Where were we? Oh yeah! First puppy class. Tests rolling in.
Kevin LOVED puppy kindergarten. He made a friend. Annie the puppy. And her Dad. And Jeanie the awesome trainer. He is going back tomorrow for his second class. He is very excited.
Look at this festive little guy!
He is also bi flag colors for the Pride parade tomorrow morning first. Next week’s post? Here is a full color photo though, because how gorgeous is this puppy??
Fun fact - one time we dyed Luna our Westihuahua (half Westie, half Chihuahua) Beagle colors for a Basset and Beagle party.
Now we have a real Basset/Beagle and are STILL doing hair dye! Because it is fun. And my kids are awesome and artistic and creative.
First Kathi raised him so well, then she brought him his favorite toy! Kevin was so happy to have it back. It reminds him of his foster Mom <3
So that is the fun part of our week.
Although it was the same week of course, our week with Doug was much rougher. BUT it ended happily like I predicted it would. Do you want details? It is a pretty good story.
Dougie’s tests DID start rolling in. His ionized calcium was high, which confirms that he truly has high calcium. His parathyroid level was appropriately low which means he does not have hyperparathyroidism, an uncommon but treatable disease. Shoot. His other tests ruled out multiple myeloma, a serious but treatable cancer. It would not have been the worst thing.
Now what? The last pending test was Dougie’s splenic aspirate cytology results. I was stumped. I did not know where to look next.
Best of groomers, Abby Finch. Dougie agrees but he does not love being wet unless he has decided to jump into a lake on his own accord.
We were taking Lucy Dog home from Midtown to West Omaha. YES I will take any patient home for anyone who is as awesome as Cindy-Friend. I cannot say as awesome or more awesome because there is no one more awesome than Cindy.
ANYWAYS, on this beautiful drive after a long stressful work day (because Lucy had been sick but was now stable and Dougie’s illness was adding a baseline stress level that was ridiculously high every day), I was dead tired and had decreased checking for test results from three times a day to one and had not checked with IDEXX yet that day. We had most of our answers, and it did not seem so urgent anymore.
But I thought I should at least check Doug’s last pending test once that day, and when I opened Dougie’s record, there was lymphoma staring out at me almost as if from Luna’s distant past. FUCK. I started sobbing. Lucy and Russ checked on me. Lucy handled it best, but Russ and I were so very sad.
Remember the ultrasound results from five days prior? NBI - nothing bad inside. That was truly the findings. Doug’s spleen was a little enlarged, but normal appearing. Dr. Salwei saw how worried I was and offered to aspirate the spleen. Mr. Salwei saw how worried I was and looked up if butorphanol - the sedative Doug had had to help him relax his abdomen for the procedure - could cause splenic enlargement. Dr. Salwei said it did not tend to in her experience. She is very humble, but her experience includes several years as an excellent veterinary radiology specialist. Mr. Salwei said, “Let’s see what Google says.” I really hope he is not in too much trouble.
Dr. Salwei did get aspirates. And that ended up being the final piece of the puzzle we needed. Thank you so much. I wish I could adequately express how very much I appreciate you both.
The evening in which we received the results of that last test, Russ and I rode home in silence for a bit. “I do not want to do chemotherapy again,” Russ said.
Years ago, Luna THRIVED for fourteen months under the loving care of Dr. Clemens and Dr. Cooley and their amazing internal medicine team at VCA MidWest Vet when she developed lymphoma at three years of age. But she was Luna, and Doug is Doug. Doug would love the attention but hate feeling sick. It makes him so sad. I may have to someday eat my words, but chemotherapy - at this point - would not be in Doug’s best interest.
I opened VIN (Veterinary Information Network), and read all I could find on splenic lymphoma. Usually it is a manifestation of multicentric lymphoma. That is, it is just one part of a systemic disease. When we arrived home, I ran in and pet Doug under the chin like I had every day for three weeks. No lymph node enlargement. Still. And none anywhere else I felt either. This could be primary splenic lymphoma.
First thing the next morning, before Dr. Petersen could properly settle into being back on this continent, and with a ridiculously overbooked schedule full of all his raving fans, I asked if sometime soon he would be willing to remove Doug’s spleen and if it was ok that we did it without a proper completed work up. No lymph node aspirates (I had started prednisone remember) and no bone marrow aspirates and no staging of the splenic cytology we already had.
On a visceral level, I needed that damn spleen out. It was making my dog feel like shit.
Guess who got me Juice Stop??
Guess who tried to get me tequila but was thwarted by Hannahmaye who kept saying lame things like “it is not an option at Juice Stop” and “It is 1 pm on a work day.” Geez! Thank you Amy! We tried!
And guess who got me Starbucks and kept me caffeinated all week? Yeah, Izzy <3
I am completely 100% emotional all of the time and base every single decision on feelings. It has served me well every time. This was a decision that deserved at least some logic.
Dr. Petersen is as logical as I am emotional. “We just gotta get that out,” he said. “Let’s do it first thing tomorrow so you can be through it and Doug can start to heal.” He moved everything around, and next thing I know, Doug was post-op and honest to goodness just looked relieved.
Dougie was sad he was caged like a common animal. Until he realized how many of his favorite people were coming to see The Doug Exibit.
Thank you Dr. Petersen. So much.
Thank you Jeanne for keeping him safe through surgery. Thank you Kelani for being there with him when he woke up.
Kelani let Dougie have tequila! Oh, wait. Tugquila. Haha get it?
At 6 pm, I opened Doug’s kennel so he could come finish records with me. He grabbed his duck toy and brought it to Preslie. “He wants you to compliment his toy,” I said. Preslie praised that ratty (one day old) toy up and down, and Doug pranced around like a show pony, proud and happy as could be. He showed every single friend in the hospital his toy, then came to lay down with me while I wrapped up the day.
Westgate team, to a person you have been the most encouraging and supportive friends I could ask for, and I appreciate you all so much.
We are now one day post-op, and Doug continues to thrive.
The night Abby met Doug she got him a steak toy. She found the same one last night seven years later!
This could be bad, Friends.
I do not think it is.
I think Doug is going to continue to heal, and continue being the amazing, ridiculous, estatic guy he has always been.
He thinks today is the best day ever. I’m going with that.
