During our visit at the clinic, Sadie was examined by 3 different veterinarians. There was no apparent reason for her behavior, thus there were no answers for so many questions. I requested an ultrasound, but was told it probably would not show anything. The vet thought Sadie’s lymph nodes in her thighs were enlarged and she took a needle aspirate from each leg. She excused herself for a moment, and I could tell she was emotional. To say that she loved Sadie was an understatement. And this doctor was the first vet Sadie actually liked. She had been there every step of the way when Sadie was diagnosed with cancer 4 years before. I still remember her saying, “Let me tell you what I think . . . .” She proceeded to tell us she thought Sadie had lymphoma. I protested: how can this be? Sadie was tested last month and given a clean bill of health! It didn’t make any sense. But the kind doctor kept doing the math and it was adding up to cancer for her, so to speak. She was always overly cautious in the cancer department when it came to Sadie, and I certainly appreciated her concern. For now, we’d have to wait on the cytology report.
In the meantime, Sadie was put on Prednisolone. The vet warned that if the diagnosis turned out to be cancer, this drug might slow down any chemo. She also warned that it was a double-edged sword, because its effects could mask an underlying condition. But she knew we sought a better quality of life and were at a desperation-point, so we agreed to give Sadie the drug to perk her up. It worked! Big time. The old Sadie was back, thank God! After 3 weeks of finicky eating, this little pup was acting like a pig again! Hope surged within our hearts. That was Friday. On Monday morning, Jan. 28, we were called with bad news: the aspirate showed cells that were highly suspective of lymphoma. A biopsy was needed to confirm. We took Sadie in immediately. Thankfully, she recovered well from surgery, which was out of the norm, but a blessing. She ate well for 3 days. On the evening of the 3rd night, she was given undrained lean ground beef. She awakened and did not want to eat. Oh dear! I cannot stress the importance of draining and blotting ground meats, no matter how lean it is! If it takes 15 paper towels to get it clean, do it! Sadie’s stomach was always SO sensitive; even in good health she would have reacted adversely. But no one meant her harm, they just didn’t think. Because she was on the steroids, she couldn’t just miss a dose, so we took her in and had one of the vets pop the pill. Oh, that I had been told about little syringes! Oh, the headaches that would have been spared! There are pills that can be crushed; I just didn’t have a clue! Thankfully that evening Sadie ate ¼ lb. of ground beef! Sadie was also on the anti-nausea drug Cerenia. It was created to benefit dogs with motion sickness, but is also a great anti-nausea drug in general. On Feb. 1, Sadie was finicky again and didn’t want to eat. A family member popped the Prednisolone, but not the Cerenia. Steroids on an empty stomach can cause distress, and Sadie ate nothing. The next day we took Sadie to the clinic and another vet was able to get the pill down. They introduced us to the “pill popper”. Oh, how cantankerous Sadie could be! She hated pills. She would clamp her jaws down tight and then try to bite me! If my heart weren’t breaking so bad, it would have been cute. That day, she ate ¾ slice of turkey. The next day she didn’t want to eat, so I thought maybe, just maybe she’d give in if we gave her one of her favorite --- yet forbidden --- foods: vanilla ice cream. Before we went overseas, this was one of our favorite things to do in the convertible. But when we came back, we stuck close to the dog food-only diet. But we were desperate. At first she just looked at the cone. Then my husband took a bold approach: he put the cone right onto her lips. Her eyes lit up! She licked and licked and even bit in. It was the cutest thing in the world, and it brought me to tears. Even in this dark valley, there were these precious moments.
On Monday, Feb. 4, I spent a long time on the phone with her vet. Also, the pathology report came back as “uncertain.” The sample was sent to another doctor for a 2nd opinion. In the meantime, Sadie had to eat. My husband and I would not hear of a feeding tube (at this point), and the thought of force feeding Sadie ourselves seemed overwhelming. So, our vet offered to keep her for the day and do it herself. Everything seemed to go well, but less than 2 hours after coming home, she lost it. The next morning, the vet called to say Sadie’s WBC was elevated (18.8). For those it might help, here are other abnormalities: HIGH: BUN (31), ALK PHOS (149), ALT (119), Amylase (1679). LOWS: Total Protein (4.4), Albumin (2.0), Cholesterol (84), Calcium (8.5), This could be from the steroids, or due to infection. Not wanting to risk it, antibiotics were prescribed. My RN-sister-in-law suggested we give Sadie shots and not put anything on her sick gut. Good advice! We force fed her that day, and while challenging, it worked. We hated taking that freedom away from our girl, but she needed to eat. The next day, our vet phoned to say she was able to get an appointment for us at a prominent Veterinarian Teaching Hospital. The only catch was that it was for the very next day. That was not good for us because we both were teaching a class the next evening, the first of the semester, together. We could not cancel it because it had already been cancelled the week before due to snow. We had 50 people depending on us. We decided to do both. I explained that it was imperative we leave the clinic back for home no later than 1pm. She didn’t think it would be any big deal for them to board Sadie overnight if they weren’t finished testing her. I guess I’ll never adequately be able to explain to anyone how devastating separation anxiety was for Sadie. I just couldn’t leave her overnight in a foreign environment. I stressed how important it was that they knew what time we had to leave, and if they could be considerate of our needs. “At last,” we thought, “we’ll get some answers.” Before going to bed that night I decided to tempt Sadie with a steak. The aroma filled the house and my little buddy came into the kitchen and wagged her tail. She wanted me to feed her! She ate the steak, and held it down. We had to get up at 3am the next morning, but it would all be worth it to get some help for our baby. It couldn’t come soon enough.
In the meantime, Sadie was put on Prednisolone. The vet warned that if the diagnosis turned out to be cancer, this drug might slow down any chemo. She also warned that it was a double-edged sword, because its effects could mask an underlying condition. But she knew we sought a better quality of life and were at a desperation-point, so we agreed to give Sadie the drug to perk her up. It worked! Big time. The old Sadie was back, thank God! After 3 weeks of finicky eating, this little pup was acting like a pig again! Hope surged within our hearts. That was Friday. On Monday morning, Jan. 28, we were called with bad news: the aspirate showed cells that were highly suspective of lymphoma. A biopsy was needed to confirm. We took Sadie in immediately. Thankfully, she recovered well from surgery, which was out of the norm, but a blessing. She ate well for 3 days. On the evening of the 3rd night, she was given undrained lean ground beef. She awakened and did not want to eat. Oh dear! I cannot stress the importance of draining and blotting ground meats, no matter how lean it is! If it takes 15 paper towels to get it clean, do it! Sadie’s stomach was always SO sensitive; even in good health she would have reacted adversely. But no one meant her harm, they just didn’t think. Because she was on the steroids, she couldn’t just miss a dose, so we took her in and had one of the vets pop the pill. Oh, that I had been told about little syringes! Oh, the headaches that would have been spared! There are pills that can be crushed; I just didn’t have a clue! Thankfully that evening Sadie ate ¼ lb. of ground beef! Sadie was also on the anti-nausea drug Cerenia. It was created to benefit dogs with motion sickness, but is also a great anti-nausea drug in general. On Feb. 1, Sadie was finicky again and didn’t want to eat. A family member popped the Prednisolone, but not the Cerenia. Steroids on an empty stomach can cause distress, and Sadie ate nothing. The next day we took Sadie to the clinic and another vet was able to get the pill down. They introduced us to the “pill popper”. Oh, how cantankerous Sadie could be! She hated pills. She would clamp her jaws down tight and then try to bite me! If my heart weren’t breaking so bad, it would have been cute. That day, she ate ¾ slice of turkey. The next day she didn’t want to eat, so I thought maybe, just maybe she’d give in if we gave her one of her favorite --- yet forbidden --- foods: vanilla ice cream. Before we went overseas, this was one of our favorite things to do in the convertible. But when we came back, we stuck close to the dog food-only diet. But we were desperate. At first she just looked at the cone. Then my husband took a bold approach: he put the cone right onto her lips. Her eyes lit up! She licked and licked and even bit in. It was the cutest thing in the world, and it brought me to tears. Even in this dark valley, there were these precious moments.
On Monday, Feb. 4, I spent a long time on the phone with her vet. Also, the pathology report came back as “uncertain.” The sample was sent to another doctor for a 2nd opinion. In the meantime, Sadie had to eat. My husband and I would not hear of a feeding tube (at this point), and the thought of force feeding Sadie ourselves seemed overwhelming. So, our vet offered to keep her for the day and do it herself. Everything seemed to go well, but less than 2 hours after coming home, she lost it. The next morning, the vet called to say Sadie’s WBC was elevated (18.8). For those it might help, here are other abnormalities: HIGH: BUN (31), ALK PHOS (149), ALT (119), Amylase (1679). LOWS: Total Protein (4.4), Albumin (2.0), Cholesterol (84), Calcium (8.5), This could be from the steroids, or due to infection. Not wanting to risk it, antibiotics were prescribed. My RN-sister-in-law suggested we give Sadie shots and not put anything on her sick gut. Good advice! We force fed her that day, and while challenging, it worked. We hated taking that freedom away from our girl, but she needed to eat. The next day, our vet phoned to say she was able to get an appointment for us at a prominent Veterinarian Teaching Hospital. The only catch was that it was for the very next day. That was not good for us because we both were teaching a class the next evening, the first of the semester, together. We could not cancel it because it had already been cancelled the week before due to snow. We had 50 people depending on us. We decided to do both. I explained that it was imperative we leave the clinic back for home no later than 1pm. She didn’t think it would be any big deal for them to board Sadie overnight if they weren’t finished testing her. I guess I’ll never adequately be able to explain to anyone how devastating separation anxiety was for Sadie. I just couldn’t leave her overnight in a foreign environment. I stressed how important it was that they knew what time we had to leave, and if they could be considerate of our needs. “At last,” we thought, “we’ll get some answers.” Before going to bed that night I decided to tempt Sadie with a steak. The aroma filled the house and my little buddy came into the kitchen and wagged her tail. She wanted me to feed her! She ate the steak, and held it down. We had to get up at 3am the next morning, but it would all be worth it to get some help for our baby. It couldn’t come soon enough.
