Reality, Hope, Strength and the Mayor

AP here:
Wednesday May 1st is Tonka's surgery. His allergies have been bothering him and so his breathing has been very congested when he is sleeping. With surgery so close I took him to see one of his Doctors just to make sure we were not going to have any issues. His lungs are still clear and it all seems to be just nasal at this point and rather than put him on an antibiotic and upset his stomach we are just keeping an eye on him. I discussed his upcoming surgery with the Doctor who I like and respect very much and he was already familiar with some of the details. I have been holding up pretty well about all of this, but when we talked about the possibility of finding that it definitely is cancer and there is nothing that can be done I did have to catch myself. I have already heard that once but it was the phrase "there are worse things than dying" that hit me hard. The reality of the possibility sort of struck home at that point.
I am not going into this blind but rather with all the hope and emotional strength I can muster. Since this is starting as exploratory surgery there are several scenarios all with options that lay before us. Unfortunately there is no way to be 100% sure about any of them until they see what this mass actually is and what it has attached to. Once the surgeon knows what we are dealing with then we choose what to do. The control freak in me is not doing well with that as I like to know, plan and be prepared but I absolutely cannot prepare for the possibility that he will not come home again - I just can't. The comment "the odds are not in our favor" also stopped my heart for a few beats but if you follow this blog you know we beat odds all the time. Tonka is the master of beating odds and making his own rules about all things medical. I am trying to push all the bad thoughts aside and hoping and praying for the best possible scenario of just a strange little mass that comes out easy and he has a quick and full recovery. Tonka is my heart, he is a once in a lifetime sort of dog and I have learned so much from him and I am sure there will be a lesson for us in this little detour of our journey.
 

We went for a roll the other morning and there were 4 or 5 crews of workers replacing gas lines to house up and down our street. There is a small group that jokingly calls Tonka the Mayor of our city as he is so well known and stops to visit everyone we encounter wherever we go. I actually had a van stop one time, people got out, swarmed around him, called him by name, petted him and then piled back in and drove off and I still have no clue who they were. So as the mayor was rolling down the street the crews were stopping and coming to pet him, take pictures and ask questions. He was so happy to have so many people to "see"and was literally prancing in his wheels. He was really thrilled to meet Mr. Jerry who got down to his level and talked to him and gave him a lots of attention. It's really what makes him happy - to get out and about in the world and see to his constituents (whether they be adults, kids or animals) - my boy the Mayor.......

Stopping to shake paws with his peeps.

A lot of help!

AP here:
For a few weeks Tonka and I were on a roller coaster ride. I was scheduled for a couple of procedures that would leave me incapable of lifting him for 7-10 days. So while I fretted and stressed about what to do with him I then made matters worse by watching some youtube videos of my surgery. Sometimes knowledge is not such a good thing. Little did I know while I was totally freaking out the Tonka support team quietly assembled in the background and started planning out the week for us.

Diana and Chris presented me with a calendar for the week with days and times marked off as to when they would be at the house to take care of him. They are two very smart people - they knew if they asked if I needed help I would just say "no", so they didn't ask, they just stepped in and took care of him.

Caitlin came every day and twice on the day of the first procedure. Carol volunteered to come up every morning at 4:45 and get him up and moved since that is his normal routine. Robin and Donna would come by at 7:00 to get him in his wheels so he could eat and then go for a little walk. Carol would come back at 5 or 6 to get him in his wheels again so he could eat and walk if Caitlin or the others couldn't be there and CM had late night shift. Chris even worked it out so he could get to underwater treadmill at least one of the weeks. Tonka's Aunt Nancy and Aunt Denise were messaging me every day to check on us and Lisa and Laura were my (can't sleep) nightly support team on twitter.

A week before surgery Tonka started squinting his eyes and panting like crazy. He was in obvious distress and so I rushed him to GAVH for a late night emergency appointment. His Aunt Gina met us there for moral support knowing that I was already stretched a little thin. His temperature was elevated and so was his heart rate and he reacted painfully when Dr. Gerity moved his head up and down. Since he was painful they took a set of x-rays to see what was up. Naturally being Tonka his pictures came back beautiful and normal so a prescription for muscle relaxers and pain killers was prescribed. He was already on an anti-fungal for a skin problem so I was a little leery about giving him too much medicine since he never does well with medicine. Next he started having to urinate every 1/2 hour and his urine had hardly any color to it. He started consuming 3 quarts of water at a time and so I took him back to the vet and they ran a urinalysis, did an ultrasound and blood work

Shaved Ultrasound Belly

The urine showed nothing but the ultrasound revealed a small mass that should not be there. The mass most likely had nothing to do with his symptoms unless it is an adrenal gland tumor. His blood work came back with an elevated red blood cell count so an adrenal gland tumor although a stretch was a possibility. I took him back to get his blood pressure checked since that would also be one more thing to add to the theory. The techs came out to the truck to test it and that way he would not have to get up and into the wheels and possibly raise his BP. Once again Tonka in true Tonka fashion had a normal reading. A normal BP still did not rule out a tumor but I was not ready to go down the exploratory surgery road with him. Instead I started treating the pain as if his rib was possibly out by propping a folded towel under his ribs when he would lie down. Caitlin and I started icing more of the rib area and I worked on massaging the area at night. I took him off the anti-fungal medication and started limiting his water intake to see if he could concentrate his urine. Once I took him off the meds he started to improve and his urine started to darken up. It seems it was 2 issues that happened to coincide at the same time. His pain level went down with what we were doing with his rib and the excessive thirst and urination resolved once the medication was out of his system. The issue of the small mass is still to be resolved but right now he and I are both doing well and we are going to leave it at that for now. Knowing Tonka that small mass could be a third kidney he was trying to grow - he is after all my genetic mutant :-)

I cannot possibly ever thank everyone that helped out for the two weeks and I am sure I have left some people out of this post. Please know that Tonka and I love you all very much and are extremely grateful.

My Friend Sylvia

Thanks to everyone that helped raise money for my friend Sylvia to have her surgery. We raised enough and her foster parents (Mike and Trish) have scheduled it with a great surgeon for this Friday. I have invited Sylvia's foster mom to explain what the surgery is all about and to keep us updated. She will be guest blogging either tomorrow or Friday. I am so happy she is going to be feeling better once her hip is fixed and then she can find her furever home like me.
T

Help my Friend Sylvia

My friend Sylvia needs some help. She is such a sweet girl and deserves a forever home like me.

Sylvia has lost two chances for a forever home when she struggled on steps within the houses. Upon examination and x-ray, AGPR learned that she has a severe case of arthritis in her left hip due to hip dysplasia and is in pain, which she’s been bravely masking at her foster home.  In order to correct the problem, give her a pain-free existence and a chance to find a loving and permanent home, Sylvia will need surgery. AGPR needs to quickly raise $3,000 to pay for the surgery and rehabilitation. They are already about two-thirds of the way there. Please look into your heart and consider a donation to Sylvia’s Fund for Appalachian Great Pyrenees Rescue.
You can send a check or money order to:
Appalachian Great Pyrenees Rescue
8976 Battlefield Park Rd.
Richmond, VA 23231
Please write “Sylvia’s Fund” in the memo line.

You also can donate quickly and securely via our PayPal account. Just go to http://www.agprescue.com/fundraise.html and click on the “Make a Donation” button.

Thank you for helping my friend Sylvia live a full and happy life.

Sylvia and a friend

Goodbye Dr. Gift

Today was my 2 week check up since surgery and also the day we said goodbye to Dr. Gift. He is leaving to have his own practice in another State. He said my eye is looking good and in another few weeks will look relatively normal (normal for me anyway). My other eye is having an issue now and has a moderate increase in inflammation so I got a new drop for it and a new antibiotic since I have been feeling a little punky. He said I should be like a new dog by Friday. I am not sure what type of new dog I should be by Friday everyone says my shaved leg looks like a poodle cut so maybe I should be a poodle for awhile. They are supposed to be really smart but I like being a Pyr so I guess I will just stay ME!