| Escher update |
[Aug. 6th, 2008|11:32 am] |
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Unfortunately, the surgery shows peritoneal carcinomatosis, a very invasive form of cancer, and there is no treatment. He’ll be in recovery today, and we can take him home tomorrow. We’ll have to see how his appetite is, and gauge his quality of life issues. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 5th, 2008|10:47 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  worried | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Waiting by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers | ] |
Escher has been in the hospital since Saturday.
He had been "the healthy one" until mid-June when he began having some intestinal issues. He started losing weight, sleeping and hiding more, then not eating (which is NOT like him). We took him to the vet at the end of July, and bloodwork and x-rays were "fine" but he was a little dehydrated, so we went home with the instructions to do subcutaneous fluid treatments on him (we've done them for Kira for over a year now, because of chronic renal failure), and force-feeding him baby food. We could hardly get him to eat anything.
Less than a week later, his abdomen started to swell up with fluid, and we took him back to our vet. After 4 hours there, repeat x-rays, and a needle aspiration, the vet decided that we probably should take him to the emergency animal hospital. The ER vet decided to admit him, to at least get him some IV nutrients, since we couldn't get an ultrasound until yesterday. All tests have been inconclusive, so today he will have exploratory surgery. Prognosis will depend on what they find - carcinoma, lymphoma, or "something else".
We've visited him every day, and he's still feisty, if uncomfortable. He yowls and vocalizes as the staff brings and takes him from the room. He settles down with us, purrs loudly, "head bonks" and nose rubs both of us. He hates the plastic collar, and has his foreleg wrapped to keep the IV in place. Yesterday we brought his favorite brush and he even played with it, swatting and swiping at it, when it was on the table.
He's going in for surgery in a few minutes.
UPDATE 1PM:
Vet called to say that Escher's surgery got "bumped" by a dog in critical condition. Escher is stable, so the vet will call me back to let me know when Escher goes into surgery.
UPDATE 5:30PM:
Rather than starting his procedure so late in the day, the vet decided to reschedule Escher's surgery until tomorrow. Another day of worrying, but I suppose I should be happy that he's not critical, and that they're monitoring him. And, because the hospital caused the delay, they won't be charging us for the extra day & night. |
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| Birthday Gratitude |
[Apr. 9th, 2008|09:31 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  happy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Happy Birthday" | ] |
Well, it's 39 years on the planet for me, today! I'm so grateful for my family, friends, and patients. I had numerous phone calls, IM's, eCards, emails, and "Happy Birthday" serenades today. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rockin_violin and her eldest son (one of my Birthday Buddies) left an adorable message on my office machine. :)
Smump and I both took off from work today, so that we could spend some time together. We had a wonderfully lazy day, watching Red Dwarf on DVD, for the millionth time. Thai takeout for lunch; and my favorite, lobster, for dinner!
As far as birthdays go, I've had a longtime opinion that having them is much better than the alternative. Every year on my birthday, my father asks me, "So, do you feel any older?" and I usually reply, "Nope, I feel the same as yesterday." On my 30th, I decided to throw him a bone, and said "No, I feel the same as yesterday... but I did notice that I'm starting to get lines by my eyes." He replied, "Oh, *finally* noticed those, huh?!?"
Guess where I get my sensayuma?
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| Nerd Wannabe finally breaks down... |
[Mar. 27th, 2008|09:53 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  intimidated but interested | ] |
... and gets LJ account! I admit, I know a bit about computers; probably more than I realize. How could I not, after being with Smump for 20+ years? But, I've never done any blogging/journaling, only rudimentary phpBB™ stuff. I doubt that I'll do much posting here either, really. Not that I don't want to participate in such things, I just don't think anyone could possibly be interested in my daily mundane activities. ;) |
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