How Fast Things Change
All through our lives we are bombarded with trite little sayings such as, "Don't take your health for granted." Some of us obsess over them and really work hard to keep ourselves in prime condition through diet and exercise. Some of us do the best we can, but aren't highly motivated to raise a sweat and enjoy eating the occasional "wrong" things. The rest of us just ignore the warnings and live our lives as if nothing could ever go wrong.
I have always fallen somewhere in the middle of doing the best I can and ignoring the warnings. Unfortunately, I realize now that my way of caring for my health was not very good. Now, I am 59 years old, nearly at the highest weight of my life, and feeling every bit of my "out-of-shapeness". I'll work on that, but that's not what I am here to write about today.
My dog Nicky, who is 11 years old, no matter how many times I keep telling people he's only eight, has been a very healthy dog throughout his life. We rescued him as a puppy at the Humane Society. He has always eaten Science Diet dog food. He has gone faithfully to all of his annual appointments at the vet. He has taken his heartworm meds religiously his entire life. His weight has been perfect every time he has gone in for a checkup. You couldn't ask for anything more.
Recently, Nicky started overdrinking water. He would actually lay in front of his bowl and drink about a gallon of water non-stop. Then, last week, Rachel noticed that one of the dogs was peeing in the dining room. We suspected our little dog Vinny. He wasn't potty trained when we rescued him from the Humane Society at the age of 3, but we managed to get him trained. Just the same, he has had a few accidents because he refuses to go potty outside if he hears scary noises, or if the weather is damp. However, Vinny spent the night in Jared's room the last time someone got the carpet during the night. When Rachel went to clean it up, she discovered that what was on the tile was sticky like syrup.
I went on the internet and looked up "dog's urine is sticky" and got led to a site listing the symptoms of diabetes in dogs. That very same night, I looked at Nicky as he was about to go out for the night and thought he suddenly looked skinny just before his hips. I set an alarm, got up early Tuesday morning, and tried to make an appointment for him. They didn't have an opening that day, and gave me an appointment for three days later. But, they did say they would call if an opening came up. I cleaned up and got ready to leave the house on a moment's notice, and sure enough, they called to say they had an opening at 11:00 AM.
I put Nicky in the truck and drove him over to the veterinary clinic. When they weighed him, he was 6 pounds lighter than his visit in December. They took some urine and blood samples. The results indicated that there was a high level of glucose in his urine and something else in the bood sample. (Sorry, I sometimes can't take it all in.) The doctor indicated that the signs were pointing to either Cushing's Syndrome or Diabetes. They would need to do a low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (LDDS). This would tell us which of the disorders Nicky would live with for the rest of his life.
I dropped Nicky off at 7:30 AM yesterday, on my way to my volunteer work at the Grotto. I got a call from the doctor at 1:41 PM. He told me that Nicky was suddenly having some walking issues after going out for a walk to use the restroom. He wanted to take x-rays to see what was up. I told him to go ahead. A few minutes later, the doctor called again to tell me that Nicky was too agitated to do the x-ray and requested my permission to administer a "reversible sedation" to get the x-ray. Once again, I gave him permission. When I picked Nicky up at 5, the doctor showed me the X-rays. Nicky has evidently had a lifelong defect in his spine right in the area of his hips. We believe that the act of getting in and out of the truck to go to the vet caused the area to get inflamed. Nicky is hesitant to walk. When he does, it truly does look kind of frog-like.
I paid our bill, which was now up to about $1,100.00, and tried to get Nicky to the truck. He couldn't make it the whole way, so I carried him about 15 feet and put him in. I texted Rachel when I got to the house and she came out and helped me get him inside. I carried him most of the way. He flopped down just inside the door from the garage and laid there for several hours without moving. He doesn't act like he is in pain. There is a smile on his face, and he wags his tail when you talk to him.
I brought his big pillow bed downstairs, and he spent the night on it after struggling to go out once to potty. I found him there still asleep at 6:00 AM. I gave him his meds then went and laid on the couch so he wasn't alone downstairs. The vet called at about 9:00 AM to tell me the results had come in early and overwhelmingly indicated Cushing's Syndrome. He told me I could come up any time and pick up Nicky's meds. I updated him on the walking, and he suggested putting a sheet under Nicky's belly to assist him when moving. I tried it, but Nicky was afraid to take the one step down to the patio. I didn't push it. I let him lay down there in front of the door. A few minutes later, he moved himself back to his pillow bed.
I went upstairs at about 1:45 to dress for my trip to the vet to get Nicky's meds. He suddenly started barking. By the time I got down the stairs to investigate, he was at the front door barking. He was still walking funny, but seemed to do it with a little more gusto. I got the sheet and walked him back to his bed. When I was dressed, I came back and asked him, if he wanted to go out. This time, he did a good job with the assistance of the sheet. He sat down in the middle of the yard, I pulled the sheet away, and he peed. Then I put the sheet back and walked him back to his bed. He has been there ever since.
The doctor said that the pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds should have him showing progress after about 48 hours. We are still shy of 24 hours, and I see some improvement. I have to tell you that this walking thing has been more stressful to me than the threat of a life long syndrome or diabetes. It physically pains me to see Nicky having such a hard time walking. I am very hopeful (hope means you have an expectation of it coming to be) that he will be fine, once this inflammation subsides.
Now, back to my title. All of this hit us from out of nowhere. It is a wake up call. I am going to work harder on my own health now.
UPDATE: NIcky never fully recovered from his hip injury. The meds for Cushing Syndrome did not help him with that either. He fought to the end, but passed away on May 14th, 2018.