Well I guess it's time to do a Katie Update. I have been
avoiding posting much lately other than we take one day at a time with this
terrible disease. Mostly because she has been doing so well that I am afraid I
might jinx it. So I have been hoping you all would think, "no news is good
news." And it has been.
Katie has been doing very well. Our last visit to the
cardiologist was in fact the announcement of a miracle in that the doctor found
that her enlarged heart had actually reduced in size....something that doesn't
happen with Congestive Heart Failure that often. It took about a week for me to
stop smiling and feeling that we had somehow gotten ahead of this thing.
But with this disease, it is very much one day at a time. It can
turn on a dime. I can actually say that over the last few weeks I had just put
it out of my mind and was simply going through the routine of giving her meds
and keeping up with her diet. She has been so happy and so vibrant that you
actually put the past behind you. You block out that memory back in October
when they told me to take her home and love her and that she would more than
likely not make it through the end of last year.
It's funny how your mind goes into survival mode and it becomes
very selective at what it wants to face and what it wants to hide. Katie has
been making it very easy for me to put all the bad stuff out of my mind and
only face the happy girl that has been greeting me every morning with kisses
and lots of tail wags and wiggles. Until yesterday morning.
She woke up shaking. She was coughing and gagging and so weak.
She has not coughed much at all during all this. It is a symptom that comes
near the end when the meds cannot control the fluids anymore and they actually
drown because they can't breathe. The lungs and heart fill with fluid and the
heart can't do its job to pump it out anymore. But not with Katie. The
cardiologist even commented on how she is just not like other dogs with CHF.
She seems to get by a lot of the bad stuff and we've been so blessed that she
is such a fighter that responds well to treatment.
But yesterday it was different. So it was off to the emergency
room again to find out what was happening. What could have changed in only one
day after weeks of doing so well? I dreaded the trip. Katie shakes and trembles
and pants and her little heart beats so hard. She has always been afraid of the
vet even though I never leave her the whole time. So I usually cry the entire
drive to the ER.
This time it was different. She was calm and relaxed. She was
kissing the technicians and the doctors. She was wagging her tail and not panting
at all. It was a phenomenon and I really think God wanted to make it a little
easier this time. We waited in the treatment room and she insisted on sitting
in a chair by herself and not on my lap. She sat there like a little person
listening to the sounds she could hear of other dogs barking in the background.
After a few minutes the door opened so slightly and we looked up to see no one
there.
It took a few minutes until we both looked down to see this big
black and white cat walk quietly in the room and proceed to jump up in the
chair and curl up next to Katie. Katie just sat there and listened to Johnny
the cat purr and cuddle next to her. Neither moved an inch. Johnny was
determined to stay and make Katie his new friend. Katie was okay with that. It
actually seemed to make her feel better and she began to get her energy back.
Eventually Johnny moved over to the other side of the room and laid on a bench
and they stared at each other as if they were communicating in a language that
only they knew.
Long story short. We went through all the expensive tests and x-rays, with a lot of poking and probing and trying to figure things out. What had made her so sick so suddenly? And we found it. The cough came from the small pocket of fluid that has begun to build up around her heart. We could take care of that right away with an injection of Lasix. The cough should subside she said in a few hours and we would up the dosage on one of her meds a little to keep it away.
The real problem was not her heart at all. It was the extreme gastric upset in her tummy. The meds will do that sometimes. So on one hand they are saving her life. On the other hand they are causing a very upset stomach and she gets diarrhea and cramps just like a person does. So we got medicine for that and hopefully it will soothe her belly and things will be okay again. Today she is doing much better however, the cough is still there and I am praying that the increase in the one medication will help that.
The good news: Her blood work came back and everything is not
good....It is perfect! No kidney problems, no liver issues, potassium is good,
proteins and enzymes are great. Other than that little pocket of fluid around
her heart, she has no fluid in her lungs or belly or any place else. Her heart
is strong and beating soundly and the murmur is still the same as it's been for
the last 5 years. And Katie made a new friend....Johnny Cat.
I love this crew at the ER. They are so wonderful and loving and
so compassionate. I think Katie felt the same comfort that I did when I got
there yesterday. There is just an overall warmth there. A feeling that she is
in good hands with people who sincerely love her and want to help her. These
doctors are so smart and so thorough and you just know that they are going to
work as hard as they can to make her better as quickly as possible.
And
they are compassionate with the parents of these fur babies too. The pain I see
in the waiting room is sometimes unbearable. People are crying and huddled
together while they wait for the news. The doctors are there right in the
middle of those huddles crying with them and helping them get through it all.
And there is also laughter and happy celebrations that things are going to be
okay. It is a place where you share your emotions with total strangers that all
have a common bond. These babies are a part of our families. They are our
children and these doctors understand that. It is unlike a visit to the local
vet's office. This is a place where you find comfort and compassion unlike any
place you have ever been.
Expensive?
Oh yes. Typically a visit like this will cost about $700 to $800 for all the
x-rays, blood work, and other test they have to do to get your baby back to
health. Insurance? Nope. There are caps on pet insurance and things they don't
cover....like Congestive Heart Failure. But how does one define cost when the
love of your best friend is truly priceless? How do you say that saving your
best friends life is expensive?
I can
say this. If it wasn't for you my friends and the donations you have made to
the "Save Katie's Broken Heart campaign on Go Fund me, I would not have
been able to save her life. Without the expensive medicines that keep her heart
strong and keep the fluids from drowning her heart, she would not be here with
me today. Without the supplements, the special diet and the love and care from
the doctors that treat her, I would not have my her now and there would be no
hope that we could prolong her life and beat the odds on this terrible disease.
How can
I ever thank you enough for giving me such an incredible gift? Your generosity
and kindness will never be forgotten and I will hold each one of you close to
my heart for a long time.
