A Three-Dog Night

I finally slept. After being up for 18+ hours, I practically melted into my pillow by the time we left the pet hospital and made it home late last night. I tried not to think about the missing Scottie dog at my feet and I cried when I accidentally called Nibbles by Heather's name.


Tomorrow, Heather will undergo surgery to remove her gallbladder - the culprit of all her symptoms. Heather was diagnosed with gallbladder mucocele and the V-E-T at the pet hospital says Heather's gallbladder needs to come out or it will rupture, at which point we would likely need to help her over the Rainbow Bridge if surgery wasn't an option.

It was a difficult decision when determining whether she should have the surgery. I worried about whether it was safe at her age to undergo anesthesia and, of course, the surgery itself. I worried what her recovery would be like. Would she live a relatively normal life, if all went well? What would her diet be like without a gallbladder? Could she still stay on trilostane for Cushing's disease?

The V-E-T said her prognosis looked good, if we were to elect to proceed with surgery. She said age, in this case, was not an issue and that aside from these symptoms, Heather is healthy - especially when you consider how well she is doing on trilostane. (We received the results of the ACTH stimulation retest, by the way, and learned that we won't need to adjust her dosage!)

Encouraged by the V-E-T's positive outlook and after consulting with my sister (who works at a V-E-T's office in North Carolina), I decided it would be wrong of me not to give it a try. I signed additional paperwork and handed over a whopping $4,400 deposit before I went to the visitors' room with family to spend some time with Heather. 

That's when I knew I had made the right decision. She was walking with so much more ease. Yes, she was still slow but she wagged her tail at the sight of us and her favorite tiny human. Her nurse told me that Heather was much more alert and that she ate "ravenously" after she had the IV fluids.


Many thanks to everyone for their kind words of encouragement and support throughout this difficult time. I am hopeful that I won't have any more three-dog nights and that Heather will be home with us by the end of the week. Look for an update from us sometime tomorrow after surgery. In the meantime, please keep my sweet girl in your thoughts. Much love, The Scottie Mom.

21 comments:

  1. we cross our paws for Heather and we hope hope hope the surgery goes well. hugs to you all and a lot of power...

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  2. When God made Scotties, he built them to be sturdy as a tank. Though they may be vertically challenged, they are strong and hardy. The worst is not knowing what is wrong, with that behind you, we can focus on healing and getting that girl back home! You can live a perfectly good life without a gall bladder.

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  3. Best wishes for a speedy recovery for Heather - and that you have your baby home soon!

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  4. Best wishes, we cross our paws for Heather

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  5. Thanks for keeping us all in the loop. Sending healing thoughts and prayers to Heather and praying for a safe and successful surgery and a speedy and complete recovery.

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  6. Good news. We love you, little Heather. XO

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  7. We have you in our thoughts and prayers. Trilostane kept my Scotties going for years. Think of all of the people living without their gall bladder and it might give you some relief.

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  8. So so praying for the best outcome for Miss Heather. I can imagine what you are going through because I had something similar with my Cat. And now when I think of my Scottie going through the same thing it makes me have flash backs. So I know the stress and the angst ! Fingers, toes, paws, whiskers, everything crossed ! :-) Good Luck Heather - Let's do this !

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  9. We're praying for you & Heather Beather. I cry reading about her problems.

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  10. We're praying for you & Heather Beather. I cry reading about her problems.

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  11. Sending Heather lots of love and hugs. You'll do fine sweet girl. Just make sure they give you a nice morphine patch afterwards. xoxo

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  12. We are with you and praying for a good outcome for Heather. Fergus had a lobe of his liver removed in March at 12 yrs old. I too thought that his age would be against him but the surgeon was skillful and did a magnificent job. We had to keep him quiet and in an x-pen so he would not run and jump. But that time flew by and he did very well. We will keep you in our hearts.

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  13. You're doing the right thing. OK, the surgery might be dangerous but consider the alternative you mentioned which is definitely dangerous. If you don't try everything, for the rest of your life you'd feel guilt every time you saw a dog.

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  14. My heart goes out to you. May Heather be safe and the surgery a big success. Sending Prayers. Thank you for keeping us updated.

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  15. We're so happy things are working out for you....and Heather. Thought only humans had gallbladder problems...SHE hasn't had one for years. Great outcome. We'll still keep our paws crossed though.

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  16. My paws are crossed extra tight for you Heather.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

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  17. Best wishes from brazilian friend Heather!

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  18. Best wishes from brazilian friend Heather!

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  19. We are praying that everything went well and we want and update soon.
    Sweet William The Scot

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  20. Praying for your sweet Heather.

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