Michelle : Ollie

Ollie our 7 year old Rottweiler is our miracle boy, after everything he has been through including both knee TPLO surgeries at 5 years old, both done by the amazing Dr Dunn at SASH Adelaide, within 8 weeks of each other. Now he has an autoimmune disease called MMM myositis of mastication muscles! He is being treated by the wonderful Dr Zandri Whitehead at SASH Adelaide. It causes muscle wasting around the top of his head, he’s having trouble chewing food and opening his Jaw. At first his eyes looked like they were sinking in, he was drooling a lot and having trouble picking up his food. He’s being treated with large doses of steroids and has just started a new medication which is a type of chemotherapy drug. It seems to be working because he’s even starting to get his smile back. Apparently the disease is not a common one, that’s why I wanted to share. It’s the worst disease for him, because he always had the biggest smile and he always loved his food! He does seem to be improving though. I have enclosed some photos showing what he used to look like, some from when he first got diagnosed and some as he is getting better. He’s been through so much this year, his twin sister Angel she had osteosarcoma and was also a SASH patient sadly she passed away there 4 weeks ago. He has really missed her and also dealing with his own health issues. Hopefully next year will be a better year for us, we thank SASH and Dr Zandri for everything they’ve done for Ollie and Angel 🙏🐾