The eye did not seem to get better and Millie now would occasionally worry at it a bit. Even more troubling was that her other eye now seemed to be affected as well. Late Sunday night, we decided to take her to the VEC because we did not want to risk any permanent damage to her eye.
After a very long wait, they stained her eye and inspected for damage and found none, but did see a bit of discoloration in the cornea. They gave us antibiotic ointment for her eye and a collar to keep her from scratching at it. There was discussion that this could possibly be related to the Lymphoma, something I had rejected as ridiculous to that point.
At this point it was August 1st and we were 24 hours and change away from returning to the VEC to meet with the oncologist.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
July 30, 2011 Warning signs begin
With an appointment scheduled with the oncologist for the following Tuesday, Kimberly and I began researching everything we could find and occasionally discussing it.
Kimberly had a a very traumatic experience with her previous pet, Ginger, who developed a non-specific autoimmune disorder very suddenly and had to be put down years before she had expected to even have to deal with it. I could see the shadow of those multiple vet visits, the hard choices, and the financial burdens in her eyes every time we talked about it...and even when we didn't. In just a matter of days, Ginger went from perfectly OK to sickly and lethargic and the only potential regimen for keeping her alive involved regular transfusions for the rest of her life and before she had time to really deal with the turnaround, she had to make the decision to put her down. And she still has days when she weeps for her.
We both could surprise Millie by bursting into tears when she would simply come and nuzzle with us and even when we didn't, the tears never seemed far away.
Our "discussions" were not exactly Socratic discourses, either. She would suddenly say: "You want to do the chemo, don't you?" and I would say: " I don't know....I don't know yet what it will mean...I need to hear what the oncologist has to say." and then hours would go by till one of us brought it up again. This does not mean we avoided it....but we had a real understanding of what our worries were and knew that we agreed on the important points: we wanted Millie around as long as possible....that might not be very long no matter what....and we wanted whatever time she had left to be as painless and happy as we could possibly make it.
And then: Millie came home from visiting the dog park in the early morning, one of her favorite weekend pastimes, with a puffy eye. Her left eye was slightly closed, but examining it revealed no injury, redness or foreign object...nor did it seem to trouble her. Our assumtion was she had gotten something in it briefly and it was OK, but we kept an eye on it.
Kimberly had a a very traumatic experience with her previous pet, Ginger, who developed a non-specific autoimmune disorder very suddenly and had to be put down years before she had expected to even have to deal with it. I could see the shadow of those multiple vet visits, the hard choices, and the financial burdens in her eyes every time we talked about it...and even when we didn't. In just a matter of days, Ginger went from perfectly OK to sickly and lethargic and the only potential regimen for keeping her alive involved regular transfusions for the rest of her life and before she had time to really deal with the turnaround, she had to make the decision to put her down. And she still has days when she weeps for her.
We both could surprise Millie by bursting into tears when she would simply come and nuzzle with us and even when we didn't, the tears never seemed far away.
Our "discussions" were not exactly Socratic discourses, either. She would suddenly say: "You want to do the chemo, don't you?" and I would say: " I don't know....I don't know yet what it will mean...I need to hear what the oncologist has to say." and then hours would go by till one of us brought it up again. This does not mean we avoided it....but we had a real understanding of what our worries were and knew that we agreed on the important points: we wanted Millie around as long as possible....that might not be very long no matter what....and we wanted whatever time she had left to be as painless and happy as we could possibly make it.
And then: Millie came home from visiting the dog park in the early morning, one of her favorite weekend pastimes, with a puffy eye. Her left eye was slightly closed, but examining it revealed no injury, redness or foreign object...nor did it seem to trouble her. Our assumtion was she had gotten something in it briefly and it was OK, but we kept an eye on it.
July 26, 2011 The Visit
After leaving Millie in the morning for tests and X-Rays, I came in and met with Dr. Dahlgren and while I sat on the floor of the exam room with Millie resting on my leg, we talked about the future.
The only good thing is that we had caught it so early....but early turned out to be a relative term. And the X-Rays did not show any obvious organ involvement...also good.
Q-If we had not stumbled upon it, when would we have started seeing symptoms?
A-Probably within a month.
Q-Once she becomes symptomatic, if we do not do chemotherapy, how long does she have?
A-Maybe 2-3 months.
Alex was very clear and very sympathetic. She acknowledged how it was hard to look at Millie right then and believe the time could be so short. But once it begins, lymphoma moves quickly.
we only had two options: Treat the symptoms and keep her comfortable....and wait for the end. Or try chemotherapy, to try to extend the time we would have with her. If we opted to not do chemotherapy, then we would start treating with Prednisone and keep upping the dose to battle symptoms....but steroids have their own side effects, and Alex cautioned that if we opted for steroids now, and later decided we wanted chemotherapy, the chances of success were reduced. She also acknowledged that Chemo was expensive, something that my research had already uncovered. She felt like we were probably looking at around $5000.
I had her go ahead and make a referral to the oncologist, because I felt that however unlikely we felt the chemo option might be, we needed to have that input before deciding.
The only good thing is that we had caught it so early....but early turned out to be a relative term. And the X-Rays did not show any obvious organ involvement...also good.Q-If we had not stumbled upon it, when would we have started seeing symptoms?
A-Probably within a month.
Q-Once she becomes symptomatic, if we do not do chemotherapy, how long does she have?
A-Maybe 2-3 months.
Alex was very clear and very sympathetic. She acknowledged how it was hard to look at Millie right then and believe the time could be so short. But once it begins, lymphoma moves quickly.
we only had two options: Treat the symptoms and keep her comfortable....and wait for the end. Or try chemotherapy, to try to extend the time we would have with her. If we opted to not do chemotherapy, then we would start treating with Prednisone and keep upping the dose to battle symptoms....but steroids have their own side effects, and Alex cautioned that if we opted for steroids now, and later decided we wanted chemotherapy, the chances of success were reduced. She also acknowledged that Chemo was expensive, something that my research had already uncovered. She felt like we were probably looking at around $5000.
I had her go ahead and make a referral to the oncologist, because I felt that however unlikely we felt the chemo option might be, we needed to have that input before deciding.
July 25, 2011 The Diagnosis
The cytology report was NOT inconclusive...it was undoubtedly lymphoma. I scheduled Millie for X-Rays and blood work.
The Beginning: Accidental discovery Thursday, July 21, 2011
We were preparing to depart for Virginia Beach so I could do my annual AV Tech job for MCV's Pediatrics At The Beach conference.
We had booked Millie to stay at Four Paws for the weekend and Kimberly took her, intending to drop her off on the way to work. When she got there, she discovered a slight red tinge to Millie's urine and brought her back home so I could take her to the vet. Our assumption was there was a urinary tract infection.
I called and arranged to drop Millie at the vet for a check...they called later to confirm a UTI. But Millie's vet asked to speak with me. In examining Millie, she discovered that all her lymph nodes (those that are accessible by hand) were very enlarged. Her concern was that this possibly indicated Lymphoma. After discussing options with her, I gave the go ahead for a cell aspiration test. Basically they use a needle to draw cell samples from a node to be sent for testing. The issue with cell aspirate tests is that they are often (anywhere from 50-75% depending on whom you believe) inconclusive, leaving actual biopsy as the only way to be certain. I was concerned, but not overly so...I thought it was possible that the infection was causing the lymph node reaction and that it would pass after the antibiotics prescribed were finished and the UTI gone. In the back of my mind, I did recall that Kimberly had noticed one of Millie's lymph nodes in the back of her rear leg ( not knowing what it was) and being concerned, but we decided it didn't merit a vet visit when we found the identical structure in her other leg. That actually could have been our first warning, but we did not recognize it at the time.
We had booked Millie to stay at Four Paws for the weekend and Kimberly took her, intending to drop her off on the way to work. When she got there, she discovered a slight red tinge to Millie's urine and brought her back home so I could take her to the vet. Our assumption was there was a urinary tract infection.
I called and arranged to drop Millie at the vet for a check...they called later to confirm a UTI. But Millie's vet asked to speak with me. In examining Millie, she discovered that all her lymph nodes (those that are accessible by hand) were very enlarged. Her concern was that this possibly indicated Lymphoma. After discussing options with her, I gave the go ahead for a cell aspiration test. Basically they use a needle to draw cell samples from a node to be sent for testing. The issue with cell aspirate tests is that they are often (anywhere from 50-75% depending on whom you believe) inconclusive, leaving actual biopsy as the only way to be certain. I was concerned, but not overly so...I thought it was possible that the infection was causing the lymph node reaction and that it would pass after the antibiotics prescribed were finished and the UTI gone. In the back of my mind, I did recall that Kimberly had noticed one of Millie's lymph nodes in the back of her rear leg ( not knowing what it was) and being concerned, but we decided it didn't merit a vet visit when we found the identical structure in her other leg. That actually could have been our first warning, but we did not recognize it at the time.
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