Making Progress

It's been six days since Stella came home. Everyday she's been making progress . . . a little perkier, steadier on her feet, bright little eyes. 

Her course of meds has been painkillers (3 tabs every 8 hours) and antibiotics (2 capsules every 12 hours). More about the the meds in a minute.

We left the hospital with a dozen cans of Hills I/D canned dog food (designed to be gentle on the gastrointestinal tract). After 13.9 years of kibble, you'd think the girl would have figured herself to have finally made the big time. Well, not so much, as it turns out. She tried, she pushed it around in the bowl, and then spit it out in chunks on floor.

Hmmmmm . . . okay, maybe that sawdust kibble for senior dogs is not so bad after all and I can shed a few pounds of guilt. Or maybe she just didn't have much of an appetite. Either way, she wasn't having any of it.

Last night, we served up boiled chicken bits and cooked rice. She practically knocked me over getting to her bowl. Didn't give her much since she hadn't eaten in a couple of days, but she ate every last kernal of rice and stared at her empty bowl wondering where the rest was.  Homemade is the new order of the day.

Now for the real challenge - the pain meds. Apparently they emit an aroma that is quite unappealing, not to mention the taste. Dr. Seguin confirmed this. On day one, StellDell was so wiped out, she would go ahead and take them as long as they were wrapped in, say, a small chunk of string cheese.

On day two, she was onto the cheese trick and was having none of it. Spit, spit, spit. Or she managed to eat the cheese, but spit out the pills.

Hmmmmm . . . okay, how about something else? How about the Pill Pocket things? Hey, great idea! That worked. She found the Pill Pockets irresistable. On day two, that is.

Day three. Pill Pockets? Spit, spit, spit. Turned up her nose. Held her jaw firm. Not falling for the old Pill Pocket trick this time. Not gonna happen.

Well, now what? Peanut butter? Sure, that might work. Worth a shot. Wrapped each pill in a big dollop of peanut butter and offered it to her. She snarfed them up and smacked her lips after each one. Great!

Day four. Peanut butter? Are you kidding me? I can lick every bit of peanut butter off that pill and spit, spit, spit, she says. And spit, spit, spit she did. Of course, several blobs of peanut butter fell into her coat, onto her feet, into her beard. Peanut butter everywhere and the pain meds on the floor.

Day five. Battle on. Cheese . . . Pill Pockets . . . peanut butter . . .  pleading, begging, cajoling. Spit, spit, spit. I can only conclude that the pain in her hairy little peanut butter encrusted body must have subsided to a greater degree than the pain of swallowing those pills. We'll go with that and concede the battle.

So what about those antibiotics? Not a single problem. Compared to the pain meds, they must be like little nuggets of tasty goodness. Phew!

Making progress and getting better every day.

The Dog Listener

I came across a question today over on Quora: Do dogs know when they are going to die? My avatar wrote an answer:

I don't know whether dogs know when they are going to die, but from my own recent experience - and if you're listening - they do let you know whether or not they want you to let go or if they want you to help them fight for a few more runs on the beach.

In trying to decide what the right thing to do was when several critical decisions had to be made, I heard Stella weighed in. "I'm not ready to call it quits just yet." Anthropomorphism aside, it was one of the clearest messages I've ever heard.  

As I write this, she's laying here quietly sleeping next to me. She's been eating, drinking, peeping, pooping, wobbling through the house, and tolerating the curious and ever rambunctious kittens with more grace than Prince William's bride.

She's one beautiful groad-bomb.

Happy Birthday, Stella! Home At Last!

Picked Stella up from the OSU Small Animal Hospital this morning and she's home. With the help of Haley, one of the student vets who has been great with Stella over the past several days, we managed to get her into the CRV. She, Stella, decided nothing doing on the ramp. We drove home and then pulled into the garage. Now we had to get her in the house.

Would She Try the Ramp Going Down?

Nah, not so much. I was pretty darn sure she was going to give the down ramp a try. Ann was pretty darn sure she was going to have none of it. None of it it was. So with the help of neighbors Rhonda and Dave, we lifted her - bed and all - gently out of the car and set her down on the floor of the garage.

Phase II - From the Garage to the House

After a wobbly detour through the front yard, where I thought for sure she was going to lay down in one of her all-time favorite spots and where it could be days before we'd ever get her up again . . ."Not there, Stella. Come on, Stell, let's go in the house. Come on, StellDell . . ." the loopy little thing changed course and headed toward the front door. One step up, two steps up and she was in. She bobbed and weaved her way down the hall, made her way into the kitchen, drank from her water bowl, and then plopped down and promptly proceeded to finally relax, take a snooze, and has begun to snore her way back to health.

What a Trooper This Girl Has Been

Once her pacemaker is fully bonded into her heart muscle (four weeks of quiet, calm time), and her neck and abdominal incisions are healed, she'll hopefully have several many months of good living ahead.

By the end of this week, we should have the results back regarding the nature of the masses that were removed.

In about 10-14 days, we'll go back up to OSU and see Dr. Bottorff and Dr. Seguin. Dr. Bottorff will check her pacemaker and make sure her settings are good and remove the stitches from the incisions in her neck.

Dr. Seguin will check her abdominal incision, remove the stitches, and give her a good going over. She'll be on the mend for quite a while, but that's just fine. Once she's healed up, we're going to get some good beach time in. 

 

Happy 14th Birthday Stella!

This Morning's Report

Right on time. 8:40 am from the OSU Small Animal Hospital ICU . . .

Haley:  Good morning, this is Haley up at the OSU Small Animal Hospital. I'm been taking care of Stella this morning.

Me: Is she doing okay?????

Haley: She's doing really, really well. She's drinking water, she's had a half a can of dog food, and she looks great. She's still a little groggy because of the sedation, but she's doing great!

Me:  (externally) I am so GLAD to hear that!  (internally) YEA! YIPPEE! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Haley: Dr. Seguin saw her this morning and said that she's doing so well that she should be able going home tomorrow morning.

Me: How early can she be released?

Haley: We're open at 9:00 am.

Me: We'll be there!!

So, let's see . . .

• 4 Prescriptions
• 2 Trips to the Eugene Vet
• 3 Trips to the Corvallis Hospital
• 5 ECGs
• 3 Ultrasounds
• 7,000 Sleepless Nights
• 2 Rounds of Anesthesia
• 1 Pacemaker
• 1 Splenectomy
• 1 Intestinal Tumor Removal
• 5 Nights in the Hospital

$6 Million Dollars

• 5 Outstanding Veterinarians
• 1 Great Family
• Countless Caring Friends
• Stella

$ Priceless

I suspect the next few weeks as she recovers will be interesting. And we still need to get the results from the lab regarding the nature of the masses that were removed. Who knows when the next challenge will arise and what it will bring with it. But we're just going to take each day one at a time and enjoy every dang one of them for as many as we get.

 

As for these updates - well, they're not over yet . . .  wait till you see Stelldell's "New" look

Post-Post-Op

This is where we've been spending a lot of time and where Stella is again tonight after her second day of surgery. Greatest place on earth.After a long night last night and several conversations with Drs. Bottorff and Trottier (Stella's primary and long-time doctor), we decided to go ahead with the splenectomy primarily to avoid a potential bleed-out by doing nothing at all. That and it felt like the right thing to do for Stella.

The decision was like this: if the splenectomy went well, we'd consult about going ahead and removing the mass in the intestine. If there were any complications with the splenectomy, no extraordinary measures would be taken. If they opened her up and saw a gawd-awful mess, they'd stitch her back up and we'd take her home.

When we got there, just before the surgery, Dr. Bottorff, whom Stella has come to adore, came out to talk with us and asked if we'd like to see Stella. "Heck yes!" He brought her into a consultation room along with a blanket for Stella to lay down on - which of course she did not do. Stella? Well she just looked great - and I wish I'd taken a picture - but I was just so glad to see her. She's shaved around her neck, is bandaged up, and looks wonderful.  Someone had brushed her out and put her bangs up in a top-knot. I loved that they did that.

Front of the Small Animal Hospital

 The grounds just outside the hospital.

Here's what happened: the splenectomy went off without a hitch. We consulted on the intestinal mass and decided to go ahead and remove it. It went off without a hitch. Dr. Seguin (the abdominal surgeon) spoke with us after the surgery and said all went extremely well and that Stella did great. There won't be any definitive information about the nature of the tumors/masses until about the middle of next week, but they were all contained and appeared not to have spread, so you never know.

She'll spend the night in the hospital tonight and tomorrow and then, providing all goes well, will come home on Sunday. It's been a roller coaster few weeks and who knows what tomorrow will bring, but today was a good day. Thank you Dr. Trottier, Dr. Bottorff, and Dr. Seguin.