Friday, August 15, 2014
We heard from our vet yesterday after he consulted with the oncologist. After reviewing Henry's biopsy, it was decided that the best course of action would be to remove the kidney with the tumor. After the kidney is removed it can be sent for a complete biopsy and we can determine what course of chemotherapy is needed.
The oncologist confirmed that this is a very aggressive type of cancer, but based on what we know so far, thinks we caught things early (although there is no way to be 100% sure). Because of the aggressive nature of this cancer, removing the kidney is a top priority and our vet scheduled Henry for surgery on Monday. Before the surgery, Henry will have a chest x-ray to make sure his lungs are clear. The most common place for metastasis for renal cancer is in the lungs. If Henry's lungs are clear, he will have surgery that day to remove his kidney.
I appreciate the well wishes for Henry. His spirits are high and we are going to make sure he has a wonderful weekend. I will keep you updated as best I can on Monday.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
We finally received the biopsy results late yesterday evening. Unfortunately, the news is not good. Henry has renal cancer.
We are absolutely devastated. But beyond our incredible sadness, we do not have a good plan for how we are going to move forward just yet. Our vet is going to present Henry's case to an oncologist. From there we will have a better idea on how to proceed.
In the little that we know, we were told this type of cancer rarely occurs in dogs (especially pugs). Henry is also showing no signs of sickness (which apparently is sometimes the case with renal cancer).
As I write this, Henry is laying on the bed, licking his feet, oblivious to the horrible news we just received that affects him so personally. He is happy and content in this moment. The worries and fears for what the future is going to bring keep creeping into my brain, robbing me of this happy time. Right now that is my challenge. Enjoy these moments with Henry and not let worry take them from me.
We are hoping to have more information about how to proceed with treatment by Thursday. I don't know what treatment options are available to us or what that process is going to look like, but I can tell you that we will do whatever needs to be done for Henry as long as it supports him living a quality life.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Poor Benjamin and Luna had a very rough weekend. Both of them have collapsed tracheas so there is generally a chorus of coughing and goose honks echoing throughout the house. However, this weekend was extremely bad.
Benny got so bad on Sunday, that we sent a video to our vet to get his opinion on Benny's condition. (Our vet totally rocks! He was crazy enough to give us his cell phone number and we text him or send pictures and videos to him from time to time to answer some of the many questions we have while caring for a group of senior pugs). After viewing the video, our vet suggested that we give Benny a shot we have on reserve for Benjamin in case he gets too worked up. We had the shot on hand for quite some time now and unfortunately on Sunday, we needed to use it.
Benny took the shot like a champ. I think it was harder on us than it was on him. We tested our strategy (how we would hold him, etc) for administering the shot on Henry since he was nice and calm at the time. Henry was a good sport, but he did look at us a bit like we had lost our mind. If he could talk, I'm sure he would be saying, "You have the wrong pug!"
While were aren't 100% sure what caused Benjamin and Luna to have such a hard time this weekend, we are pretty sure the weather was the culprit. It was disgustingly humid this weekend. With summer looming, I'm hoping this weekend is not a preview of what's to come.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Benjamin has been having some eye issues of late. He frequently has mucus in his eyes and in the morning he has been waking up with lots of crust around his eyes. To top it off, the whites of his eyes have started to be red and irritated looking.
We decided to take Benny to the eye vet. The same eye vet that Luna has seen for years and who just did Henry's eye surgery. (I guess Benny was feeling left out of the eye exam club). Benjamin had his exam and much to our surprise they diagnosed him with dry eye. It was surprising to us because Luna suffers from a very bad case of dry eye and her eyes actually look dry. Benjamin's eyes, on the other hand, are always moist looking, almost too watery. But it turns out that the quality of Benjamin's tears is poor. So even though his eyes are moist his tears aren't able to properly refresh his eyes. So just like Luna, Benjamin suffers from dry eye.
We left the eye vet with a course of eye drops for Benny that will help with his condition (all different from the drops that Luna takes of course). We have been giving them to him for a few days and have already seen a some progress. He no longer has the crust around his eyes in the morning when he wakes up. Hopefully Benny will be feeling better soon.
Friday, May 9, 2014
This was the scene on our way to the vet the other day. I usually recline the passenger seat so Henry can easily get into the backseat if he wants to without any assistance from me. If he doesn't want to ride in the backseat, usually he curls up in the front seat. But, on this particular day, he decided he would just recline.
Once we arrived at the vet, we got the lingering stitch taken care of in record time and then we were back on our way home.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Henry's recovery from his eye surgery has been remarkable. He has taken everything in stride and we have been amazed with how quickly he has adjusted to having only one eye. However, this weekend, we did notice a bit of a bump near where his eye is stitched shut. After a few minutes of investigation we quickly realized it was a stitch! When we took him to get his stitches out they forgot to remove one. We tried to remove it ourselves, but it was not coming out. We are going to take him to the vet to get hopefully that final stitch removed.
This is the second time that this has happened with Henry. When he was a pup, he had a minor surgery and they left one of the stitches in him then. For some reason, Henry likes to hang on to his stitches.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Henry has finally been sprung from the cone of shame!
On Friday, we took Henry in for his post surgery, follow up appointment. The eye vet was very pleased with how everything is healing and removed the stitches from Henry's eye. After the stitches were removed we had to leave the cone on for one more day. But, Saturday was a happy happy day when Henry finally got to lose the cone. I'm not sure who was happiest about it. Henry, me or Benjamin, Luna and Cupid. Henry was a one man wrecking crew in that thing. I think the funniest incident was when he knocked a night light off the wall when rushing to the kitchen to get a treat.
In any case, I am so relieved to be on this side of the surgery. I had a lot of angst going into this one. I'm not exactly sure why. Usually, I am nervous, but I know that everything is going to be ok in the long run. If only I would have know how well Henry would handle everything. That would have saved me a lot of worrying 
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