Strings of FAB-U-LOUS!!

Quick update on Harley-boo:

She has been steadily but slowly improving this week. I think we have reached an impasse at this point. While she is pretty short on energy (and I'm working on that part), she doesn't appear to be in any distress and she is still interested in stuff, even though she doesn't really hop up and go bounding around like she used to. Except when we go outside. She loves being outside as much a possible, so we take a lot of short walks together while she carries her new tennis ball in her mouth. Her breathing is often quite short and shallow, and she seems to be expending increased effort on exhalation. I am equating that to my assumption that there are mets to the lungs, and there may just be a slight obstruction somewhere along the lines. She doesn't seem at all distressed, and since I am taking my cues from her, we just take things easy. She is still coughing, but there has been no change in the frequency. She eats kind of sporadically, so I am looking to supplement her with a multivitamin and extra calories.

Little piece of Nicole news: I interviewed yesterday for a position that I feel will be a good fit for me. I sensed some pretty good vibes from the interview, so hopefully I will be receiving an offer in the next few days! I'll keep you all posted!

Good News is Relative

Harley seems to be doing MUCH better. She is still pretty lethargic and I do have her on a relatively high dose of tramadol. Today was the best out of the last week--we went for a walk and played ball!! She was just trotting all over the street with her ball in her mouth like she had already forgotten how sick she is! She's eating, not drinking nearly as much water, playing a bit, and the swelling is almost gone from her abdomen. She still coughs, but it's not as frequently and I have seen no blood. Her breathing is fast and shallow though, and she is exerting some effort on exhale. She still tires quickly--but she has been able to go longer periods of time being active. Her mucous membranes have a bit more color in them, too. Her bloods weren't nearly as bad as I was expecting. I know that this is probably just temporary, but a part of me hopes that this means she will be comfortable and with me for a little bit longer.

Okay, apparently I am too tired to remember how to load a Word or PDF into my blog. I wanted to post Harley's blood results; I'm going to have to go REALLY ghetto and just copy & paste. Sorry if it looks completely terrible.

Accession No. Doctor Owner Pet Name Received

CHBC53689039 AM NIZZI HARLEY 07/09/2011

Species Breed Sex Pet Age Reported

Canine Labrador Retriever SF 8Y 07/09/2011 05:28 AM

Test Requested Results Reference Range Units

Vet Screen

Total Protein 5.0 5.0-7.4 g/dL

Albumin 2.9 2.7-4.4 g/dL

Globulin 2.1 1.6-3.6 g/dL

A/G Ratio 1.4 0.8-2.0

AST (SGOT) 32 15-66 IU/L

ALT (SGPT) 20 12-118 IU/L

Alk Phosphatase 51 5-131 IU/L

Total Bilirubin 0.4 (HIGH) 0.1-0.3 mg/dL

BUN 20 6-31 mg/dL

Creatinine 0.9 0.5-1.6 mg/dL

BUN/Creatinine Ratio 22 4-27

Phosphorus 4.4 2.5-6.0 mg/dL

Glucose 117 70-138 mg/dL

Calcium 8.8 (LOW) 8.9-11.4 mg/dL

Corrected Calcium 9.4

Sodium 146 139-154 mEq/L

Potassium 3.4 (LOW) 3.6-5.5 mEq/L

Na/K Ratio 43 (HIGH) 27-38

Chloride 114 102-120 mEq/L

Cholesterol 141 92-324 mg/dL

CPK 161 59-895 IU/L

CBC

WBC 17.2 (HIGH) 4.0-15.5 10³/µL

Corrected for NRBCs

RBC 2.7 (LOW) 4.8-9.3 10⁶/µL

HGB 6.8 (LOW) 12.1-20.3 g/dL

HCT 21 (LOW) 36-60 %

MCV 77 58-79 fL

MCH 25.5 19-28 pg

MCHC 33 30-38 g/dL

Anisocytosis Moderate

Polychromasia Slight

NRBC 10 (HIGH) 0-1 /100 WBC

Blood Parasites None Seen

Platelet Count 101 (LOW) 170-400 10³/µL

Fibrin clumps present; micro-clotting in the sample may spuriously lower the platelet count and estimate.

Platelet count reflects the minimum number due to platelet clumping.

Platelet Est Adequate

Differential Absolute %

Neutrophils 15136 (HIGH) 88 2060-10600 /µL

Toxic Changes Slight

Bands 344 (HIGH) 2 0-300 /µL

Lymphocytes 688 (LOW) 4 690-4500 /µL

Monocytes 344 2 0-840 /µL

Eosinophils 688 4 0-1200 /µL

Basophils 0 0 0-150 /µL

Comment

Blood smear reviewed by technologist.

In other news, if you are reading this and I have pictures for you, rest assured that I am working on them. I think I took on WAY too many projects. It seems like the folders full of raw image files never get any smaller.

I am thinking of changing the name of my blog to reflect the fact that I told cancer to go to hell. My friend Sara Williams (her wonderful blog can be found here) sort of inspired me to want to do that as she had changed her blog name to reflect her remission from breast cancer. What do you guys think? Any ideas?

Yep, I'm going to bed. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........................

The Beginning is the End is the Beginning

Hey, all--

Harley has continued to deteriorate. She did not eat her breakfast this morning, even though I opened up a can of really smelly tuna and mixed it in with her kibble. So, I have given her the max dose of pain meds that I am comfortable giving her...we'll see what happens.

**update** Haha, I didn't post this right away! Good thing, though...so, Justin stopped by to see Harley this morning and pose for a few portrait shots. She seemed to come around and was definitely more animated! When we came back inside, I set her food bowl down and she ate a little bit!! She is still very lethargic and sedentary, but is awake and interactive, even rolling over for tummy rubs. Her abdomen feels a bit distended to me...I'm concerned about her liver a bit.

Our vet visit last night to the "new" clinic went...okay. They pulled blood and were running a CBC and Vetscreen. The doc said she would call in the morning with the results, but by 10 a.m. I hadn't heard from her. There was a missed call on my cell from a number I didn't recognize, so I called the clinic to see about the results. If she called this morning but didn't leave a message, then the results probably aren't good but I wasn't expecting them to be.

Bobbi is here with me, helping me clean the house and keeping me company. I am so grateful she's here. I don't know if I would be holding together as well if she weren't.

Okay, I need to get to cleaning and take a shower. My friend Linda is coming over to take some portraits for me, and I haven't showered in a few days...nasty. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for your support--let me know if you're reading!

♥♥♥

And the circle of life continues...

The time draws near...Harley has begun to decline, and it's happening fast. Just seven days ago, she was her usual spazzy self. She had been losing weight and coughing on and off for about a week but it wasn't slowing her down much. Monday, she didn't come racing down the stairs when Ted arrived home as she usually does. In fact, she did not come down at all. We called her down and she was VERY slow, a bit listless, and had her "wuss face" on. Tuesday night she began to smell strongly of bile (no vomiting) and continued to cough, but all else was normal. Wednesday she began coughing up blood clots and smelling of bile again. Her mucous membranes were pale and she was a bit wobbly in the rear. On a hunch, I scoured the backyard and found she had been having bloody diarrhea. She was up for a walk, though, so we went to the nice, grassy spot by the tennis court and she found a tennis ball to play with! We had 6 or 7 throws before she pooped right out. Thursday was not much better, but not worse, either...until Thursday night. Debilitating lethargy, increased water intake, and we took a short walk and she only chased the ball twice. She ate dinner last night very slowly, and her breakfast even slower. She slept most of the day today, and around three we went out in the backyard as I was hoping it would lift her spirits a bit. I brought out two of her favorites: baby carrots and peanut butter, which she was slow to eat. She drank a LOT of water. Her mucous membranes are grey, almost white, so I have opted to run some blood tests so I can see where we are and evaluate her needs. Her regular vet kind of dropped the ball (they are supposed to be an urgent care clinic as well, but wouldn't see her until Monday), so we are going to a different (new) place that squeezed us in so we could avoid the after-hours clinic charges. 7:20 p.m. tonight. She has just now gone to bark at the neighbor--I think I may have to go rescue her from the stairs because she hasn't come back down yet.

I have a large list of people whom I am very grateful for. They have really pulled together to help me over the last few months, and especially today. I don't have the time to list them all now, but they know who they are. Thank you.

I will try to update as much as possible via this blog. Stay tuned.