The Rollercoaster Ride

This whole week has been like a roller coaster ride and not at all a good one. I'm relaying this because not everything goes according to the best laid plans. We have heartache with our little girl.  The day after we arrived Lulu was not doing very well at all. After a short walk outside we noticed a huge bulge on her butt. I couldn't even get close to it. So off to the vet we go (Ark Vet Clinic). Her temperature was 105.2 and they diagnose a large rectal abscess. Yes, she screamed bloody murder when they took her temperature but it was worse when the abscess broke. And yes I cried a thousand tears. Taking care of people was much easier than this. The vet put her on a stronger antibiotic hoping her breathing would improve also.

A very sick little girl

The next morning after a quick outside walk we noticed another abscess on the otherside of her butt. We called the vet and she wanted to see Lulu right away. By the way her breathing is worse and she's not eating much. The heartache we are feeling at this point is indescribable. The second abscess breaks, a chest xray and lab work is done. 

Meanwhile I'm not feeling great either. To make matters worse both our computers crash and have to take them in to get fixed. With all this going on my Visa card somehow becomes compromised again so we are waiting for a new one. How do you pay for things with limited resources. We didn't bring alot of cash across the border. Off to the bank to open a cross border account. That takes up alot of time to fill out and it won't happen for 7 - 10 business days.

With Lulu's breathing not getting any better we are referred to a clinic in Charleston which by the way is a 2 hour drive south of Myrtle Beach. Away we go on Friday, her appointment is at 9:30 am. She is looked at by a great vet and suggested a rhineoscopy and CT Scan. He could not do it so we had to go to their Mount Pleasant clinic 10 minutes away. Lulu was again poked and prodded and booked for the procedure later that day. We left her at the hospital and drove 2 hours back to Myrtle Beach. They are doing biopsies so bleeding is an issue. They called later that evening, she is doing good BUT there is some sort of mass in the back of her nose. Hopefully the biopsies will tell the tale.

Back to Charleston to pick her up on Saturday morning almost a week since arriving. She is sent home with a syringe full of epineprine just in case she starts to bleed. Well, if I thought it impossible to put ointment on her butt how the hell was I going to put epi down her nose if she starts bleeding. Luckily I didn't have to.

Monday the vet calls from Charleston for an update. Biopsies should be back by tomorrow. They booked Lulu for surgery on Wednesday to remove the mass. Meanwhile my watch has stopped working. How ironic is that.

Tuesday the biopsy results are in, it shows NO cancer cells. However, the tissue shows lots of inflammation and some sort of mass. So we forgo surgery at this point and opt to treat her with a high dose of steroids. Time will tell.

Through all of this I have cried a thousand tears, laughed at the silly games she would play, and praised her for all the love she showed anyone that payed attention to her. I will keep you posted on her progress. Hopefully it will be good news.