Great Biopsy results!!!

"Rectal Man" called me today to say that my biopsy results show no cancer or displasia. YEAH!!!! The positive PET Scan results were do to inflammation caused by all the radiation. Apparently this can appear like cancer when it isn't

I had a feeling that everything would be OK.....and it is!!!

Thank you, Thank you Lord!!!

My Stallion: Plan B

I had forgotten to mention the new situation with my Stallion Capote. I had bought into the idea that in order to keep his monetary value he had to remain a stallion. I didn't feel safe handling and riding a stallion therefore he had to be sold. I started to realize why can't he become a gelding??? Sure he looses his value with respect to breeding fees and resale....but there is more to my relationship with my animals than money. I really like this horse. He is the most intelligent horse I have ever owned. Plus he is very easy to ride and train. What makes a stallion dangerous and unpredictable is their preoccupation with breeding and their natural desire to dominate humans and other horses. Once they are castrated, they loose all of their negative behavior. This can take up to 6 months with an adult stallion.

So Capote is now a gelding. It has been 2 weeks today since his operation. He has been one miserable guy for the last 2 weeks but we have been giving him pain meds to make him more comfortable. My vet castrated him under a general anesthesia right at the barn. The actual operation took about 1/2 hour but the sedation, general anesthesia and getting him back on his feet took 1 hour. I have already started to see a difference in his behavior. Here are some pictures of Capote right before his general and Capote waking up.

I survived "Rectal Man"

I highly recommend general anesthesia should you ever require multiple biopsies of your sigmoid colon. They carefully prepped me and then I spent some time with my very nice anesthesiologist (which I remembered from other surgeries). He gave me some "feel good juice" in my IV and then we laughed and talked as I drifted off to a peaceful sleep. When I awoke, I was in recovery and Derek whisked me home to my bed where I slept off the drugs.

Now that I am awake, there is a lot of pain and bleeding (YUCK!!!). He says if I bleed more than 2 Tbsp. to come to the emergency room. How the hell do you measure blood coming out of your nether parts?? Do you stick a measuring spoon down there??? I am just going to take some more drugs and hope when I awake the bleeding will have ceased.

Sorry to be so graphic.....but it is the reality of what I am dealing with.

Rectal biopsies tomorrow

Because Dr. "rectal" Man wasn't able to do multiple biopsies and explore deeper into my butt, without me jumping off the table and threatening to never come back, he will be providing sedation for this process which should make me more cooperative or more likely completely comatose. I would settle for comatose. We have to be there at 6:15 AM and the "procedure" will take place 7:15 AM I am assuming the whole thing will be over in about 20 min. Then they wake me up and make sure I am OK and then I go home to sleep off the anesthesia. Probably will wake up with some stinging ass pain. I hope it won't last too long.

I should know the results by the end of the week. Docs are not that worried about a cancer recurrence. They seem to believe it is simply inflammation caused by all radiation that I have endured.

Results from Wiley's tests

The dexamethasone suppression test couldn't tell if Wiley has a pituitary or and adrenal gland tumor. They want to do an ultrasound (which cost $500.00). I have been researching this disease on the internet and found a really good site on canine endorcrine problems. If untreated the, lifespan of the dog is 20 to 30 months. If treated, the dog should live a normal lifespan. Prognosis and treatment below:

Prognosis: Left untreated, Cushing's disease will progress. As excess cortisol is immunosuppressive, Cushingoid dogs are prone to various infections. They are also predisposed to developing hypothyroidism, pancreatitis, diabetes, seizures, hypertension, congestive heart failure, blood clots (thromboembolism), and liver and kidney failure. It should not go without noting that many of these dogs are at risk of early euthanasia due to incontinence resulting from increased water consumption.

The short-term prognosis is very good. Treated, one would expect symptoms of Cushing's to fully resolve over the course of 4-6 months. Excess drinking and urinating abate quickly. It may take several months for hair and coat improvement to be observed. Dogs generally are more comfortable after the disease is under control and may live happily for years.

I don't see how we can not treat Wiley. I couldn't stand to see her suffer these symptoms, especially if the treatment will work. They have pictures of a dog before and after treatment and you can really see the improvement. I just have to talk Derek into spending the money. It is very expensive to give the drug and to do the blood test to monitor the response.

Great 3 Day weekend

My dear friend Andrea came to visit for the weekend. She and I met 8 years ago when we were both hired by a start-up company (SciTegic) which later was purchased by Accelrys. We were peers for a few years and then she became the Director of US sales and I reported into her for several years. After 8 years at Accelrys, she is leaving Accelrys to take some time for herself and to pursue other directions. She lives in N. Carolina so our visits are usually limited to an evening. I was so delighted to have her to myself for the weekend.
On Sat. I took Andrea, Debbie and her children Emily and Nicholas (AKA Spiderman) for a fun filled day in the country with horseback riding and a picnic. Everyone had a great time. The only down side was after the horseback ride, Emily took a header off of the mounting block and bloodied her nose. In addition, one of the mini horses accidentally bit down on her fingers. Emily was a trooper and didn't let a little blood or some chewed on fingers stop her from having a good time. Debbie's children are amazing and so much fun to be around.
Sunday Andrea and I took the dogs to Fiesta Island and enjoyed the beautiful weather and all the dogs running and playing. BTW: (still haven't received the results of Wiley's tests). Sunday night Derek, Andrea and I had a nice dinner and a nice bottle of wine and I hit the sack early exhausted.
Unfortunately I did too much on the weekend and couldn't get out of bed on today. I wasn't able to attend Andrea's going away lunch. She is going to missed at Accelrys.
Debbie and I have decided that within the next year we are going to fly out and visit Andrea and Ed in Raleigh. We are talking about staying at the Famous Biltmore Estates. That would be so fun.
I have attached a couple of pictures Debbie took of our picnic.

Worried about Miss Wiley

Wiley just hasn't been right over the last 9 months or so. The last couple of times that I took her for a walk off leash, she would be so tired after a couple of runs that she would just lay down in the middle of the trail and not want to move. This is so unlike her as she used to run after bunnies and play with the coyotes when we would hike in the early morning.

I took her to the vet and after multiple tests and lots of money they think she has Cushing's disease. This has two causes; either a pituitary or an adrenal glad tumor. She goes to the vet on Friday for an 8 hour test that we hope will determine which of these scenarios are causing her problem. If it is a pituitary tumor then the treatment is daily drug therapy. If it is an adrenal glad tumor then we are talking major surgery and a dismal prognosis.

I am trying not to jump to a worst case scenario. I do know after what I have been through the last 2 years that I would not subject my beloved Wiley to a major surgery unless the outcome were to be guaranteed positive. I want to do what's best for her and not what is best for me.

I hope I won't have to make such a decision in the near future.

Having a bad week.

I woke up Monday morning feeling so great!!! I was ready to go back to work, ride my stallion and hike up a mountain (all in one day). Then the medical onslaught began. Tuesday I saw the surgeon who did "indignities" (that shall not be named). I ate a wonderful orange that morning and Tue afternoon I started to get a bowel obstruction. After 6 hours of intense pain and vomiting, the orange rind finally made it through the tortuous route that has become my bowels. Note to self: "Don't eat oranges no matter how good they smell". I spent all day in bed Wed. recovering from said obstruction still having pain on and off. Thursday I was feeling a bit better and was able to eat a small amount of food.

Then Friday came. Friday is the day I have an appointment with my most favorite doctor of all....THE RECTAL GUY! Derek came with me to hold my hand and for moral support. This guy tries to make bad jokes while your ass is in the air and he has a scope up your butt. He keeps asking "Does this hurt?" and then he keeps asking "What is making it hurt?". I said through clenched teeth....THE SCOPE 8 INCHES UP MY BUTT IS HURTING YOU IDIOT (OK I didn't add the idiot part in case he got mad). As he is scoping me, he is giving Derek a blow by blow description on a big screen TV that is broadcasting the inside of my ass. Just when you think it can't get worse....it always can. He then decides the time is right to do some biopsies. Of course he doesn't warn me at all. I feel an intense pain and try to launch myself off the table. Then he tries it again....BASTARD!!! At this point, I am DONE. "We" decide that he needs to do my rectal biopsies and further ( Deeper) exploration of my butt under some sort of sedation or anesthesia. No shit Sherlock!!

I am done now and feel much better