Feeling pretty sick. Called the vet this afternoon. She was shocked and horrified that Stella died. It seems like she made a couple of bad judgment calls treating her, which just hurts. She says that Stella's stomach didn't feel bloated and that it did not seem to be painful when she examined it. She did listen to her and heard nothing alarming, but admitted that you can't hear a tortion. She took some blood and commented that her blood was thick and hard to get out and kind of clumpy. Now ... Don't you think that should have alarmed her? Stella could have been given anti-clotting medicine. She said her blood was like that because she was dehydrated, but I looked at the report and she wasn't seriously dehydrated. Also, her weight was normal. For the dehydration she talked about sending her to an emergency hospital for the weekend. I could only imagine what that would cost and was hesitant about it. So she took Stella to the back and came back and said they were going to do saline injections under her skin that would be absorbed by her body, taking care of the dehydration. She mentioned that she had suggested getting IV therapy at the hospital and I said yes, but then she came back out and said she had decided to do saline injections so I assumed that she had decided that that was enough. She agreed that she had thought it would be enough.
A blood clot fits everything better than anything else. So I was researching blood clots in dogs, and it turns out that pancreatitis causes blood clots. So, maybe she was right with her diagnosis of pancreatitis and blood clots didn't occur to her.
But another thing I noticed was that her RBC count and her hemoglobin levels were too high. That opens up a whole other set of problems that she may have had. Another thing is that she was regurgitating, not vomiting, the fluids. I didn't know there was a difference, but there is. Vomiting is heaving and all of what we usually associate with vomiting. Regurgitating is just -- poof! -- out it comes , sometimes surprising the dog as much as you. Stella definitely was not vomiting because she would throw u in the room without us even knowing until we saw her. What I read is that this usually indicates a problem with the esophagus ornate sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach.
I'm not a doctor, or a vet. But give me one area and I am able to research it into the ground until I figure it out. I don't know how far I'll follow this. But I would really like to better understand. I've read several things about what to do with acute vomiting of mucous and fluids, and we did exactly what everything says.
It hurts so bad. I'm not angry with the vet. You can't think of everything all the time. But if she had let Stella's thick, clumpy blood make her think of a blood thinner or anti-clot or anti-coagulation medicine, we might have this sweet puppy still.
I was pretty much a basket case last night. I was hiding from the pain as hard as I could. I got up after a while and went down and just got online on my husband's computer and looked for things I need for the house still. I think he woke up and came and got me around 2:00 am.
I held together better today. I thought of Jesus saying, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ..." and I thought that this sort of thirsting should impact how I live each day. So I tried to live the day more purposefully and less aimlessly and to let grieving undermine me less than it did the day before.
But our daughter was very upset today. Her computer quit working, her phone is broken, and her dog was dead and it was just too much for her, so I had to get her out of the house. We found a place in our village that fixes Macs, so we took hers there. The we got some chips and cokes at a shop and sat outside in the nice weather. Then we found an AT&T and tried to get her number out on an old phone of mine, but it turned out it was too old and it couldn't be made to work somehow. And then I learned that she erased everything on it!! I had a ton of pictures on it! Aaaargh.
We went into the most darling hardware store where she got paint samples for fixing up the room that will be her studio in the basement. Then we got coffee at a coffee shop right there. And then we drove out to a Sherwin Williams where she looked at paint samples. Got caught in AWFUL traffic coming home because of, apparently, a big wreck that they had set up a big detour around. Finally got home and made a crazy good shrimp and bacon dinner salad with some gluten-free baguettes. And now I'm in bed, and it's not even 11:00!
I'm getting this place cut off my arm FINALLY tomorrow! Thank goodness.
I was determined to pick out the new light fixtures I am putting up in our two hallways. I absolutely HATE what they have. Some sort of low-voltage, hideous things. I also need to pick out the sconces and mirrors I'll be putting up in my bathroom after they wallpaper. I can't go overboard because I have four sconces and two mirrors. I'm using a woman's blog as a guide. I think it's called my frenchcountrycottage.
Well, that's it for me tonight. It was warm today and I REALLY needed to work outside, but I decided to take care of my daughter instead. It worked. She was much more cheerful when we got home and even helped me make dinner. I think it's supposed to be warm tomorrow, so she needs to be in a good mood because I'm working outside and getting my shed unloaded and reorganized and everything put u for the winter no matter what. I hope!
I'm never getting another Sheltie. Someone stole my first one when I was one month pregnant with our son. Absolutely broke my heart horribly. I got another Sheltie before he was born, a glorious bi-colored blue Merle, which means she was white and a shimmery gray. Just beautiful. Then she got two forms of cancer and, according to my vet, offed herself to protect her pack ... us. She disappeared one evening and I couldn't find her. A huge thunderstorm broke out and I gave up hope that she was alive. The next morning my son and I started going through a creek that ran around our property and I found her dead in the water at the bottom of a twelve foot cliff. I went completely hysterical and almost didn't ever get over that. I had my Jack Russell before she died, because I knew it would kill me when she died and so I had another dog in place to help me bear it. And then she went and died so horribly! But the Jack Russell was so wonderful and became our favorite family dog. We had her alone until the two wild puppies showed up, and then my husband told our daughter she could get a puppy for her 18th birthday and that's how Stella entered our hearts and our world.
Later.
Lisa
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