The little pup has been doing great for the past couple of weeks. The only major event was having the stitches removed from the biopsy sites on two of her legs last Friday. The vet said she was doing well, considering her condition. I brought her into the office on my way back home ~ she got to meet several of my co-workers. One co-worker, aware of her condition and the short time she was given to live, was genuinely surprised to see such a happy, healthy, alert dog. Willa has been happy, alert and playful (and eating everything in sight) throughout the entire illness. Of course, the anti-seizure meds made her a bit sleepy at times - but during those short periods of drowsiness she enjoys stretching out on the couch next to her family, getting he belly rubbed. Her lumps do not seem to be causing her any pain or discomfort, despite the fact they are growing steadily. Willa rips across the yard at top speed, chasing squirrels, birds and the ever elusive ’stick’ ~ despite the lumps on her legs. I haven’t kidded myself ~ I know we’ll have to let her go soon, but I was beginning to think that she would have more time than originally predicted.
This all changed last night. For the first time almost a month she had a seizure. It hit her around 11:30 PM, while we were all sleeping together on the bed. The seizure was as horrible an experience as any other she has had in the past…but for me this one was harder to take. Any hope of a few more weeks of ‘good health’ for Willa…gone. As with her previous seizures, Berrian and I talked her through it, petting her, speaking softly to her about monkeys and cookies (two words she knows well). I couldn’t stop crying…Berrian’s voice broke a couple of times. Willa, however, was back to her usual goofy self in less than a half hour (after ‘talking her down’ and giving her a bath). She stayed up and played with her toys until the early hours of the morning, dropping slobbery stuffed squirrels in my lap for me to toss across the room.
When I left her this morning she was busy destroying her favorite monkey (a large stuffed ape with a voice box that screams when she bites it ;-p).
I called the vet when I got to the office this morning with an update on Willa and to tell them about the seizure. I have to bring the pup in this afternoon to have her blood levels checked and see about upping her anti-seizure meds. If the seizures can’t be controlled, I will have to put her to sleep even if she otherwise unaffected by the lumps. I am not going to let her suffer just to keep her near me ~ but I don’t want to take away any of the time she has left to enjoy life, either. I often find myself wondering could that happy little dog bounding across my yard, tennis ball in her mouth, be so near death?
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