The long story:
Piper is not feeling good. Some days she’s so sick, I don’t know if she’s going to make it from one hour to the next. And we don’t know why. Here’s the tale:
Wednesday, October 28
Piper and I go up to Tufts for her 3rd and final shockwave treatment. We get there Early as I mistook the time. Still, better to be early than late. She’s only limping a very little bit. But when she comes out, she’s really loopy and dopey coming home. Still, not much different than other times.
Thursday through Sunday: Piper is quiet, as if she’s not getting over the anethesia. She’s limping a lot (left front), and using the Klimb I made to get on and off the bed. She’s eating. But she’s not herself. Trippy jumps on her and she almost falls over.
Tuesday, November 3
She has trouble getting up in the morning, a lot of trouble. But maybe she’s just stiff? Nope, her back end collapses under her and it takes her several moments to hoist herself back upright and slowly walk down the hallway and go outside.
After I vote, she wants to go out, but she can’t get herself up – her butt collapses under her. I find a towel and help her up, but let her got out on her own. Mistake, as she tries to go down the hatchway instead of the stairs and again, her back end slides out from under her and she slides down the hatch to the yard.
I call Tufts, frustrated and angry. What did they do to my dog??? They told me to come up, so I loaded everyone in the car and we flew north to Grafton, MA. When I got there I was informed that the E.R. was full. I kinda almost lost it and explained that I had called and was told to come there. Two techs with a gurney came out and got Piper. Tripp, Tyson and I settled in for an afternoon of waiting in the car.
I walked the boys, played on my cell phone and tried not to worry too much.
They sent her home around 6:30 p.m. with no diagnosis, no prognosis and no recommendation other than “it has nothing to do with her shockwave treatment.” She had no fever, they ran blood work, all normal; pulled fluid from a lymph node, all normal. 120 miles, and entire day, and NOTHING.
Wednesday and Thursday she was eating but was very quiet. Not collapsing, just weak.
Friday that changed. She has major issues trying to move, and doesn’t eat her dinner. Her back end collapses,again, she’s very weak. She’s hot, well, warmer than usual. She looks up at me and I can see she’s in pain and scared and wants me to do something about it.
We go to Bolton Vet. Thank heavens Dr. Katy Zyra is on and she comes out to see Piper on the leash. She takes Piper in and determines that yes, lymph nodes are enlarged and she’s running a fever of 103.3, low grade but a fever. Dog normal is 102. She makes an appointment for the surgeon to remove a lymph node for biopsy the next morning. I bring her home, to bring her back in the morning. Gave her Doxycycline.
Saturday, November 7
Lymph node surgery goes as planned and she comes home around 4 p.m. She has no interest in food, although she guards it. At 8 p.m., we go back. Dr. Katy sends a tech out with two shots, steroid and something to settle her stomach. We come home and she lays down in the den for the night. Gave her Doxycycline at night
Sunday, November 8
I swapped out the hard e-collar for a soft one as she hated and cried when bumping things in the hard collar. The soft one is big enough to keep her from licking the incision on the back of her leg (where the lymph node was removed). She came into the bedroom bright and early and stood up on the step stool, sticking her head on the bed next to mine and waking me up. Her tail was wagging and I was hopeful that whatever was wrong was over.
She had a good day, although she was still pretty quiet. Eating. Got her Doxycycline.
Monday, November 9
Quiet day, but she eats. And takes her doxycycline.
Tuesday
Won’t eat her breakfast, but takes her pill (doxy) in a pill pouch treat. Hand fed it to her.
She lies down in the den and stays there. (I work outside on the yard most of the day.)
In the evening, she won’t eat again (dry heaves when she went to eat, so she left it). I gently patted her back and she yelped. I hold her head and rub her behind her ears and along her neck and she feels HOT. Really hot. Abby Normal. I call Bolton.
As I get her into the car, I accidentally leave the back door open and the boys take off. My “grands” came over to help me get her in the car, and the girls stay with her while Francis and I head across the schoolyard to catch the boys and bring them home. Thankfully, they are fairly obedient and did come running to me at the top of the hill. Leashed up, we walk them home. Halfway there, Tripp realizes that Francis is holding his leash and turns around, barking “what the hell are you doing with My Leash?!?” Which made both of us laugh. We all needed that.
Up at Bolton, Piper is running a high fever, 106.3. At @ 10:20, she had a brief (5 to 10 second) seizure. Again, no reasons why. X-rays of her chest and abdomen are taken, Chest is clear, abdomen shows a lot of gas but no bloat. Blood is still normal.
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Bolton is stymied as to what’s causing Piper’s issues. They contact Pieper Memorial Veterinary Hospital in Middletown. They can do ultrasound and other tests and have specialists in every field. I transport Piper to Pieper. They do an ultrasound of her abdomen and find essentially nothing. Some lymph nodes are enlarged but nothing to explain her symptoms.
They are keeping her overnight and their internal med specialists will look at her on Thursday and if they can’t figure anything more, they will do an MRI of her head to determine if this is a neurological issue.
Already spent over $2500… Middletown is going to cost between 2300 and 3700…
Thursday, November 12
After Tyson’s class, we drive down to Middletown to visit Piper. Still no answers… waiting for the lymph node biopsy.
The visit is unsatisfactory as “the boys” are total goof offs, it’s raw out and Piper is weak. I only keep her outside for about 10 minutes, as I don’t want her to get sicker.
Friday, November 13
The specialists decide that an MRI on her head is not necessary. What they really want is the report on the lymph node. If it’s negative re: cancer, they feel confident that she has non-typical Addison’s disease. Basically, in all the tests they’ve run, she’s got almost NO corticosteroids in her system. That would account for most of her symptoms. So, now they’ve sent off for a super serious tick-borne disease panel and are going to proceed as if it’s already diagnosed.
I get to visit her, and I leave “the boys” home, make the back of the car as comfortable as I can and we (Piper & I) spend an hour + cuddling and singing together. I have the car running and the heat on so it’s not cold and raw even though the hatch is open. We have blankets and towels to keep us warm and it’s wonderful to snuggle with my Hyper Piper.
Saturday, November 14
PIPER CAN COME HOME!!!
The report is back on the lymph node. NO CANCER! So, she has a-typical addison’s disease which is manageable.
The list of her medications is ridiculous, and it’s a bit wild trying to keep up with what, when and how to give her the different pills. She’s on two antibiotics, two appetite enhancers (amazing that my chow hound needs an Appetite Enhancer!), pain meds, prednisone, and something else… Some once a day, some twice, some before eating, some after… OMG, I need a map to figure this out!
But all that matters is she’s home, hopped up on the love seat next to me without me having to help her, and she’s going to be okay. She didn’t eat much of her dinner, but I’m going to make her some egg, rice and turkey and with the enhancers, I hope she’ll eat breakfast.
It will be some time before we have everything figured out for her, but knowing what’s going on makes everything easier.
Hyper Piper of Haven is home where she belongs. We’re all happier because of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment