Prayers Needed

[whitlockan]

Well ladies, about 2 hours ago we returned Shadow from ER. Things with have taken a slight curve in the road and now has to at least have surgery to remove yet another mass from his body no later than Tuesday because it may rupture if not. They will then run a test to make sure that the 2 masses he has on his body are not cancerous. Please pray for a positive outcome for our little man.

They wanted to remove it tonight but said they would save us a little money and we could go through our vet. So now I have to stay home tomorrow or get out early and take him to the vet. I will def. let you ladies know how it turns out.

[MLA]

You're in my thoughts. I hope everything turns out okay!

[boilermaker]

You and Shadow will be in my thoughts. I hope everything turns out ok.

[fuzzy]

I'll keep all of you in my thoughts.

[whitlockan]

So last night was rough and today is VERY VERY rough. I cried myself to sleep last night holding shadow telling him how much I love him and would miss him if anything happens. It was aweful, and dealing with taking him to the Vet today is really depressing me, just thinking the possibility we have to put him down makes me so sad.

I mean we just found out yesterday that he is pretty arthritic, since he yelped pretty loud when they applied pressure to his bone, makes me really realize that he is getting old.

[Tonysweetie]

I'm so sorry your dealing with this. Losing a pet is like losing a family member and it can be hard. Just keep praying that Shadow will pull through. God Bless!!!

[Belm]

I'm thinking about you both!

[southerner]

hope you're doing okay, whatever ended up happening!

[whitlockan]

So all day yesterday I was throwing up because I was so upset. I cried all the way home then when it was time to take him to the vet, I pulled through and was strong for him!!

The vet appointment:
He came in and observed his spot on his butt! He is definatly concerned about it since its been growing and he called it some kind of "tumor" but I dont remember what. It was a huge long name!! So he said it will have to be removed and a biopsy done!! So Shadow goes in on May 25th for surgery, to have both masses removed and a biopsy done on them, as well as a dental cleaning while hes under. They hope that the tumor is external enough to be removed without being to invasive but said it could possibly become a pretty invasive surgery if thats not the case, so keep your fingers crossed for a smooth surgery.

In the meantime I've been loving him more than ever and showing him a good time, just in case something does happen, I just dont want to regret a thing!!

I will def. come back in on May 25th and give an update as to how the surgery went and what they find. In the meantime please keep him in your thoughts.

Thanks for your kind words and thoughts on him, I really do appreciate this support!

[MrsD108]

I know how much you love him and you already know that I am praying for him.

[mb1197]

I just wanted to add my support here. I will say a prayer for him.

[IrishMeg]

You and he will be in my thoughts. I look forward to hearing good news about his prognosis. You are a great mommy!

[whitlockan]

Again, ladies thank you so much for thinking about us, your positive thoughts gives me hope, at this time what little hope do I have.

I just called the vet to find out the name of the tumors he rambled off yesterday and I guess I'm in search of some hope still that I can do some research and find out he will be okay. But anyways they did reassure me that they ARE NOT fat masses, so I guess you could say right now Shadow has a 50/50 chance of being cancerous or not, and man I really dont like those odds :(.

I guess I'm on such a roller coaster ride of emotions that I'm searching for more hope but being let down each time I do.

Guess its time to go before I have a major break down!

[Tonysweetie]

Just keep pulling for your baby. I'll continue to keep your baby in my prayers. I know how hard this is. Keep us updated!

[MLA]

I'm still thinking of you and Shadow -- sending positive thoughts your way.

[whitlockan]

So last night I lost all hope I had for Shadow. Normally hes good about holding it until he can go outside, well yesterday I took them outside when I got home and then turned around came in and he used the bathroom inside too. I'm hoping this a freak and unrelated accident but still its so hard to keep hope when little things like this are happening. Not to mention he hasnt been eating nearly as much. Like in the morning when I get up, he will just lay in bed and not move an inch and eat 1/2 his cup of food when we get home at night. I'm just hoping this is all just "old age" and not related to well you know this!!

[Tonysweetie]

Don't give up hope. Keep your spirits high. I'll continue to keep Shadow in my prayers. God Bless!!!

[whitlockan]

2nd Opinion:

We did a walk-in appoinment since they couldnt fit us in to the appointment book but said we could try to walk-in, so we did. The trip was well worth it. They fit us right in and we immediatly had a room. We only had to wait about 15 minutes for the vet to come in and look Shadow over. He apologized to poor Shadow for being a little "fresh" with him, which was so glad this guy had a sense of humor. He then proceeded to tell me there were many steps we could take from this point.
He could do an aspiration, which is a needle test and look at the cells under the microscope, which we would have results the same day
He then would be able to do an "in house" diagnosis for the tumors providing the cells were not abnormal
Then we could opt for surgery either soon or 6 months later depending on what the results were

After explaining what the next steps could be he explained ALL the possible types of tumors they could be. Anything from a Fat mass to Cancer. After answering all my questions and being very frank about everything we opted to have an "aspiration" done. So the nurse came in and shaved Shadow's chest and prepared his butt for the testing. Of course they had to muzzle him since they would be sticking a needle literally in his butt, which he was not the least bit happy about. Anyways they cleaned him up and prepared him and came in and laid him sideways on the table, which he hated even more. I felt so bad because the "aspiration" was pretty painful for him but as soon as they removed the cells from the chest he told me immediatly, he didnt even have to look under the microscope, that the chest was indeed a "fatty" tumor. Then it was time for the butt, he took that sample back and looked at it under the microscope and said that it is a adenoma, but he cant specify if its the aggressive and cancerous type without sending it on to the pathologist. So after speaking to him about our options we both decided surgery within the next week would be the best option and we can then have it sent for a biopsy to see if its cancerous or not. He said most likely its not but thats not something he can diagnosis without a pathology report. The only difference between if it were cancerous or not is that it would have to be removed ASAP, but regardless it would have to eventually be removed ecspecially since its in a bad location. So we are removing it ASAP, Tuesday and it will be sent on for testing then.

I have so much hope back, I LOVE this vet and we transfered all our records and health insurance to his location. Whats really funny is when he asked where I went previously he laughed and was suprised because the other dude we saw was actually his boss at one point in time and thought he was excellent, but he said it just all depends on what your looking for in a vet!! So I'm so excited to know that Shadow will not die on us, and well is bascially aging, which explains all his other behaviors that include:
Thirst
Laying around not moving
Not eating as much
etc.

[mb1197]

Thanks for giving such a wonderful update! I'm so happy that you are with a vet that has such a good attitude. He seems like he was very thorough and caring. Best of luck with surgery on Tuesday!

[fuzzy]

Oh, yeah! :) Good luck to Shadow!

[whitlockan]

Well last week Shadow had surgery. It all went well but he was VERY VERY mad at me whenI went to pick him up. He wouldnt look at me, listen to me or even talk to me, I was just being ignored. Of course I cried and cried because my dog was mad but I soon got over it. Anyways when I picked him up they handed me a dewormer, apparently during the surgery they did a fecal exam and found that he had round worms, we never saw any in his poop and was completly baffaled by it. But soon after we gave him the dewormer he had TONS come out. I will say hes a much happier dog and full of life, but we havent heard anything back in regards to what kind of tumors he had. I have a bad bad feeling that because they got our billing all messed up that when they refunded us the 100.00 bucks that they noted that we didnt want a biopsy, oh well if he gets another one we will have yet another chance, and if he doenst I would say we are out and in the clear.

[whitlockan]

Funny the doc just called. As we already knew the mass on his chest was a fatty tumor and the rectum was an adenoma and may come back but if they do we will just have to continue to get them removed.

[MrsD108]

I am so happy that everything worked out for your baby:D :D

[whitlockan]

So am I but the idea of having more come back and just having to remove them agian, doesnt sit to well with me.......thats a lot of money!!!

[Tonysweetie]

I'm glad that everything is working out!

[kapaldoaa]

It doesn't matter how much money it costs, you have to keep shadow healthy