemed too sudden. I gave Chewie the medicine my vet prescribed and provided him with around-the-clock hospice care for three months. Caring for him was particularly challenging because I was several months pregnant and suffering from nausea, headaches and dizziness. Still, I woke up four or five times each night to respond to Chewie’s cries. I cradled him in my arms like a baby to soothe him. In December, the day after Chewie had an uncontrollable seizure during my birthday party, I was finally advised to put him to sleep. I didn’t know what else to do, so I complied.
Several weeks later, in January 2006, my second oldest Chihuahua, Ernie, fell ill. He exhibited the exact same symptoms as Chewie: dizziness, bumping into walls, falling down — everything but the seizures. The vet said that Ernie had a brain tumor. Another brain tumor? How could two unrelated dogs both get brain tumors? I questioned my vet but was only given possible next steps: testing, medication, and then the inevitable. This time, I watched Ernie closely to see if there was something going on around him that was making him sick. Was he eating a plant that was toxic? Was I using a cleaner that was poisoning him? That is when I noticed that his dizziness increased after he would lay down in front of a heating vent on the living
