We were so hopeful on the morning of Feb. 7. Our girl had held down the steak! We were heading to one of the best Vet Hospitals in the world! We arrived nearly an hour early. For some reason the receptionist did not alert the attending physician of our early arrival. She would have been more than glad to see us early. At the appointed time, 2 foreign students came to get us. They were as sweet as they could be. They did an initial exam and then reported the findings to their superior, one of the residents. Being that we had only learned of this hospital’s existence the day before, my husband and I were not familiar with how teaching hospitals operate, though we were assured they do not use people’s pets as guinea pigs. Their benefit is that a pet is seen by more than one doctor, has access to the latest technology, radiology reports are read by specialists, and they are on the cutting-edge of research. Sadie’s pathology report had already been sent to them and they would be able to make a firm diagnosis very soon.
We spent the most of our time being told about cancer treatment options. WHAT? This is not what we wanted to hear already! The vet assured us that they would not do any chemo until they had absolutely ruled out all other possibilities: endocrine disorders, lyme disease and other tick disorders, etc. I realize that at some point all the chemo talk would have been necessary; however, it seemed premature without a firm diagnosis and we desperately wanted Sadie to have her tests. By the time they were ready to schedule Sadie for radiology and blood work, they told us they couldn’t take her for several more hours! WHAT? We’d been there all morning. Why didn’t they take Sadie for tests, and THEN give us the cancer spill once we were sure? The approach did not sit well with us at all. There was no way we were going to leave Sadie overnight. We were willing to leave her for a few hours and then make the several-hour drive back that night to pick her up, but no one would be able to let us in! We needed time to clear our heads. We were not impressed. We decided to come back the next day.
I cannot explain the way we felt on the way back home, I guess “disappointed” comes closest. We had no answers. We had no diagnosis. At lunchtime we stopped at Burger King and ordered grilled chicken sandwiches. Wouldn’t you know it? Sadie sat right up and wanted a bite! All in all, she ate about 5 oz! She would continue to eat several more times that day. We were thrilled! We called our local clinic and spoke to one of the vets about our disappointment with the teaching hospital. He said there was a closer place where we could get an MRI for Sadie, which was a better test than the ultrasound. For whatever reason, we had no confidence in the teaching hospital. We cancelled our appointment for the next day and rescheduled it for the following Tuesday, needing some time to sort out the best plan of action. Now that Sadie was eating again, we were very confused! What was going on? Why would she eat sometimes and other times not? Every time she would start to eat, we were unsure about what to do next. We ended up canceling the next appointment at the hospital. There are times when I wonder what would have happened had we gone back. Would they have found something else that we failed to ever discover? Probably not. I’m nowhere near done with Sadie’s chronicle, and readers will see that we explored many avenues in hopes of finding answers. In retrospect, I probably would have taken her back, regardless of how the first meeting went. I don’t really know that it would have helped.
Sadie was spunky the next day. She had to go in to get her souchers out and the vet could not believe what she was seeing. We all knew how much Sadie loved long car rides, and it really seemed to perk her up. The next day, however, was up and down. We were able to get her to eat ice cream, though. Over the next several days, Sadie was unbearable to force-feed. I nicknamed her “my little crocodile” because she kept snapping at me. I will post tidbit blogs on force-feeding in the future, but suffice it to say for now that it was an exact science with regards to the schedule we had to keep, the number of feedings per day, the right amount of food, making sure she got enough calories, etc. Force feeding is exhausting for the dog who does not want to eat---and for the owner.
Sadie was losing weight. By Feb. 12, she had lost 2.5 lbs. since December, now weighing 13.5. That was too large a percentage of her body weight for me! We took her back to the vet and they gave her a dexamethasone (steroid) shot that would last for 48 hours, antibiotics shot, and also fed her puppy milk. The next 2 days, she ate well! It was Valentine’s Day and our girl was doing good again! During all of this, one of the vets tried to temper me by saying, "you'll have a few good days, and then a few bad days. Just because you have good days doesn't mean there's not a problem." She was certainly right. Still, I couldn't help but rejoice when glimmers of "the old Sadie" were shining. Then later that day I got a phone call with the UT pathology report, at last. It was horrible news: Sadie’s cells were consistent with T-cell Lymphoma. I felt like my heart would break.
We spent the most of our time being told about cancer treatment options. WHAT? This is not what we wanted to hear already! The vet assured us that they would not do any chemo until they had absolutely ruled out all other possibilities: endocrine disorders, lyme disease and other tick disorders, etc. I realize that at some point all the chemo talk would have been necessary; however, it seemed premature without a firm diagnosis and we desperately wanted Sadie to have her tests. By the time they were ready to schedule Sadie for radiology and blood work, they told us they couldn’t take her for several more hours! WHAT? We’d been there all morning. Why didn’t they take Sadie for tests, and THEN give us the cancer spill once we were sure? The approach did not sit well with us at all. There was no way we were going to leave Sadie overnight. We were willing to leave her for a few hours and then make the several-hour drive back that night to pick her up, but no one would be able to let us in! We needed time to clear our heads. We were not impressed. We decided to come back the next day.
I cannot explain the way we felt on the way back home, I guess “disappointed” comes closest. We had no answers. We had no diagnosis. At lunchtime we stopped at Burger King and ordered grilled chicken sandwiches. Wouldn’t you know it? Sadie sat right up and wanted a bite! All in all, she ate about 5 oz! She would continue to eat several more times that day. We were thrilled! We called our local clinic and spoke to one of the vets about our disappointment with the teaching hospital. He said there was a closer place where we could get an MRI for Sadie, which was a better test than the ultrasound. For whatever reason, we had no confidence in the teaching hospital. We cancelled our appointment for the next day and rescheduled it for the following Tuesday, needing some time to sort out the best plan of action. Now that Sadie was eating again, we were very confused! What was going on? Why would she eat sometimes and other times not? Every time she would start to eat, we were unsure about what to do next. We ended up canceling the next appointment at the hospital. There are times when I wonder what would have happened had we gone back. Would they have found something else that we failed to ever discover? Probably not. I’m nowhere near done with Sadie’s chronicle, and readers will see that we explored many avenues in hopes of finding answers. In retrospect, I probably would have taken her back, regardless of how the first meeting went. I don’t really know that it would have helped.
Sadie was spunky the next day. She had to go in to get her souchers out and the vet could not believe what she was seeing. We all knew how much Sadie loved long car rides, and it really seemed to perk her up. The next day, however, was up and down. We were able to get her to eat ice cream, though. Over the next several days, Sadie was unbearable to force-feed. I nicknamed her “my little crocodile” because she kept snapping at me. I will post tidbit blogs on force-feeding in the future, but suffice it to say for now that it was an exact science with regards to the schedule we had to keep, the number of feedings per day, the right amount of food, making sure she got enough calories, etc. Force feeding is exhausting for the dog who does not want to eat---and for the owner.
Sadie was losing weight. By Feb. 12, she had lost 2.5 lbs. since December, now weighing 13.5. That was too large a percentage of her body weight for me! We took her back to the vet and they gave her a dexamethasone (steroid) shot that would last for 48 hours, antibiotics shot, and also fed her puppy milk. The next 2 days, she ate well! It was Valentine’s Day and our girl was doing good again! During all of this, one of the vets tried to temper me by saying, "you'll have a few good days, and then a few bad days. Just because you have good days doesn't mean there's not a problem." She was certainly right. Still, I couldn't help but rejoice when glimmers of "the old Sadie" were shining. Then later that day I got a phone call with the UT pathology report, at last. It was horrible news: Sadie’s cells were consistent with T-cell Lymphoma. I felt like my heart would break.
