What A Week!

Emma had been acting a bit off lately....nothing too serious....just a bit off.  I'm not going to bore you with all of the medical details.....well.....I'm not going to bore you with them in the main part of the post.....I'll put those in a P.S. at the bottom for those who are interested.  Anyway, after some routine tests and being looked over by several vets (one of those vets being ME!) and then the arrival of some scary new symptoms over the weekend and the report of a radiologist it was looking more and more like she had splenic cancer......OMG......my Golden Retriever Max died of splenic cancer three years ago....and if you've ever been unfortunate enough to also have a dog with splenic cancer you know just how horrible this disease is.  For two days we were pretty convinced that she had the Big C.

Head getting light.....room spinning.....eyes filling with tears.....

I immediately made an appointment with an internist who only comes to town once every other week and he happened to be in town on the exact day I needed him!  I kept looking for signs that this was another "Daisyism" but I never found any.....but I'm still going to assume it was Daisy's doing!  But wait.....the internist's last name is Bianco....and Bianco means white.....and Daisies are white.....and I'm really reaching here, aren't I?!

After he saw her and sent off about a million blood tests he said the sweetest words I've ever heard...

"I think we're dealing with something treatable here."  

And he's Italian so his wonderful accent made this news sound even more fabulous! 

All the tests came back at the end of the week and it looks like she MIGHT have a MILD clotting disorder.  So basically if she ever gets a cut I'll need to apply pressure for a little bit longer than normal.  I can TOTALLY live with that!

I collapsed into an exhausted puddle of goo on the sofa after things started looking up.  It's amazing how much a stressful situation can drain you of all your energy!  And after three rounds of blood tests, two turns on the x-ray table, two turns on the ultrasound table and three long vet visits Emma was exhausted too!  But I dragged myself off of the sofa when a delivery person rang the doorbell.

I grabbed Baxter before I opened the door and stepped outside because that little nugget likes to sneak out and run into the street (BAD habit) when the front door is opened so I always have my hands on him when I open the front door.  After I signed for the package I turned around to let myself back in the house and it was LOCKED!  In her enthusiasm over the doorbell Sammy jumped up on the door and LOCKED ME OUT!

AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

I had no phone.  No computer.  No keys.  Nothing but a puppy.  And a package that wasn't even mine.  It was sent to our house by mistake.  Talk about adding insult to injury!

Bax and I went into our fenced in backyard and I tried desperately to pick the locks but it didn't work.  I looked for any open windows but I'm OCD about keeping doors and windows locked so that was a big fat FAIL.  I did find a sledge hammer.....and I was sooooo tempted......but I didn't use it.  Finally I realized I was stuck until Col. Sew Fab got home from work......FIVE HOURS LATER.

I foraged and hunted in the garage and found all sorts of "survival supplies" - a tupperware container marked "Nails" that I used as a water bowl for Baxter.......a box of magazines that hadn't been unpacked yet......and a nasty bottle of Rum which I bookmarked in the back of my mind just in case of "emergency."  And when I got hungry I remembered that we had grapevines in our backyard and I "harvested" a snack for myself.

I felt like some sort of MacGyver-esque, elite survivalist because I manage to survive for five whole hours in my backyard without air conditioning, electronics or a kitchen full of food.  Aren't ya proud of me?!

And to top off my week I have a 16 mile run on my marathon training plan scheduled for tomorrow.  Eeeeek! Wish me luck!  Pray for me!  Help!!!

Sooooo........"exhausting" is the word I'd use to sum up my week!  How's your week going?

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  Here are Emma's symptoms and a pinch of medical info for those who are interested.  At first I noticed she was kind of lethargic and weak and grumpy.  Then I discovered that she has a heart murmur.  Then we found that she has low platelets (necessary for clotting).  Then after she had her blood taken for the first round of tests she developed a massively huge dark purple and red bruise that covered her whole chest and you could feel squishiness under the bruise - that's when I became VERY concerned.  A hematoma is common after blood tests but this was much, MUCH more than a hematoma.  Then the radiologist thought her spleen looked big on the x-ray - that's when I started to PANIC. 

But heart murmurs and low platelets are very common in Cavaliers so those were probably incidental findings.  And her heart murmur is very mild so we won't worry too much about that right now.  And the lethargy and weakness could have been due to the heat and the stress of a new puppy and the exhaustion of moving.  Or perhaps she picked up a bug of some sort.  The internist determined that her spleen was not enlarged on further, more accurate tests.  And the frighteningly large bruise was most likely due to the mild clotting disorder that she might have and not due to the big C.  Time to pop the champagne and celebrate!