Prayers for FatDog

Monday January 25, 2010
I take Fatdog to Vet2 for xrays and ultrasound. I am silently praying in my heart for a kidney tumor. Kidney tumors can be removed. How sick is that? To be PRAYING for a KIDNEY TUMOR? Vet tech comes in and takes Rosie away for xrays. 10 minutes later brings her back. We wait. I can hear the Docotor talking, but only muffled voices. I pick out the words "bladder", "white cells", "tumor." I begin to hyperventilate just a little. The docotor comes in and asks for me to go with her back into the surgery area to look at the x-rays. Says she doesn't need to do the ultrasound because she can see what's wrong already. I must have turned grey because she said, "It's bladder stones. LOTS AND LOTS of bladder stones." Bladder stones? I about jumped for joy! Bladder stones, I had been praying for a kidney tumor! (How sick is that?) Anyway, it is good news, but not great news. Rosie is still deep in the dark woods. There are about 10 to 15 massive  bladder stones that are filling more than 1/2 of her bladder. She must have surgery. ASAP. Which means today. TODAY.  Right now. Bulldogs don't do well with surgery. They can't breathe, then they die. This is not the first time I have taken a dog in for surgery and left with nothing but the bill. Remember my sweet Tie-Tie? But, I did it again. I left her at the vet's office, and can pick her up at 6:00 p.m. I left her. She looked back at me, so sad and confused as to why she wan't coming with me. I pray now that she will be ok in surgery. 6:00 p.m. can't come fast enough.

FatDog

 Well, my FatDog is sick. Really sick. Here's where we are so far:

Thursday January 14, 2010: On our walk, I notice that when Rosie pees in the snow, there is a trace of blood. Red snow is not a good thing. I am sure she has a bladder infection, so I call the vet while we are walking to schedule an appointment for the next day.

Friday January 15, 2010: Weight 47.7 lbs. The vet takes a urine sample. Says she sees bacteria cocci in the urine, puts Rosie on amoxicillin.

Saturday 16/Sunday 17: I am not noticing a change yet. Urine is still really red. I start sleeping on the couch pull out in the library with Rosie because she has to get up to pee every 2 hours or more.

Monday January 18: I still don't see much improvement, and call the vet. They say she has not been on the antibiotic long enough and to give it more time. I wait.

Wednesday January 20: Weight 47.1 lbs. I call and insist on Rosie being seen. They take another urine sample. Vet says she still sees cocci bacteria, she will culture the sample and get it to grow, then find a medicine to kill it. She does an ultrasound to look for bladder stones and/or bladder tumors. Ultrasound looks clear. We don't see anything at all out of line. She put Rosie on ciprofloxacin. (sound familiar?) Yeah it's the EXACT same drug that I was on during all my kidney battles. In fact, the vet didn't have any in her stock, and sent me to my pharmacy to get it filled. You should have seen the look on the pharamacist's face when I handed her the RX for MY DOG! It was pretty funny!

Thursday 21: Still waiting to see if the cipro works. So far not impressed.

Friday 22: I call vet office because I am still not seeing any change, and I wondered how long it takes to grow the urine culture. Vet says she will call me tomorrow with results.

Saturday 23:
2:00 a.m.: Rosie has an accident in the house. She just couldn't make it to the door in time. Lots of red in the urine. LOTS.
8:00 a.m.: Vet calls. She says there is NO BACTERIA on the petri dish. None. This means there is not a bladder infection at all. Asks me to bring in a urine sample to be sent away to a lab. Lab can determine if there are tumor cells in the urine. Tumor = cancer.
11:00 a.m. I take in pee sample.
12:00 p.m. Clint advises that I get a second opinion. I call another vet. Explain that I want a second opinion etc. They say come now.
1:00 p.m.: Weight 47.0 lbs.Vet 2 takes a blood sample. Most of the numbers are in normal range. One of the kidney numbers should be 25, Rosie's is 28. Vet2 says it is not a cause for concern. Vet2 takes a urine sample. Checks for bacteria. Result: None. Red blood cells are high. White blood cells are high. Protein in the urine is high. She also sees clumps of "transitionsal and cuboidal cells" These cells are present sometimes in the bladder anyway, but she is not sure why they are clumping together. She can't tell if there is more of one kind than the other. Transistional cells come from the bladder. Cuboidal cells come from the kidney. She is very frank with me and explains that Rosie most likely has either a bladder tumor or a kidney tumor. Tumor = cancer.
If it is a kidney tumor, the kidney can be removed, and the dog usually does very well. (I don't know how well 8 1/2 year old bulldogs do though.) If it is a bladder tumor, then they are usually in operable. "With bladder tumors the prognosis is not very good."  We will have Vet2 do an ultrasound/xray on Monday to try and pin point the problem. we wait for Vet1 to get in the lab results. I know now that the lab is looking to isolate the transitional cells from the cuboidal cells. They are looking for a tumor.
Tumor = cancer. Yup. My FatDog is sick. Really sick.

Pearl!

Each year since we've been dating, Clint has given me something gold for Christmas. This year, he gave me something PEARL!

Merry Christmas!

Jb and The Boy singing at their 5th grade Christmas concert.

Merry Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvhmQZ62Mvw

Book Review

Book Review

by

J.B.

This book, Deltora Quest The City of the Rats, is very well written. Emily Rodda, the author, writes wonderful fiction books, and this is one of her best! I loved this book for it's adventure and storyline. It's thrilling, exciting, and makes you feel what the character does.

The main character, Leif, is a 16 year old boy who has hazel eyes, brown/blond hair, and tannish skin. Leif's personality is mischievous, adventurous, and cheerful. Leif's father sent him to fulfill a pledge to find the lost magical gems of the Belt of Deltora. The gems are a diamond, emerald, lapis lazuli, topaz, opal, ruby and amethyst.

Leif and his companions have already found two of the missing magical gems, the topaz and the ruby. Now to find a third. They have faced many dangers along the way. They come across a man full of trickery, that only has eyes for money. He sells them some magic beads and something called water eaters. Luckily, they come in handy! When they come across a river, they use the water eaters which make a kind of dam so they can get across it on dry land. On their journey Leif has to make many decisions, and some of them could mean life or death. There are still many more dangers ahead. Will Leif find the gem or perish in the end?

My favorite scene is when Leif and his friends have just escaped the latest danger. When they stop to rest his friends start to argue. I like this part because it's always funny when they argue.

This book was just right for my reading level, and it was great fun. The story was (in a way) believable. I thought parts were believable because anyone can run in the forest, dive to hide, and find a strange city. The book was very mind racing. It made me think hard about the codes they use, and the symbols for things. I always try to guess what is coming next. I love this book and think you will too.

Happy Thanksgiving

So here I am on the eve of Thanksgiving, feeling very grateful for the important things, like family, healthy children, warm homes, and safe havens. I am also feeling grateful for modern medicine that is giving my kidney a good chance at working normally. Unfortunately it is a long process. Over the last 6 months I have had re-occuring bladder and kidney infections, and on November 9, I had surgery to remove a 23 mm. kidney stone. I did not react well to the anesthetic and it took me about 3 days to feel "awake." A stint (like a long straw) was placed in the kidney and goes from the kidney to the bladder. It is most uncomfortable. I have to sleep sitting up as lying flat puts pressure on the stint, and causes it to twist and turn inside me. The kidney remains swollen and sore, but is finally starting to heal. I can not take anything other than Tylenol because I am super sensitive to medications and seem to over react with side effects. Hopefully the kidney will be healed enough for them to remove the stint the first week of December. Anyway, as a result of the constant ache in the bladder and kidney, I have opted out of traveling the four hour drive to see my family for Turkey day.  JB is sad that she won't see her cousins. So am I.

Boo!