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April 9th, 2008

Surgery Cancelled, Kelsea

  • Apr. 9th, 2008 at 6:40 AM

 I just got a call from the Transplant Coordinator; the surgeon decided to not accept the kidney. Apparently, the donor had a history of a bone tumor. She didn't have any more details, but said that the surgeon will call me later. 

After I got off the phone, I went looking for one of our dogs, Kelsea. She had gone down to the basement, and couldn't make it up the steps. Apparently, she had a stroke, so we are going to take her to the vet this morning to be "put down". What a day....

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Good Doggy News

  • Apr. 9th, 2008 at 11:41 AM

This morning, when we found Kelsea at the bottom of the steps, unable to stand, leaning to the left, and confused, I assumed she had a stroke. So, we called the vet and made an appointment to have her euthanized (she also has Rheumatoid Arthritis and is on Imuran for that). In addition, she has had bloody stools the past few days. 

On our way to the vet, she seemed to be much more alert, although she still "listed" to the left, and her eyeballs were moving erratically from side to side. I called the vet and asked to see him, instead of just making the decision ourselves, and it was a good thing we did. He diagnosed her with Vestibular Disease, which is common in old dogs (she's 12). It's usually limited to a few days, and he gave us a Rx for Meclizine, which will help with the symptoms. 

So, what looked to be something terrible turned out to be a benign illness. I'm glad I followed my instincts and had her seen by the vet first. I think that since I found the dog a minute after getting the call about the kidney, that my mind was clear (in addition to the fact that I was awakened by the call).

As far as the kidney, I'm OK with not getting it. There were upsides, but there were also downsides: the woman was 54 (not old, but only a year away from being considered "extended criteria" for organ donation), and with the history of a tumor, she may be more likely to have had an undiagnosed cancer. If it was meant to be, it would have happened. I'll just keep plodding along until the next time....

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