Here’s where things are.
We spent the weekend taking it easy. I fed him some of the veterinarian-only sold special food for tummy troubles and created a chart for his medication. First he was a reluctant eater, then his appetite developed a bit more and he started eating his full serving. He also was still obsessed with water, so I held it off a bit, giving him only ¼ cup every half hour or hour. Then he peed like crazy, but it was working. I stayed home on Monday and he was fine. Other than acting tired, he was his usual self, giving me kisses and rolling over on his back for a tummy rub.
On Tuesday I left him with a cup of water and went to work. When he came back he had vomited and peed all over the kitchen floor (not just on the little mats I provided). After talking to the vet tech we decided to wait and see, as I had the suspicion that the vomiting was due to his water intake (he could drink 2 cups easy in one sitting). Sure enough, while I was home he didn’t vomit and drank his little bits of water no problem.
Yesterday (Wednesday) morning he pooped and there was much celebration as it was his first poop in 4 days. Hooray! I left him with only ¼ c of water this time, and ice cubes on another bowl, with the idea that he would have to wait for them to thaw. When I came home later, he had vomited again, but this time had eaten it again (dogs, I tell you. Kings of recycling).
At 6pm we had an appointment. After getting checked out, the doctor said he didn’t seem in much discomfort, but that he was dehydrated (!). I told her about the obsessive drinking, massive peeing and occasional vomiting due to the H2O. She ran some blood work to see if the pancreatitis had left the pancreas battered and therefore diabetes had developed. The result: his kidney and diabetes panels were good. It just seems like a side-effect from the pancreatitis, which he is still recovering from. So I was sent home with an anti-nausea med and some fluids to give him subcutaneously.
You read that right. Under the skin. I had to learn how to plug him in to an IV bag and all. It’s not as bad as it sounds and he’s a trooper who took it in with only minimal fussing.
The vet said that the recovery for this is very slow, if it happens at all. Many patients never leave the hospital, so the fact that he pulled through is good, but his prognosis is still “guarded”. His other blood work results showed he was no better, no worse. Just the same as when he left the hospital on Friday night. She also said that because the recovery is so slow, “it can take time for the liver and pancreas enzyme levels to go down”. Then we also talked about his other issues. How the pancreatitis is upsetting his liver, which is already upset by the anti-seizure med. The fluids I am giving can hurt the heart. So I mustered courage and asked the vet point-blank what I was looking at in terms of time and results.
She said that he could have “two months, six months, a year, or surprise us all by living long”. But she could not tell me with certainty he would live “years and years”. She mentioned that the combination of symptoms and issues was not good and that if, in two weeks he hasn’t shown improvement or cannot be without the meds, we will pretty much… be done.
So there it is. The next two weeks are it. After I went through last week, I know in my heart I will not push him. It’s no quality of life to be poked once a day for fluids and have to take 6 different pills to just be OK. I will do it for these next two weeks to give him a chance to get better. But as I told him last night, he is the boss and he will decide.
It sucks to know all this, to write it, to know that in two weeks I could be saying good-bye. But I love him more than anything else on this planet and I owe him as much.
I’m no longer praying for healing. I think that is selfish. I’m praying for what’s best for him. I ask that you do the same.
This sucks.
