Puppy heaven

It is with great sadness and an even heavier heart that I write this tonight. Peanut, our puppy for almost 7 years, passed away at 7 tonight. He was so strong and fought such a hard battle against a monster of a disease. A disease with no known cause, explanation, or real hope for survival. He was special because he was our first dog. Not a family dog, but a dog that made us a family. He was our pride and joy. If you knew him, you know why.

I have so many memories I would love to share. But tonight, I'm feeling greedy and I want them for myself. Maybe some day when it doesn't hurt so much, I'll post some of them. In the meantime, here's an entry about how we got him.

I'm writing this from bed...where one little, loveable pup used to lay next to me. I am officially empty inside.





Here's to Peanut. I love you more than coffee loves sugar, toast loves butter or rainbows love pots of gold. You're my forever. I'll love you always...

Puppy

So my once cancer related blog is now going to turn into a puppy related blog. Here's why:

My puppy, Peanut, is currently in the hospital. He began throwing up on Sunday morning. Matt took him to the 24 hour hospital and they gave him some nausea meds and a fluid injection under his skin called subcutaneous fluid. It's basically a portable IV. I tried finding a picture of it online, but didn't have any luck. He was then sent home. Sunday night was okay, but he didn't want to eat. The doc said that was okay considering the meds. On Monday morning, however, he began throwing up again. Matt took him back in and they did x-rays and blood work. They first diagnosed him with an enlarged spleen and were going to do an ultrasound before surgery. The ultrasound, though, came back negative. He was then diagnosed with IMHA or Immune Mediate Hemolytic Anemia. For a detailed description, you can read about it here. Basically, Peanut's immune system has turned on him and is now attacking his red blood cells. Sound familiar??? Maybe a little like Hodgkin's? Okay...so not the red blood cell part, but the part about the immune system turning on you. Eerie coincidence.

So Peanut was admitted to ICU on Monday and given a blood transfusion and steroids. These are not working like they're supposed to. Now he's on 3 types of meds and has been given several blood transfusions. His PCV is fluctuating between the low teens and low 20's. We received our first bit of "good" news just tonight: his PCV count went up to 23 tonight. And he ate a little.

I wrote this first half last night before my computer crashed on me. Seems that's happening all around me...so to continue...

I called twice before going to bed. He was resting during both calls. The tech said he had eaten a little bit more and they were going to do a blood test at 8am. I called at 6am to check on him and he was still hanging in there. The tech called Matt a little after 8 and Peanut's PCV went back down to 15. I called the on-duty doctor and was told that his prognosis was dismal, that she was afraid he would go into cardiac arrest and that we should head up there immediately "just in case". So, in a panic, I left work and Matt did the same.

So here's where we are now: the chief of staff for the clinic is now his doctor. They put him on oxygen to help what red blood cells he does have. They're not going to do another transfusion because it'll make his immune system work too hard and the by-products of it are harming him. He has some fluid in his lungs, which they gave him meds for and another reason why they put him on oxygen. He was given more steroids and a little pain medicine to ease his stress. Unfortunately, during this process his IV blew again (it happened the first time the other night) and after several attempts at getting it back in, they finally gave up and will try again later. Once that's in, they will start him on plasma, which is the white part of the blood. After that's finished, we're trying human gamma globulin, which you can read about in the above linked article. It's pretty much our last resort, so we're praying it takes and he responds well.

Update @ 1:46- during the writing of this, the doc called and they finally got his IV back in. They put it in a back leg after attempting to put it in his ear. Now the plasma has started (a 3 hour drip) and after will come the globulin (a slow 12 hour drip). Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers coming. We need all the help we can get.

Update: @4ish--Peanut is still on fluids and oxygen. They just finished his plasma and are now starting the globulin. His temperature has dropped quite a bit, so they have him on a bair hugger blanket (which is similar to an electric blanket). It looks like this: