It's been a couple of weeks since our last post - mainly because Elizabeth is doing very well. So, that is our good news. The bad news (more of it) is that I had to put my Mitzi down this morning. She has been sick for several months and this morning she apparently ruptured a tumor of her spleen. She was doing fine this morning (as fine as she could be given that she's been dropping weight like crazy the last 6 months). I went to get her a travel kennel for her and my little man Reese so that my mom could take them to Louisiana for the next few months while Elizabeth did her treatments. After I returned to the car within 20 minutes of travel to the store and back to the car, she had crashed pretty bad. She was not breathing well and she was unresponsive to nearly anything. She couldn't stand up much less walk so I put her in my lap and hauled ass to the vets office in Arlington. After doing her CBC and some x-rays, it was pretty obvious that without radical surgery - in which she would have needed a minimum of 2 blood transfusions beforehand to even get close to stable - that Mitzi would not make it much longer. Given that she likely had a cancerous tumor, the cost to do all of this with a dog as sick as she was didn't make much sense. So, with Elizabeth in Destin, I made the call to put her down and keep her suffering to a minimum. We loved that dog so very much. She was with us for over 9 years and the entirety of Elizabeth and I's marriage. To say she was our first "daughter" would be accurate. I am thankful for the 9 great years that we spent with her but Min Pins normally live to be over 15+ years so this was tough on us. I let Anna come and say her goodbye at the clinic and she was such a big girl but when we walked outside she let it all out. I suppose my crying didn't help matters much but I am so proud of my little girl as she is about as tough as they come. Needless to say, I'd prefer that we could go a few months without bad news. I am devastated about this dog - easily my favorite pet that I've ever owned. I'll need a new puppy soon so that I can get rid of this crappy feeling. I'm just numb. Might need a drink tonight.
On to Elizabeth - which this blog should be about anyway. She left for Destin for a few days at the beach with some friends. I know she is going to have a wonderful time. She has been feeling really good - her breathing is soooo much better than it was two weeks ago. Her itching stopped and it gives us a good feeling about how well the ESHAP is working. She got another small victory yesterday as we found out that Tulane worked very hard to secure a home infusion pump for her so that she can do her chemo out-patient instead of being in the hospital. Yay! Small wins - we'll take 'em!
So, chemo starts Monday and she is ready to get on with it. It gets her one step closer to a potential cure and that's what we are hoping for...to have her live well beyond me!! I know she will. I am not sure what she plans on doing with her hair, but it appears that it is starting to come out in chunks now. Dr. Pallera was actually quite surprised that she still had hair left given that ESHAP usually takes it away pretty quickly. He hadn't fully figured out that she is a bad-ass! He'll get it soon enough! Haha.
The last two weeks have been pretty great - until today! I hope this is all of the bad news that is left to come for us in the near future. We could use the break!
As always, thank you so very much for the thoughts and prayers. They mean a ton to us. We have been blessed to have such great people surrounding us and walking this journey with us!
My best,
Scott
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