The day began with Kimberly telling me that Millie had blood in her urine again...apparently the UTI was back.
I called and left a message with Dr. Dahlgren, who called me back later. We had discussed when she treated the first UTI that if it didn't go away, then she would switch antibiotics. But it had gone away quite readily and now was back. She wanted to hear how Dr. Fulmer felt that treatment would impact the chemotherapy and since I would be seeing her at 3:15, we left it at that.
They checked Millie's white count, which was good. The Lymph nodes were reduced in size and her overall health was good. An ultrasound of her bladder did show that it was quite inflamed and because of that, they decided to treat her with a different antibiotic and not to try to get a urine sample because it would be unnecessarily painful. Kimberly and I both have commented on both this and the no biopsy...it's wonderful to see the doctors temper their medical choices with such concern for the patient's well-being.
Another great thing: HUMAN DOCTORS TAKE NOTE-(I have in mind those doctors whom I have had trouble getting to look at another doctors test results!) Barely more than an hour and a half passed between the time I spoke with Dr. Dahlgren and our appointment with Dr. Fulmer...yet when we got to there THEY HAD ALREADY SPOKEN and discussed Millie's UTI!
This ended up being a longer visit, only because Dr. Fulmer took a great deal of time to talk with another dog's "mother" who was undergoing chemotherapy and was having some issues. I was perfectly OK with this delay, and Millie came out wagging and happy, almost like she is after Day Care. Today she got Cyclophosphamide and a diuretic to help push it through her system. Ordinarily, this would cause more frequent urination, but between the UTI and the Prednisone, it was unlikely we will notice any difference from her already elevated peeing activity.
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