Wednesday, September 13, 2006
On Sunday evening the weather was a little cooler here in Florida, so we decided to take the gang to the park. We hadn’t been to the park since Summer brought the stifling humidity here in sunny Florida so it was a good change of pace for everyone.
As soon as we got there, Benjamin and Henry saw the jungle gym and immediately started tugging on the leashes to get to it. The boys love to run around on the jungle gym and go up and down the slides. Luna followed the boys around as they climbed up and down the jungle gym steps and ran over the bridge, but she declined to go down any of the slides. Benjamin and Henry on the other hand were feeling extra adventurous and even decided to tackle the twisty slides. Here is a pic of Henry coming down the twisty slide full steam ahead.
After playing on the jungle gym for a bit, we hit the trails. After about a two mile walk everyone was tuckered out. Mission accomplished. On the way home, we had three tired pugs!
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Let’s start with the good news, then we will give you a little of the background story…the cell scrape of Luna’s eye came back from the pathologist. It is a fungal growth. Yup. She’s got a fungus. There’s a fungus among us. Gross & disgusting but totally awesome because it is totally curable and NOT cancer!!! Yipee!! We will sleep well tonight. So, there is the short story for all of you reading this on your coffee break. Those interested in the full details, hope you’re reading this on lunch or after hours.
It was Saturday afternoon and we were filled with worry and noticed that not only had her eye not been getting any better but it was getting even worse. It looked a little like pink cauliflower. Don’t know how it wasn’t bothering her, but it wasn’t. Nonetheless, it was growing and getting uglier. We decided to do a little therapy shopping for the baby girl. We went shopping and picked out a few little dresses for our littlest pug. (We will have blogs about this, too, so keep an eye out for the fashion show.)
By Sunday, we had decided that we would have to schedule the biopsy since the vet had said if the medicine wasn’t working then a biopsy would need to be done. Knowing cancer was a possibility, we did not want to wait for the skin scrape to come back, we saw Luna’s sore growing and we would have to act quickly to stop the spread any further. So, early Monday morning, we called and scheduled the biopsy. We spoke to the nurse and explained the situation that the growth was getting bigger, changing shape and the color was getting angrier looking. We discussed whether the biopsy was a wise decision to do at this time or if we should really wait possibly another whole week for the skin cell results. The nurse agreed that the biopsy was the appropriate course of action. The biopsy was scheduled for Wednesday. This was the day that surgeries are done at the specialist’s office.
It wasn’t an hour later that the nurse called back to say that they were cancelling Luna’s appointment for the biopsy because it would not be necessary. The results of the skin scrape came back and it was a fungus. Truthfully, the glory of it all still hasn’t sunk all the way in but I know that everyone in our household will sleep better tonight. The specialist, which is about an hour away, will ship the medication that she needs to take via DHL. It should be here tomorrow or the next day. It is nice that we don’t have to go pick it up from them but we would make the trip if it were urgent. Yay. It’s not urgent. She has athlete’s foot in her eye. Lovely. Yet, not urgent!
While we are very excited that she is fine, we are understandably miffed as to why the specialist never even suggested that it could be as simple as a treatable fungal infection. There were basically 2 causes according to her: re-current tumors as a result of her own body trying to create scars over her dry eye or cancer. Those were the choices. We will inquire at next week’s follow up why this other option was never ever mentioned to us. It would have been nice to know that there were other possibilities but I guess they just prepare you for the worst and then when you get something better, then it really makes your day.
Thank you all, out there in the pug community, that held Luna in your thoughts and prayers. It is so comforting to know that we have your support and warm wishes in times like these.
Monday, September 11, 2006
We were quite excited when we went to Bob Evans this weekend and their pumpkin bread was back. We eat at Bob Evans quite frequently and their pumpkin bread is great. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Benjamin is crazy for pumpkin bread so it goes without saying that Benjamin devoured his share. Pumpkin Bread at Bob Evans, a sign that fall is just around the corner.
Saturday, September 9, 2006
Henry and I were out for a walk in the neighborhood, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I saw a bright color and it seemed to be suspended in mid-air. I turned to look and that is when I found this guy. I have no clue what kind of spider this is, but I have never seen a spider quite like this one. It was huge and the colors were very bright.
Henry and I finished our walk and returned home. I grabbed my camera and went back out to get a picture so that I would have evidence when I told my family about this amazing spider. It goes without saying that I took full advantage of my camera’s zoom on this shot. This city girl did not want to get anywhere near this spider.
Henry was unfazed by it all. He did not notice the spider, he was too busy smelling a patch of grass to even notice me staring at it. Which is a very good thing. I wouldn’t want him getting too close either.
Friday, September 8, 2006
It has been a rough couple of days so we decided to take the gang out for some ice cream. We headed over to our favorite frozen custard shop and what do you know? Their flavor of the day was peanut butter. Benjamin, Henry and Luna go nuts for peanut butter so we decided to get them each a doggie dish of peanut butter ice cream. They thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Well, we are all waiting with baited breath the results of Luna’s pathology report. It all began the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. We noticed Luna had a white, pimply bump on her right eyeball (the worse of her 2 eyes.) Knowing it was a holiday weekend and she probably needed to go to a specialist rather than the general emergency place, we tried to wait it out until Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning the specialist was called and they did not seem alarmed and said that they could take her on Thursday. Well, throughout the next day and a half, the bump progressed from a small white blemish to a growing, red bump. We opted to take her to the local emergency vet around 11 PM Tuesday night. They looked at her eye, gave her a little exam and said to go to her specialist first thing in the morning. They felt that it would not rupture through the night and that the specialist would squeeze her in knowing that Luna’s eye sore was worsening.
Though we barely got a wink of sleep due to worry, we were at the specialist’s office (about an hour away) before they even opened. They did, in fact, fit Luna into the schedule. She was even the first patient they saw.
They examined her eye and came to the conclusion that it is a tumor. They offered us 3 choices. The first was to simply change her medicine and pay close attention for any change. The second was to have them numb her eye and take a cell scraping of the troubled spot. The third choice was to do a biopsy on another day. Now, the first choice was not an option for us because that seemed like a hurry up and wait situation where time is of the essence. The debate then came between numbers 2 and 3. The thing is with the scrape, they may not actually get an accurate read and the biopsy would still be necessary to rule out cancer if the scrape came back negative for cancer. However, they couldn’t do a biopsy today and it would require another visit and local anesthesia.
Now it is an odd situation of what do you wish for? Do you want the scrape to come back as cancer? Of course not. But then you have to put Luna through a biopsy and you don’t want that either. If you do put her through a biopsy and it not cancerous, then it was all worth it and your glad you did but if it comes back negative then you feel terrible that you put her through a seemingly unnecessary procedure. However, we opted for the scrape.
When do the results come back? Up to 2 weeks from now. That seems like a terribly long time to wait. If there is cancer, Luna will likely lose her eye. Even if it is not cancer, there is a chance of that, as well. The main problem is that Luna’s system is trying to save her own eye which seems like a good thing. The problem is in doing so, she keeps producing cells (some normal and some abnormal) in abundance so much that it creates scarring and tumors. So, even if there is no cancer, she very well could continue to produce these little tumors all over her eye which isn’t healthy for her, either. She is fighting to be healthy and it is hurting her. It doesn’t seem fair.
In any event, we will keep you posted on her prognosis and hope that all you pug lovers keep little Luna in your thoughts & prayers. The silver lining is that none of this is life threatening and Luna doesn’t seem to be in any pain. Thank you all for your concern and support.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
This holiday weekend we had a family gathering with folks from far and near. There were many hands for petting at the party and all the animals took full advantage of the situation. Henry would sit and just wait for someone to pet him. Benjamin got into plenty of trouble as he tried to steal goodies from the table even accomplishing snagging a piece of cheese and a lick of icing off of a piece of cake. However, little Luna was the one most everyone raved about. Since she is so petite she does seem to attract most of the attention, not to mention that she was all dolled up in her sun-dress and pearl necklace. As the Labor Day bash was nearing an end and some of the relatives were about to leave, little Luna really poured it on thick, having to be pried from a young lady’s lap and then showing off so much that everyone felt compelled to dote on her as they tried to make their exit. One of the attendees commented that Luna reminded her of her dog, a long haired chihuahua named Lucy. I guess it is something about the tiny, feisty ones! One of the other guests, also a dog lover, just knew that that all the pups, hers included (a mixed breed named Haley) would get along all together like one big pack. It would have been an even livelier event had they brought their furry friends. Maybe next year! In any case, a fine time was had by all creatures great & small.
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