Bayley is Blind

There, I said it, Bayley is blind and he doesn't have eyes anymore. It has been heartbreaking in every sense of the word. Since last spring he has not been himself; limping, tiring easily, not wanting to walk as far, etc. He started being tested for various things at the vet over the summer; lyme, tick borne illnesses, heart issues, arthritis. . . A few weeks before Christmas he got so much worse. He didn't want to eat, go outside or really move from the bed. Off to Angell Animal Medical Center ER. After many more tests it was determined he had contracted 2 tick borne illnesses. He started on antibiotics for that, but things went from bad to worse when he started bumping into things! The doctors determined he had glaucoma and the pressure in his eyes was sky high. He was in the ICU for 4 days while they tried to get it down with drops round the clock. He came home a few days before Christmas with a grim prognois for his vision; they did not think it would return. He came home weak and bumping into everything, including the Christmas tree. We gave him antibiotics for 4 weeks to battle the tick diseases, pain medicine and 6 different eye drops at different times throughout the day. High pressure in the eyes is painful. He did bounce back and was up to a mile a day walks in January. Last week we made the difficult decision to have his eyes removed, to prevent any further pain from the presure in the eyes; his vision was totally gone anyway. It is a week later and he is a trooper. He has that silly cone on, which is hard to get around in for a blind dog! And it distorts sound, so he is a little disoriented. But the past 2 day he has walked around the block and he is also eating well. I find it sad to look at his little face and see bruises where his eyes used to be. Slits that are swollen where he used to look at me. I know dogs have stronger sense of smell and hearing and he is adapting, but it is still heartbreaking for me. I pray for him to feel better.