Fate Steps In

Fate Steps In

    I'm back, or rather, I never left.  And it's presumptuous of me to pretend to call what was to happen fate for things can happen even as we try to alter them...what will be will be (this, if you happened to read the last post, was in reference to my avoiding my friend's dream of my semi-demise).  But you be the judge.*  Everything was so last minute, and by that I mean down to cancelling everything with less than a day before our scheduled departure.  Our 12-year old dog had shown a small, marble-sized lump and the cells did not look good, so we decided to have the lump removed and biopsied; turns out it was a rare --but benign-- hair follicle tumor (what???).  She was stiched up and sent home, a bit groggy but in good condition.  Now for those of you who have had pets operated on, you likely are familiar with their urge to lick or scratch or somehow get that stitched-up area feeling better; but this is not a good thing so your animal is generally given what's termed an "Elizabethan" cone, an inverted plastic funnel of sorts that causes the animals to bump into all sorts of things, knocking water bowls and such over and basically giving you that look that says, "what did I do to you to deserve this."  Generally, you as the pet owner feel terrible about this as well so you begin searching for alternatives; and lo, we were told about the latest thing, a body-suit similar to a baby's one-piece which slides over the head and legs and yet has snaps at the bottom to allow for going out to pee and to do their business.  Perfect, we thought, and bought the rather expensive alternative (compared to the plastic cone), put it on and then confidently went to bed.  Next morning, we discovered that our dog had easily chewed her way through the flimsy material and had broken open some of the stitches...it was Sunday morning. 

Second suturing and drain

    Her wound was now pink, oozing a bit of yuck, and basically not looking all that great.  I dabbed her with hydrogen peroxide (I've since learned that vets never use the stuff to treat or clean wounds, thereby voiding years of training from my parents who said that a good method of cleaning a cut is to pour hydrogen peroxide on it) and patiently waited for a day to pass and we could run our dog back to the vet to be stitched back up.  So we get her back and she's stitched up but now with an even larger incision (due to the infection) and now sporting a drain.  You'll have to keep the drain area clean, we were told, and also told that a bit of blood coming from the drain would be normal.  And we saw that, a few drops of watery blood dotting our floors each time she stood up.  And it was at this point that we made the decision that it wasn't fair to anyone (including us) to leave her in this condition.  So we cancelled the hotels, the car, the pet sitter, all of whom were very understanding despite the short notice.

    So all was well, the cancellations complete and us feeling better that we were now staying home to help with our dog's recovery.  And a few days later, out she goes for a bathroom break and returns with her drops of watery blood now increased a bit, actually, increased a lot.  We go through a few paper towels to catch the excess, then another roll of paper towels, and still the blood was dripping (not drops now but rather like a slow leak in a faucet).  Is that normal, my wife asked?  And for me, I didn't see any blood coming from the drain; so where was it coming from?  I felt around her fur, digging and digging lower and lower until I came to a fleshy spot...an open wound.  What had happened?  Had she bumped her knee in going outside?  Had a new area opened up that was missed?  No matter, her bleeding was continuing and it was now nearly ten at night.  Off she goes to emergency (again, for this is the same dog that had the twisted stomach and was rushed to the Pet ER at ten at night on a Saturday).  The vet didn't like what he saw, not a fresh wound at all but rather something suspicious...let's shave her leg and find out, he says.  An hour later, we discovered that the skin around her knee had gone necrotic (think something similar to gangrene or frostbite) and was flaking off quickly.  We'd have to change her meds, he said, put her on IVs, do everything and nothing for this was one of those wounds that was a "let's wait and see" diagnosis; there would be no quick solutions.

The knee going necrotic

    For pet owners, this is one of those gut-wrenching moments, in many cases one no different than finding something terrible has happened to a loved one.  And as with most hospitals, the paperwork emerges, estimates of over-the-top charges (as one example, my mother's 3-day emergency & hospital stay for her fall was billed at $22,300...her insurance paid $4800, which the hospital accepted).  We had no pet insurance.  Estimated charges for tonight at the pet hospital, $1500, then charges of $300-600 per night after that.  Gulp.  And the place, the ER animal hospital, was packed.  How many people would face such decisions?  How many would want the best but such a choice would be out of reach?  How many could the hospital help gratis (they have a donation program, part of a national cooperative effort to help pay for those unable to afford such services), and how gut-wrenching was if for the veterinary personnel who had to witness all these decisions or relay such news to the owners?
   
    We decided to bite the bullet.  Our vacation was now cancelled and we simply had to look at financial matters a different way, for likely this money would have gone to pay for gas or a slot machine or a hotel stay or some food cooked over a grill by a sunset with waves crashing to shore.  Ah well, what were we thinking?  What was more important?  The answer was simple.  We had set aside the money for this vacation and now here it was, a vacation that was to be our most memorable one, one which would keep our dog alive.  Yes, we said, here's a deposit and do what you need to do.  Let the worrying and praying and sleepless nights begin.  And to be honest, this would be where the real story would begin...



*And before I forget, apologies to those of you trying to leave comments and not finding them posted.  Trust me when I say that I never see them; in looking for an answer, I read that "Google engineers have found this problem and are working on a solution."  Hmm, no help to those of you trying to comment...as an alternative, you can always write me a note at: notesfromabearsjourney@gmail.com and I should get (and be able to post) it...if you so desire.  Thanks for letting me know and for reading these posts (I can't say reading these "pages" for I've discovered that the number one rule in blogging circles is to know the difference between "posts" and "pages" -- what that is I still can't tell you...but those engineers are working on a solution).