It's NOT Cancer!!

Reg appeared to be feeling much better this morning!  He was walking at a normal pace, no stumbling, even prancing a little bit (he is a prancer).  He is eating normally--had a can of food + some dry food, and drinking water!  He still isn't "playing" with his toys or chewing on his bones, but he is definitely more alert.  He was pawing at me for attention and snuggling on the couch.

Dr. Van Pelt (the internal medicine specialist at VRCC) called me with the cytology report at around 1:00pm.  It's NOT CANCER!! yay! yay! yay!  I was so happy I started crying.  The mass is lymphatic tissue, which was surprising because it isn't exactly where a lymphnode should be, but it is still in the neck region.  Dr. Van Pelt believes it is inflamed due to an infection Reg is fighting.

I asked Dr. Van Pelt about Dr. Tasky's (regular vet) suggestion of Discospondylitis and Dr. Van Pelt didn't seem to think the symptoms aligned with this condition, but she also did not seem very familiar with the condition due to its rarity.  However, after reading a number of articles on the Discospondylitis, I still think that he could have this...but due to the fact that I am getting conflicting opinions, I am seeking a third opinion and have set up an appointment with another vet for tomorrow at 2:30pm.  I don't care what it takes I am going to find out what's wrong with my sweet boy and fix it the best I can.  Reg has been with me through more in the past year in half than I could have handled on my own, and he and Reese are my only family out here, so he absolutely deserves the best care that I can provide him with.

Reg Seems to be Feeling a Little Better

• The Reginald ate some of his regular dry food tonight--almost his full 2 cup serving!
• We went on a couple of walks this evening.  He seems to be quite a bit perkier...walking at more of a normal pace, looking for bunnies to chase, very alert.
• I also think he back to his regular potty schedule (as far as pooping)
• He drank some water too, which is super exciting since that has been one of my biggest symptomatic concerns!
• I am very hopeful that the antibiotics and pain medicine will continue to help him improve!

My Furry Valentines

Pup pup's little leg was shaved for his IV.
He has been a very tired bear

Well the day did not start well...when I took the pups out for their walk this morning.  Reg was still walking pretty slow, but he also seemed a bit disoriented and tripped a couple of times...I called the vet around 10:30am and left a message for Dr. Tasky to call me back.

I gave Reg his Cerenia and he ate a little bit of canned food, but would not drink any water.  Around 11:30am he asked to go out to potty...he was still walking pretty slow, stumbling a bit, and seemed disoriented.

Around 12:00pm, I still had not heard back from the vet, so I called back and asked to speak with her.  She was about to do a couple of surgeries, but said she should be done around 3:00pm and to bring him in.  I had to go to a meeting at the hospital from 2:00 - 3:00pm, so I dropped him off around 1:15pm to hang out until Dr. Tasky was able to see him.

During the time I was gone Reg spent a fair amount of time harassing the resident kitties, Nezzie and Rogue (sorry kitties)...most of my friends and family know that Reg is the absolute most perfect dog in every way, except he would LOVE to kill him a little kitty or bunny...seriously...I have never seen a dog so cat aggressive in my life, it's a sad day for any kitty in his presence.  This is a bit ironic because before I got Bug and Reg, I was a cat person (I know, right?)...I had literally 7 cats throughout my childhood [Miss Grey, Bumble no-toes (don't ask), DOODLE! Snow, Buddy, Tiger, and Callie Boo]...

Anyway...Dr. Tasky came in the room to talk with me and told me she had performed another physical exam.  She said that she didn't see any conditions that presented a neurological issue, but that when she tested the range of motion of his neck he yelped when she tilted his head straight back and he seemed stiff when she moved it from left to right.

None of Reg's symptoms seem to align with any one diagnosis:

• Initially presented with fever and high WBC
• Persistant lethargy
• Stumbling when walking
• Head held low when walking
• No desired to drink water at all
• Mass in his neck
• Neck pain when head tilted backwards and stiffness when shifted side to side

The little guy has lost 3# since Friday, which yes I know isn't a lot, but it's still 3#.

Dr. Tasky is a bit stumped, but thinks due to the fact that he initially presented with a fever, he may have a relatively rare condition called Discospondylitis which affects the vertebrae in his neck.  Neck pain could lead to lethargy and discomfort walking (stumbling and head hung low).  She gave him a shot of Rimadyl for the pain and started him back on Cephlexin.

She does not think that the mass in his neck is related to his other conditions.  We have not heard back from pathology--48 hours is their max turn around time, so I will definitely know something by tomorrow.  I guess I am more concerned about the mass, and the fact that it could be cancer makes me want to throw up.

He has been eating better.  He had a little bit this morning, but also had some dry food and water! yay! this afternoon when we got home from the vet.

On another note...Reese (Bug) is so upset that there is something wrong with Reg.  If we all remember correctly, the whole reason I got Reg was for Bug.  She was having stress induced colitis flare up while I was gone during the day.  I started fostering Reg to see if having a buddy in the house would help her, and low and behold she hasn't had a single colitis flare up since Reg came to live with us over 1 year ago...until today.  Bug is so stressed out about Reg that when I came home she had had a flare up...for those of you that do not know what this entails, there is diarrhea everywhere...just not something that I want to deal with right now.  I have spent so much time focusing on Reg, that I haven't been good about loving on Bug and letting her know everything is going to be okay (so we hope), and I feel absolutely terrible about it.

I will spend tonight snuggle on the couch with both of my furry Valentines, and be thankful that I am able to do so.  I bought the babies Pawbenders (frozen custard doggie treats) on the way home from the vet, so they will get those and I will have a glass or two of wine.

We will get the cytology report back tomorrow, and hopefully Reg's pain will have lessened by then.

The Reginald's Status

Friday 2/10/11

• Reg had been acting pretty lethargic for almost a week.
• He had been walking extremely slow
• Laid down at the dog park on Thursday, which is VERY rare.  He doesn't lay down in public anywhere until we have been sitting (like at a coffee shop) for at least 30 minutes.  He didn't really want to play, which if you have seen any videos of him from the dog park, is also very unusual.  Usually he LOVES playing with tennis balls.
• Friday morning - I left Reg on my bed around 8:00am when I went to a meeting at the hospital. 
• After I went to the hospital I came home at around 9:00am and he was still on the bed.  Okay...I thought, he's probably just tired.
• I left again to run some errands and came home around 4:25pm when I still found him on the bed.  This is NOT normal.  He never stays on the bed all day...ever. 
• Also he had been drooling quite a bit...and he never drools
• I immediately freaked out and called the vet.  They had a 4:30pm appointment and I rushed over there (we only live about 5 minutes away).  By this time I'm already crying because I don't know what's wrong with him
• Dr. Tasky performed a physical exam and Reg presented a fever of 103.3 (100.5 - 102.5 is normal for dogs)
• She ran a complete blood panel and found his WBC count to be high
• He was given 4 bags of subcutaneous fluid, an antibiotic injection, and an injection of Cerenia (an anti-emetic), and sent home with an antibiotic regimin of Cephlexin in hopes that he would perk up in the next day or so

Saturday 2/11/10

• Reg stayed pretty lethargic all day and didn't really get out of bed.

• He was uninterested in pretty much everything and didn't even lift his head when I called his name.

• He didn't eat or drink any water all day...

Sunday 2/12/10

• By Sunday afternoon Reg still wouldn't drink or eat.
• At 1:00pm, I became increasingly worried about his lack of water in take.  While his gums were still pretty pink, he hadn't had water in almost 48 hours.
• I called VRCC, my vet's emergency clinic referral.  I told them what was going on and they told me to bring him in.
• He was more alert in the car and when we got there.  His temperature and other vitals presented normal.
• After Dr. Rector's (the vet) physical examination, she came out and told me she had found a lump in his neck.
• Note:  I felt the lump when I was loving on him in the room at my personal vet on Friday.  I asked Dr. Tasky if it was from the sub q fluids and she said no, they normally don't travel into the neck region, but that it could be a swollen lymph node if he was fighting infection, or could be a hematoma from where the blood was drawn for his blood panel.
• I told Dr. Rector that I had felt the lump Friday, and then told her what my vet suggested it may be from.  Dr. Rector seemed more concerned about its location, but agreed it could be a hematoma from where blood was taken.  She wanted to shave it and see if the area was bruised; if it wasn't she wanted to aspirate it and look at it under a microscope.
• Dr. Rector came back out and told me that it indeed was NOT bruised, so she aspirated.  The tissue looked mostly fatty, like a lipoma, although there were a few cells in there.
• They ran another complete blood panal and urine analysis on him, both came back normal (WBC had come down) except that his globulin was a bit high.
• She was still concerned about Reg's lethargy and the unknown origin and wanted to possibly have an ultrasound performed on his abdomen the next day.  
• Dr. Rector went back to get me a cost estimate, but when she came back out she sat down and told me she wanted to be really thorough about the lump so she took some more tissue to look at.  The new tissue had multiple cells--red, white, and ones with spindles.  My heart immediately sunk.
• She suggested that I keep Reg there overnight so that he could get fluids all night from an infusion pump, then in the morning transfer him over to Internal Medicine for an ultrasound, so that's what I did.
• Dr. Rector could not determine if Reg's sickness was in any way connected to the mass on his neck, but that an ultrasound may rule out other causes of his sickness.
• I sat and laid with Reg in his kennel for almost 3 hours.  While I was back there with him, they offered him some food to see if he would eat for "mom."  He didn't like the wet food (he kept spitting it out), so I asked if he could have some dry food.  He ate a little bit but not much.

• After I left Reg I called up to check on him a few times.  They took vitals and offered him food every 3 hours throughout the night.  All of his vitals were normal and he continued to eat little bits.
• Not having Reg at home was really, really hard for me (and Bug), so my friend Annie brought Reg's Pyr friend, The Bumble, over to visit with me and Bug.  While it wasn't Reg, Bug seemed to really like B.

Monday 2/13/12

• Reg was transferred to Internal Medicine at 7:30am
• The IM docs arrived at 8:00am to round, and then started seeing patients at 9:00am
• One of my good friends, Shannon, works at VRCC in the cardiology department, so she was able to check on Reg when she got to work.
• I called at 8:30am to check on my little guy
• Dr. Van Pelt spoke with me and said that she had taken additional tissue samples to look at under the microscope and the mass was indeed abnormal.
• She suggested that I have it sent to pathology which I did.
• I decided to wait on the ultrasound until the cytology report came back and if he was feeling okay otherwise, I wanted to take him home.  She was okay with that as long as I monitored his food and water intake.  She also sent him home with some more Cerenia.
• I went and picked The Reginald up around 9:30 to bring him home.  He seemed happy to be out of there, wanted to put his head out the window on the car ride home, smiling (he really does smile), etc.

• We got home and and I offered him a can of food, which he ate.
• Bug was so excited when he came home.  She was waiting on the kitchen rug for us, and her little tail just started wagging.  She was so confused when I came home Sunday night without him.  She refused to go ou to go potty without him here, so I basically had to pick her up (55#) and put her outside.
• Then he promptly went and jumped on my bed to rest.  I rested with him all day.

• He jumped down around 3:30 and asked to go out, so we went out to potty.  He peed quite a bit (from all the fluids), but also pooped, which is good.
• We went back in and he napped the the rest of the day.  

• He seems to be doing better--eating, drinking, going potty--but still seems pretty tired (I am hoping that may be in part because he had a rough night).
• We should hear back from pathology either tomorrow or Wednesday morning, so I am crossing my fingers and asking for lots of prayers and good news from the big guy upstairs.

The Keys to Big Time Success

This list was given to me by one of my all time favorite professors and mentors at the University of Alabama, Dr. Lonnie Strickland.  I just found them while cleaning up my desktop and needed a personal reminder, but it's such a fabulous list that can be applied to almost everything your do, so I thought I would share!

1. Have a Vision and a Plan.
2. Your integrity is your best asset.
3. Be really nice to everybody you can be nice to.
4. Never sacrifice friends or loved ones for your own wellbeing.
5. Be patient with elders.
6. Stay focused.
7. Perseverance (Keep Going)
8. Learn throughout your life.  Read and Study.
9. Be a team player.  Give credit to others.
10. Don't be bitter at the success of others.
11. Be loyal, even when it is to your detriment.
12. Don't blame others for your mistakes.
13. Stay put until you absolutely cannot do so a moment longer.
14. Do not become a consultant.  Take Risks!
15. Don't be greedy.
16. Enjoy your walk through life.  Have fun.
17. Do things because they are right, not easy.

Dr. Strickland and I on Honors Day

Senior Year (2010)

Books of Christmas Break

The Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

Good to Great

Stumbling on Happiness

The Emperor of All Maladies:  A Biography of Cancer

Under the Banner of Heaven

My Future House

Well...I have done quite a bit of house/dog-sitting this past year...I think about 4 or 5 different houses, which has made me realize some things about my future house (much future)...

• I will definitely be needing a fenced in yard...not the size of a postage stamp...Reg needs some room to romp around
• While the cute little cookie cutter houses are cute, most of them don't have yards and the houses are about 2 feet apart from each other...not a big fan of that...I like my privacy.  When I can hear the neighbors talking outside my window, I really wish I couldn't...

It has also made me realize some thing about any dog I may have in the future...

• I am best with mellow, chill breeds...specifically my Reg and his friends...Great Pyrenees...
• Dogs that eat their own poop gross me out hard core
• I need a dog I can trust with free roam of the house