Out of the Blū

Friday, December 15, 2023

Oreo's test was negative. 🙁

Oreo's test was negative. 🙁 But we're not giving up.

Thursday, December 14, 2023

It's been a minute since I posted about Kira, but...

It's been a minute since I posted about Kira, but last night she made these cookie brownies and I got to try them today. They're really good! I like the texture a lot and the edge was my favorite part.

I love it when she makes new tasty snacks for us to try! ❤️

Oreo is down, but he's not out.

Aunt Taimi thought he wouldn't last the night, but just as he did to me right before he was hospitalized, he got out of bed this morning and just kept on keeping on. He is not giving up, so neither are we. We are all in.

I don't want to say too much until we know something for sure, but Oreo is having a test run for pancreatitis tomorrow morning. He is also scheduled for a barium test on Monday. Both of those things are thanks to Aunt Taimi; she has done some investigation and he has all of the symptoms for pancreatitis - down to vomiting after eating a high-fat meal. Pancreatitis is a treatable condition, so we are hoping for a positive result.

If I had known that a test for pancreatitis was an option it would have been done already. I don't understand why exploratory surgery on a malnourished, heartworm positive dog was offered and not a simple test that needs a drop of blood, but I am having some pretty negative feelings right now; me and Aunt Taimi both. According to the email I posted yesterday the options were exploratory surgery, humane euthanasia, or luck with at home comfort care.

I will post the test results as soon as we get them, so that will be a morning update. For now, the best boy is resting and hanging in there.

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

I have an Oreo update.

He's still vomiting and has become dehydrated. He went back to the vet today and the news was not good. ☹️ Here is the email from the vet:

"Oreo was rechecked today for recurrent vomiting, persistent despite re-starting ondansetron on Monday, December 11.

Recheck lab work is largely unremarkable apart from some mild deviations from normal: the previously elevated liver enzyme (ALT) is now normal.

Recheck ultrasound shows a small volume of fluid in the abdominal cavity and a segment of the small intestine that appears to be thickened. Thickening of the gut can occur with inflammatory bowel disease or intestinal lymphoma, a form of cancer. There is also some irregular tissue mid-abdominally that could represent inflammation in the connective tissue like we sometimes see with pancreatitis or could represent some sort of mesenteric mass.

Given the findings and clinical signs, options are (1) hospitalize for fluid therapy and stabilization with a plan to pursue exploratory surgery to lay eyes on the liver, pancreas, and GI tract (along with the other abdominal organs) to see if there are any grossly visible lesions and/or to take biopsies; (2) hospitalize for fluid therapy and medical care without a plan to pursue surgery -- this might include Vitamin B12, a specialized diet, and reinstitution of higher dose steroid therapy in case of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or intestinal cancer; (3) basic symptomatic outpatient care, including subcutaneous fluids, an injection for nausea relief, Vitamin B12, and continued monitoring at home; or (4) humane euthanasia due to guarded prognosis, co-morbidity (heartworms), and difficulty/expense of determining a diagnosis and pursuing treatment of that diagnosis.

I've CC'd Dr. Nelson on this email and we agree that we need to hold off on increasing the prednisone dose until you decide with certainty that you won't pursue surgery: high-dose prednisone delays healing and increases the risk for leakage at biopsy sites.

I certainly wish things were more cut-and-dry in Oreo's case, but unfortunately there's still a lot of uncertainty. Let us know what you decide or if there are additional questions."

Me and Aunt Taimi have decided against hospitalization. She is giving him subq fluids in the comfort of her home on a heated blanket. He did receive the nausea injection and B-12. Oreo is currently resting.

He has only gained back to 37 lbs. Neither of us feel that he will survive an exploratory surgery. I personally don't feel that it would be humane to subject him to that at this point. We have asked his vet to put him back on Prednisone since tapering off seemed to coincide with the nausea and vomiting.

My hope is that he will rally and live long enough for other symptoms to present so that we can tell if he is having an inflammatory disease or something less treatable. If he doesn't show some improvement by the end of tomorrow, then I will fly out this weekend to be with him as we say goodbye. He has been such a great boy and we've been on this roller-coaster for a solid 3 weeks, pushing 4 now. It's been so hard.

I will keep the updates coming as we learn more. ❤️❤️❤️ to you all.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Oreo had some stomach upset today.

Oreo had some stomach upset today. He threw up this morning and it took some meds and some time before he ate again. But thankfully he eventually did and has held it down so far.

He's ready to snuggle in for the night. Me, too, buddy. Me, too.