Why Kuma went to the Hospital and What Happened There

Two weeks before the hospital Kuma overcame several things.

She cut her paw outside and started limping. I treated it and bandaged it up and it totally healed in 5 days.

A week before we went to the Vet and the Vet said there is nothing wrong with Kuma except some neural problems in her brain. She said to know, we would have to have an MRI done. I declined because of the expense. She asked if Kuma was still walking and I said yes she walks for two hours every day.

Kuma had a big almost golf ball blood boil on the side of her lip which just burst and bled for 36 hours just 3 days before going to the hospital. It healed completely the day before.

Kuma had now gone two weeks without a seizure and I texted people on Saturday night October 3rd that Kuma was great now and the we would train as a group at the gym. Two and a half hours later Kuma had a bad, hard seizure and I was not there. It stopped before I got home.

Kuma recovered and was walking and drinking on her own. At 1:30 am she got excited to eat her dinner and after gobbling three bites, she went into another seizure. This one became continuous.

There was no reason for these last seizures. Later with research I found that the drug I gave her for her blood boil, an antibiotic Simplicef caused these seizures.

Admitted to the Hospital - Sunday October 4

I tried to stop her seizures myself with Valium and finally brought her into the hospital Sunday mid morning. The admitting vet, examined Kuma thoroughly and wrote in Kuma's file that something unusual caused her seizures (I didn't know at the time that it was the Simplicef) and that we should take a blood test and do an MRI. I refused both because of the cost.

I thought about it all day and decided that it may be too difficult and too costly to bring Kuma back. She was in a coma because I had given Kuma 14 valiums and they gave her more at the hospital plus they loaded her up with a week's worth of anticonvulsant in one day to try to stop the seizures. The admitting Vet said it will take 3 to 4 days for Kuma to wake from her coma but she is optimistic that giving Kuma an anticonvulsant which she has never had before plus giving her a stronger anti inflamatory than she has been taking would possibly return to her to better than before. She first needed to try to stabillize Kuma's seizure's within 24 hours and then see. Kuma should wake up in 3 to 4 days.

I left the hospital that night at 9 pm with renewed hope that Kuma will survive this and actually be better.

The other Vets - Monday October 5

6 hours later the next vet on duty called me but my phone was on 'do not disturb'. Then at 3 am she called Cheryl in a panic because Kuma just had another seizure (which was great actually because she had just gone a few hours without one). In her medical notes she said that she strongly advised Cheryl to put Kuma to sleep. Cheryl said to speak to me first. This Vet did not examine Kuma and knew nothing about her yet she called Cheryl long distance in the middle of the night wanting to kill Kuma just 6 hours after we had a plan for Kuma's recovery.

Kuma had another seizure at 5 am but this now was her last seizure. I called this vet at 6 am to see how Kuma was and she was saying to me that Kuma needed to be put to sleep and I told her of our plan to stabilize her first, and I will be in a the hospital in an hour.

I came to the hospital and stayed with Kuma all day. Today was her birthday, she was 17 and she was laying unconscious. I kissed her head and she responded with a deep sigh of relief knowing that I was there. She was just sleeping now peacefully and needed the time to heal her brain.

A third vet was there now, again someone who did not examine Kuma and knew nothing about her or the plan the first vet made to fix Kuma. This vet, Dr. Lefevre was pessimistic about Kuma's chances of recovery. I told her of the original plan to stabilize Kuma and at 11:00 am Kuma has gone for 6 hours without a seizure so she may now be stable. The first vet had hoped to stabilize Kuma in 24 hours and Kuma was now stable much earlier in only 18 hours.

Dr. Lefevre said "I have seen them 24 hours after being stable seizing as they walked out the door. She is not going to recover".

I stayed again until almost 10 pm with Kuma listening to her breathe and happy actually that she was ok and not suffering.

Tuesday October 6 - 44 hours after being admitted

Dr. Lefevre was on duty again the next day and she called me at 11:00 am to tell me that Kuma had no change since yesterday. I told her I would be in shortly and she said to take my time because Kuma was just the same. She seemed calm as if reassuring me that Kuma was ok. This was actually good news because now Kuma had stabilized and did not have any seizures for 24 hours.

Then right after talking to me, she called Cheryl and encited Cheryl to put Kuma to sleep. She told Cheryl that there was no hope for Kuma and that the hospital bills are now up to $1800 plus euthanasia (which was an exageration). Cheryl then immediately responded by ordering Kuma to be put to death and paid off the bill and closed it out saying no more charges. They responsed by removing the cathetor and bandage off Kuma, took her off her drugs and closed the door to her little cubicle.

Tuesday October 6 - afternoon, Kuma woke up

I arrived at the hospital and Dr. Lefevre came straight at me. She told me that Cheryl wanted Kuma dead and that Cheryl was the owner (because I left Cheryl's name on Kuma's file when I admitted her and they asked me) and that Cheryl had closed out the bill. What she didn't tell me then nor the three hours that I was there with Kuma was that she had stopped giving Kuma the anticonvulsant medication. Abrupt stopping this medication would cause a healthy person to go into seizures. Dr. Lefevre told me that Kuma had no chance of ever waking up (Kuma woke up just an hour and half later) and that Kuma would never be the same and it would cost $20,000. She said that the staff could not stand to look at Kuma anymore. I said but Kuma is just sleeping and we need to give her one more day to wake up like planned. I will find a way to pay for Kuma, I am getting an increase of $1200 on my credit card and I will pay for it. I want Kuma to have one more day to recover.

Dr. Lefevre still came at me hard saying, "Look if you can't decide, and some people don't want to make that decision, let me make it for you, I will tell you, Kuma needs to be put to sleep, she needs to be put down." I told her again that logically she may be right but in my heart I believe that Kuma has a chance to recover.

Eventually, I broke down and agreed to take Kuma to the 'mouring room' where immediately I had a paper given to me to sign Kuma's death warrant. With that Kuma was condemned to death by lethal injection.

But, I had hope still. I just wanted to get away from the pressure of Dr. Lefevre. I still believed that Kuma could wake up.

That's when I told Kuma "Kumi, if you are going to pull off another miracle, now is the time. Show me a sign honey, show me something that you are going to be ok". Just then, I opened Kuma's eyes and she looked around. Then she opened her jaw wide and yawned with her tongue right out and curled at the end. Then she licked both sides of her lips. Kuma was starting to wake up. This was just 2 full days, 48 hours after being admitted and she was not supposed to wake up until 3 or 4 days. Kuma heard me and was doing the best she could to wake up. Kuma then exhaled a deep breath and started to breathe very relaxed and peacefully. I was beyond happy. I knew she knew I was there and that she was happy that I was with her. Kuma was going to recover and now she was breathing peacefully like she was sleeping and not in a coma.

Then a few moments later, before we even had time to enjoy this happy new peacefulness for a while, Kuma started seizing. I rubbed her head and massaged her neck and gave her hundreds of kisses on her face and this seemed to calm her and relax her, but a few moments later she started seizing again. Then her head started to get hot from a rush of blood. I panicked because Kuma seemed to be suffereing. It was better when she was in a coma but now she was awake. The seizures kept coming and her legs started flailing in the air. It was awful. Nerves were shooting lightning bolts through her tensed up body and her head was locked in electrical shocks shaking violently. Kuma seemed awake and in pain and it was not stopping.

Tuesday October 6 - afternoon, Kuma was executed by lethal injection only 2 days after being admitted

I picked up the phone and called the vet to come in a put her to sleep. I couldn't stand seeing Kuma in pain like that.

For the next 30 minutes, they tried 3 times before they could stop her heart. Kuma was suffering the worst kind of prolonged agony and pain. Kuma was hanging on breathing hard and gasping for air, but her head and body were out of control. Her brain was on fire. I finally screamed at them to stop messing around with the catheter and inject the poison straight into her vein. They did and her heart was stopped just as she inhaled. Dead quiet. Kuma did not have a sedative to calm her like it was supposed to be. He said the sedative did not work. Kuma died in pain. And, it killed me and still does.

I immediately asked to see Kuma's charts to see why did she go into convulsions like that. There was no reason unless Dr. Lefevre abruptly stopped her medication. They oould not find her charts. They said the vet had left and would call me the next day. The vet called me a week later and said yes, she stopped Kuma's medication (which caused her to seize).

Kuma was not given the chance to recover like the original vet had planned. Instead, she was killed just 2 days after being admitted. There was no reason to kill Kuma and not wait another day. By sending Kuma purposely back into seizures the entire cost of the hospital stay, was totally wasted. Dr. Lefevre got her way. Cheryl got her way and Kuma was killed.

Kuma did not deserve to be cut off like that, Kuma did not deserve to die such a prolonged and painful death. If Cheryl and Dr. Lefevre had not got involved, then Kuma may have had a good chance of being alive today and living for at least another year or two. Kuma was heathly and happy. I know that Kuma was not ready to die and she was not expecting to be killed. This was the ultimate betrayal of a loyal, sweet, innocent kind little girl by impatient uncaring people who did not know her. And the ultimate betrayal was I did not stand up for her and stop it. I let it happen. Kuma only had me to stand up and speak for her. I caved. And I will carry this for the rest of my life.