Olympia family gets a second chance with their beloved dog after successful brain surgery
Last winter, Cami Anderson and her son Zach had no idea if their family dog Holli would make it to celebrate her second birthday.
Holli, a spry pup with American Staffordshire Terrier and a half dozen other breeds in her blood, had been diagnosed with a rare congenital cyst a few months prior that left her unable to walk. But after a team of doctors at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine took over her case, Holli has bounced back.
Cami said her family thinks getting Holli was the best decision they ever made.
The Andersons have had to handle a lot of heartache throughout the past few years. Cami’s father passed away in 2018, her brother in 2019 and her mother-in-law in February 2020. Those losses made the Anderson family start thinking about their dog, Rosko, and what it would be like after he’s gone.
Her daughter Cali started doing some research online into dog rescues when she came across Holli, who was in Texas. She instantly felt that Holli belonged with her family. And Holli shared a birthday with Cali’s late grandmother: Dec. 12.
Without consulting her parents, Cali filled out an adoption application and was quickly approved. After some discussion with the family and a “no” from her father Chris at first, they settled on bringing Holli to Olympia. She became a member of the Anderson family in March 2020, a week before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of everyday life.
“We all fell in love with her at first sight,” Cami said. “She is the sweetest dog who wants to be best friends with any human or animal she sees.”
Her first year of life at the Andersons was full of activity, running around their 5-acre property and eating small cups of whipped cream from Starbucks.
But in May 2021, just over a year after joining the Anderson family, Holli fell ill. Zach had come home to find her on the floor unable to walk, shaking in pain.
The Andersons rushed Holli to an emergency vet, where she was then transferred to a hospital in Tacoma to receive an MRI. She was touch and go for a few days, Cami said. One doctor told her there was a blockage in Holli’s brain that was likely cancer and to think about putting her down.
After the doctor spoke to the radiologist, they told Cami that Holli had a rare congenital condition called an intracranial subarachnoid diverticulum, with fluid buildup putting pressure on her brain.
The doctor told her that surgery might be possible but that it was risky and invasive and little research had been done on its viability. He wrote them a referral to WSU’s Veterinary Hospital and gave Holli a prescription of Prednisone to act as a temporary relief from inflammation.
Holli started to get better with medicine, but the Andersons knew they were in this for the long haul.
After a summer of fun and sun, Holli started showing signs of regression. She became more wobbly and unstable. The Andersons then started their surgical journey with Dr. Annie Chen-Allen and her team.
Chen-Allen said when she saw Holli in October, she was still able to walk but tilted her head to one side and was quite unstable. A new MRI showed the diverticulum in Holli’s brain hadn’t gotten any smaller, despite being on Prednisone. Since symptoms were getting worse and medicine wasn’t helping, surgery was the final solution.
Holli underwent surgery not long after, under the care of Chen-Allen and several other doctors. A part of Holli’s skull and neck had to be removed to fully dissect the cyst, which left a dent in her brain. Chen-Allen said the surgery went well with no major complications, and Holli had no issue waking up from anesthesia.
Chen-Allen said a lot of the time animals in these cases will get worse before they get better. The weight of the cyst being taken off Holli’s brain caused her brain stem to swell some, leading to swallowing problems and pneumonia. To help her eat and keep down food, doctors put in a feeding tube, which the Andersons used to give Holli medicine several times a day.
Holli spent 10 days in the hospital then went home with her feeding tube and unable to walk. The Andersons had to use a double harness to help her regain mobility and strength in her legs. But she only needed both harnesses for about a week before she could use her legs on her own.
Six weeks after surgery, doctors were able to take Holli’s feeding tube out, just a week shy of her second birthday. Within those six weeks she started to become her old self, pawing at Chris and running around with Rosko.
On her birthday, the Andersons got party hats for everyone, including Holli and Rosko. They played games with the dogs, recording them racing each other. Before Holli started receiving care, Rosko, who is 13, could beat her. But Holli won that day. That’s when the Andersons really knew she was getting better.
Today, Zach says Holli is at about 98% and has practically picked back up where she left off before her first incident. But the journey isn’t over yet.
Dr. Chen-Allen said the fluid pockets might reform at some point. The Andersons are taking Holli in for another MRI on March 21 to see how everything looks.
“Our goal isn’t necessarily to make her normal,” Chen-Allen said. “Our number one goal is to prevent further progression, to bring her the longest good quality of life that we can. I feel like at this point she has the quality of life we want her to have without being on harmful medications.”
She said it warms her heart to know Holli is doing as well as she is today, and with such good care from Cami and her son.
Cami said she hopes Holli’s story helps show families that there are options for their pets who may be going through similar situations. It was an expensive surgery, one they feel lucky they were able to afford. But Zach said having Holli in their lives far outweighs any future costs for care.
Chen-Allen said doctors in veterinary medicine can accomplish so much more today than they could 20 years ago, and that WSU has been seeing the use of pet insurance more to help cover a percentage of the costs of surgeries for animals. She said the hospital also has a good Samaritan fund that can help people cover up to $1,000, as well as care credit plans to pay for services over time.
She said Holli’s case highlights the importance of being able to provide whatever services they can, because so far, Holli has been a success story.
“I’m hoping that what we did will last a long time,” she said. “And even if we can’t cure Holli, we can bring her many good years of happy life with the Andersons.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
.jpg)