One Sick Puppy Is Getting Better
Taken Tuesday morning, LeeLoo is looking much brighter
Monday Evening
I got my first update that really lifted my spirits because it said she was DEFINITELY improving! Like I said I'm a worrier so I wasn't going to let my hopes get too high. We still didn't have a diagnosis. And she was still pretty sore. She made it the whole way across the parking lot to the grass to go potty, but she was walking very gingerly. Even though I knew that she had multiple reasons for being in pain, it still broke my heart. I knew that an enlarged kidney caused a lot of pain plus she had just had exploratory surgery in her stomach and basically a full hysterectomy so it wasn't surprising that she was in pain. I had a partial hysterectomy done laparoscopically so I wasn't cut wide open and I could barely move for a week, and the second week wasn't much better, and I didn't have an enlarged kidney on top of surgical pain, so the fact that under 36 hours after surgery she was walking so far was beyond impressive. She was still having a hard time getting up from a laying position, but like I said I got the word definitely so I was feeling a lot better about everything. Also the blood work results were due back in the morning, so while I knew there was a chance we wouldn't get a definite diagnosis, we (meaning Doc and Kelly, because I'm clueless) would at least be able to eliminate some things. I slept better than I have since this all began.
Tuesday Morning
I woke up feeling a little better, she's been improving so things were moving in the right direction so that knot in my stomach was a little smaller. I knew the test results would be in today and I was hoping for some answers. Then around 9, I got a picture and a video with a report that she got up on her own and went out and pottied. In the picture you can see she looks so much brighter than she has since she got sick. It warmed my heart. Then I watched the video, I could feel my eyes welling up with tears. They were both tears of sorrow because I saw how gingerly she was walking but they were also tears of joy because I watched her wag her tail and show interest in her environment.
I quickly realized that the pain was part of the healing process and decided to focus on how good she looked overall. Then I found out she was definitely feeling better, she was talking a lot (Great Danes are pretty vocal, they love to talk to you with lots of woos and errs and all kinds of sounds and LeeLoo is no different.) She hadn't talked in four days so this was big. Even funnier, she even barked at the UPS guy. I cracked up. Every update was making my heart lighter and lighter and I certainly needed to laugh.
Tuesday Afternoon
Her partial reports were back, there were a few things out of whack but nothing bad. The test for Leptospirosis takes a little longer so we were still waiting on that. Kelly emailed them to me so that when Doc called later it would make it easier to see what he was talking about. I looked at them even though I wasn't sure what anything meant. Her blood panel showed that her red blood count, hemoglobin, and hemocrit were low and her band neutrophil and monocyte levels were high. Her urinalysis showed that her protein, albumin, creatinine, sodium, amylase, LIPASE levels were all low while her phosphorus level was high. I didn't even know what any of those things meant but when you see the big L or H beside these things your stomach drops. The only thing that made me feel better was at the bottom of the report it explained that you could have L or H; low or high or you could have HH or LL which was critically high or low. I decided to focus on the fact that nothing was critical. I started to Google these things and gave up because it seems like the medical sites always give worst case scenario and I didn't understand the medical jargon any way, all looking things up was going to do was make me sick with worry. I would just wait for Doc's call.
Tuesday Evening
Doc called about 6:30. He explained the test results and I'll be honest some of it made perfect sense while some of it went right over my head. But basically some of the results indicated she was a little anemic, dehydrated, and had a pretty bad infection. Some of the results also indicated her body was attempting to fight the infection and replace things. I always want to ask good questions, but when your head is spinning with worry it's hard to be logical. I did ask if the levels could be better now that she was making an improvement, since the samples were drawn Sunday when she was still really sick and he said most surely, but he would like to retest to see because if need be there were medications that could help her get balanced, I told him do whatever he needs to do. I also asked if he was still leaning to her having Lepto and he said he was, I asked where she could have picked it up and he said any stagnant water could carry it. So it doesn't sound like a great conversation so far, but it really was. Doc talked about what a great pup she is and he also said for everything she's been through; the sickness and surgeries, she was making fantastic progress and he's really proud of her. He said he's even had to grab somethings off of her because she's starting to want to play again. The best news is he said she could probably come home Wednesday or Thursday, but he would like to wait on the Lepto results. As soon as he said that, I had the biggest grin on my face. I mean how could I not, I was going to be seeing my baby girl very soon. We finished up our conversation discussing how much our fur kids mean to us, just how special they are, they are family no question about it. We also spent some time talking about just how wonderful Kelly is. Kelly and Doc are the best team ever, I couldn't have my baby any place better.
After we got off the phone I sent out some updates to a few people through texts, and shared the update on Facebook. So many people have worried about LeeLoo right along with us. A few of us started talking about what my bill is going to be like, and I'll be honest with you I'm a little worried about how much it's going to be, we've been saving to get our roof redone but LeeLoo is way more important than the roof. I realized that I won't spend more than $50 bucks for a pair of shoes, but if it costs me $5000 to have her well I won't blink an eye. My fur kids have no price on their health and well being. So even if we end up having to empty our savings (although I'm really hoping it won't come to that), I won't begrudge the cost. My girl is getting better!
Wednesday Morning
Today I really feel like a weight has been lifted. Kelly told me they're going to keep her forever and ever because they love her so much or at least want visitation rights. No surprise here, LeeLoo has the most amazing personality and you can't help but love her! I assured her she has lifetime visitation rights, hell I think I'm going to name Kelly and Doc Godparents.
She told me LeeLoo was being hysterical this morning,
howling like a wolf. Kelly thinks she might be rubbing off on her (she has the most awesome pet grey wolf, Dude.) Doc has a wild life sanctuary, he rescues and cares for big cats (lions, tigers, etc.) and other wild animals that people have gotten and not been able to properly care for, so there is a wolf up on the property, maybe she's been taking some wolf speak lessons from it. Hey she has to keep her mind busy while she's recovering. I can't wait to hear it myself, although I'm sure it will eventually drive us nuts if she does it too often, but I'm just grateful she didn't pick up roaring like a tiger. I can just imagine trying to explain, that no we really aren't hiding a tiger on the property or dog just likes to roar!
I'm still not sure if she's coming home today or tomorrow, but now that there is a clear end in sight, I feel like I'm walking on air.
I didn't realize just how depressed I've been since my baby has been sick, until it lifted and I realized my house is a wreck, I have laundry stacked up, and I may have made a permanent indentation in the couch. Well I'm back and as soon as I finish this I'm going to go tackle my house and keep myself busy so the time until LeeLoo comes home goes quickly.
Again, thank you all for your good thoughts and well wishes. They have helped to keep my spirits up and with all the good energy flowing to her, LeeLoo had no chance not to get better. Keep sending good thoughts and hopefully, the next update will include a video of LeeLoo coming home!!!
