Bad Luck

I don’t think I’ve talked about my dog’s health problems in detail since this is a financial blog but this is going to be a more personal post so I apologize in advance if this gets sappy.

I have discussed in the past how our dog has been diagnoses with diabetes. We have her on insulin, which she gets twice a day and we believed we were going to get it under control. One morning over a month ago, I went to take her downstairs with me to start our morning routine and I noticed her eyes were really wide and she was really cautious going down the stairs. I didn’t really understand what was going on at first until she started bumping into walls. I woke up G right away and we got her into see our vet that afternoon. Mocha (her name) had gone blind literally over night because cataracts forming due to her diabetes. Although this was difficult to deal with we knew that if we got her diabetes under control, cataract surgery was always an option. She does extremely well getting around the house, since she is familiar with the layout although she has knocked over her water bowl on a few occasion, lol.

So we kept doing the check ups. We bought a glucometer for at home insulin curves which we would call into our vet and they would recommend a bump in her insulin. She seems to be doing better although her levels aren’t where they needed to be. She wasn’t loosing anymore weight, instead, was gaining some back. She wasn’t drinking as much water nor having to go to the bathroom every two hours. We were positive.

Then one night we noticed her eyes were all red and she wasn’t really opening them. It was too late to call the vet so we were going to call in the morning if it hadn’t cleared up overnight. The next morning her eyes had gotten even worse. The only way I can describe how she was acting was drunk. Wobbling around everywhere, her third eyelid was so swollen and red, she was batting at her eyes and her head was tilting really badly to the side, she wouldn’t eat. I called the vet right away and got her an appointment that afternoon. They had never seen anything like it themselves and were calling the vet hospital in Saskatoon trying to get ahold of the ophthalmologist for advice. We went home that night with three different eye drops and a referral for the hospital in Saskatoon. The next morning her eyes were 100% better, she was back to her almost normal self and didn’t seem to be in pain. The diagnosis: complications for her diabetes, fluid retention buildup around her eyes. Since the drops worked, we were positive.

At this point, as you can imagine, G and I are both emotional exhausted. Every time Mocha has a complication and it's scary for us, she fights and pulls thru. I know she is just a dog so not everyone would understand, but she is our family and I am so proud of her and her strength.

On Thursday, G took Mocha to her appointment in Saskatoon. She seen the ophthalmologist and had a medical consult aswell as a full check up. The ophthalmologist was extremely positive about cataract surgery and was very detail in explaining everything to G, even sending home pamphlets for me to read. That afternoon when I got home from work, G and I were discussing the options and doing more research when he got a call from the vet who had gotten some of Mocha’s blood work and other test results back. The diagnosis: Mocha has cancer.

Two lumps on her body came back positive, and we need to go back to Saskatoon for testing to see how aggressive and if it’s spread anywhere else. I’m trying really hard to stay positive but this last bit of news has hit me hard, mainly because we were not expecting it at all. Right now, the cancer is our main priority. The vet seems to think that could be why the insulin hasn’t been helping regulate her either. We are all hoping that once the cancer is gone the diabetes will be more regulated aswell.

Hoping.

- M