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Has anyone had a dog with a CNS fungal infection?

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      Anonymous
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      Our 2.5 year old lab x has been diagnosed with aspergillosis, which is a fungal infection normally found in the sinus. Due to abuse she received earlier in her life, it was able to cross from her sinus into her brain causing a central nervous system infection. I have attached her full story below. I would love to know if anyone else has gone through anything similar to what Marley is experiencing. Thank you.

      Marley is our 2.5 year old lab cross from Ajijic, Mexico. She found us when she was 6-8 weeks old. She was quite sick with a swollen belly from parasites, was anemic and covered in mats with no mother or litter around. Honestly, the moment we saw her it was love at first sight. We treated all of her issues, brought her back up to Canada and she was a happy healthy pup up until a few weeks ago.
      Marley very suddenly lost all strength on the right side of her body and lost the ability to stand or walk. Over the next week with the help of radiologists, neurologists and oncologists we tested for poisoning, meningitis and finally cancer. MRI’s and CT scans showed a mass in her upper sinus crossing into her brain cavity, so cancer seemed likely. The swelling was putting too much pressure on her brain which was causing the majority of her symptoms. The CT scan also showed a gap between the sinus and brain that should have been sealed. She was scheduled for an emergency surgery to remove what we now know was a giant abscess. It appeared that Marley had been hit quite severely in the head at quite a young age which caused the abnormality in her skull and allowed an infection to cross over into her brain. It breaks my heart to think that this could have been done on purpose (it is not uncommon in this area for people to dispose of a litter).
      Finally thinking that we were done, we brought Marley home to heal from her operation and started her on antibiotics to take care of the rest of the infection. Culture samples were sent off to show exactly what started the infection. The results came back 2 days ago and were not what anyone expected. It turns out that she has a very uncommon fugal infection. However, due to the lack of barrier between her sinus and brain it was able to spread causing an extremely rare central nervous system infection.
      Over the next few months Marley will be on many different medications as we fight this infection in her brain. She is amazing and strong. I know she can get through this. But we need help. Her vet bills are already close to $17,000 and she still requires more medications and additional CT scans in the near future.

      If at all possible, we would love if you could share Marley’s story because as far as we are concerned it is far from being over and has a very happy ending.

      https://www.gofundme.com/eejf9w-marleys-medical-fund

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