To what length: part two

My internal alarm went off at 3:12 am. That is about the time I have been getting up for the last 3 weeks with my sheltie friend for a quick trip outside. Tonight he is in ICU. I don't know if anyone there will take him out for his nocturnal relief, but I can only hope someone there is awake and willing as well.

As most "good intentioned" chain of events start, ours began with surgery to remove, or debulk, a tumor that had grown quickly. Nick, (born on Christmas Day) was first diagnosed with anal sac carcinoma in October 2005. He has been through chemo, radiation and this is his third and final surgery. Through it all he never got sick or lost hair. He even looked forward to seeing his radiation tech Kim. Just the mention of her name got him out the door and bouncing down the steps to the car.

The next event in the chain is familiar to those who have dealt with renal failure. I never have... didn't realize that vomiting and a strange smell are symptoms of renal failure. My vet surgeon did though, and said she was "concerned" when I told her about them while she was removing the stitches. I had called the emergency room the previous weekend and had her paged to see if we should refill the antibiotic tabs because he was still bleeding.

After 7 days of nausea and not eating, the vet told me to bring him in for blood work and xray to see if there is blockage or infection. Xray's show some things, CT scans other things...but both can not fully reveal what is actually there.

The blood work was shocking. Blood urea Nitrogen normal is 9 - 31. His was 229. Creatinine normal is .6 to 1.6. His was10.8. Standard treatment for humans is dialysis. For dogs it is IV to flush the kidneys until the numbers return to the normal range and then hope they can maintain that level when they go home.

I know where this is headed. I am hoping to get him well enough for one last trip up to the lake...his happy place.

A previously posted article, "To what length?" will fill you in on the choices made since he was first diagnosed. The photo is Nick on the way to ICU.