Old and new memories.

[Kindle 8,667]

So I took Isaac and Abraham snowshoeing 4 weeks ago. They had a blast leaping through the snow and exploring tree wells for critters. The next morning Abe woke up with severe neck pain. I put him on NSAIDS and tramadol for a couple days with no improvement. Then saw a chiropractor with no improvement. Started on steroids and was almost instantly pain free! After a couple weeks on prednisone and gabapentin he started getting painful again. The vet I work with and I Figured he probably had a herniated disk from something he did in the deep snow, so took him in for an MRI. (A nearby hospital is nice enough to allow us to bring dogs in after hours to use their MRI.). I dropped the CD off at the radiologist's house on my way home. She a friend of mine and volunteered to review the MRI after she put her kids to bed.

The radiologist called me before I even got back home (1 1/2 hour drive from the hospital) to tell me unfortunately it wasn't a disk. She found a mass deep in his neck that has tentacles into his spine where a second small mass is compressing the spinal cord. There are some changes in the vertebrae as well, and she suspects this is hemangiosarcoma metastasis. I consulted with my former boss who is a veterinary oncologist who advised it isn't surgically resectable and too widespread for radiation. And for all practical purposes, lymphoma is the only canine cancer that responds decently to chemotherapy.

So I've got him on steroids and pain meds and he's doing pretty well....eating horse poop, digging for voles and acting pretty normal as long as he doesn't move his head the wrong way. Another friend of mine who is a veterinarian that specializes in alternative medicine (acupuncture, laser therapy, chiropractic and Chinese herbology) happened to be in town when I got the news. She did some work on him and left me with a whole pile of Chinese herbs that are supposed to help shrink tumors and support spinal health.

I was just so shocked to get this news....not what we thought at all. At least a disk would have been fixable. I'm grateful to have the resources and advice of such specialized veterinarians, but sadly there's nothing more we can do. I will keep him comfortable for as long as possible but unfortunately think he will be seeing his sister, Belle, sooner than later. Ironically, I kind of "feel his pain" and my cervical CT Myelogram is scheduled for this Thursday. We are already taking a lot of the same medications!

Thanks for listening...and feel free to send happy, healing thoughts to Abraham.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Kindle

[Kindle 8,667]

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Edited February 7, 2015 by Kindle

[catdaddy 232]

Kindle, I read with a heavy heart about Abe's health. My thoughts are with you.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

@@Kindle -sending happy healing thoughts to both you and Abraham.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

Kindle, I'm so sorry about your pup. Healing thoughts and pain free days for him.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

VSGAnn2014, I am sorry about your loss. It's really hard to lose a beloved pet.

[Julie norton 2,850]

@kindle. So sorry for your pain. We love our furry friends and they love us

The pain is so great when they begin to leave. Hug em and spoil him s long as you can????

[borg/assimilated 576]

Sorry to hear of your dog Abraham's declining health. Our pets mean so much to us.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Kindle ...

((((YOU & ABE))))

Ann