I am long overdue for an update on Ellie. I ended up going into a bit of a depression, the past couple months have been crazy busy/stressful. I gritted my teeth and got through it, but when I had a chance to breathe I ended up shutting down. I don’t know if anyone can relate, but I am in full blown “Decision Fatigue”. Even simple decisions lately, have been absolutely overwhelming to make let alone the big ones. In my last post I was very clear in my decisions, but now I don’t know, haha.
Lets start with the good. We got updated X rays of Ellie’s lungs back on June 21st, and there is no sign of new nodules or new growth on the existing nodules!! That’s so freaking exciting and I’m over the moon about it. She is completely back to her old ways- when she gets excited she does the cutest little hoppity hop and she’s started getting zoomies almost daily. She still doesn’t have the greatest endurance, but as long as we have the stroller we can go however far we want and we have figured out a pretty decent communication on when she needs/wants to get in. Unfortunately, since I feel the need to bring the stroller we haven’t been able to do some of our most common hikes, which does bum me out specially with it being summer- we are usually up in the mountains a lot to escape the heat and enjoy the nature, but we are grateful for what we have and make do just fine (I am so freaking spoiled on all the outdoor areas we have, and fully realize it).
The not so good, but resolved. When we went in for X rays I was actually really really worried, because Ellie had been intermittently throwing up about once a day for nearly a week. She also had what I thought was swollen lips/muzzle, which turned out to be that the hair there fell out/rubbed off over the course of only a day (see pictures below). With everything I obviously immediately jumped to the worst case scenario (as did the vet, haha), there was no sign of blockage in her abdomen x rays so she was worried that Ellie may have a mass in her stomach. She didn’t know what to think of the what we thought was swelling, we wondered if she might have gotten stung/bit by something etc, but gave me a prescription for prednisone since it wasn’t “going down” even after 6 days. We were going to do an ultrasound of her stomach, but I held off, because the vomiting seemed to be happening at specific times either when she was really excited or right after eating, drank a bunch of water. I ended up getting a special water bowl with a floater so it would slow down her drinking (added bonus it stops her from spilling 2/3 of it on the floor), she hasn’t had an episode since getting that, so big sigh of relief. Still no idea what the cause of the losing hair on her muzzle, though, any guesses? It has since regrown back.
Due to there being zero change in her lung nodules, I’m really conflicted on moving forward with the MIMIC trial surgery. I should have emailed Dr. Thomsen right when I got the X rays and asked his opinion, but due to my depression I have avoided it until literally this morning. I hope he agrees with me and says it makes sense to just wait and see. Do X rays every 3 months until we start to see a change. I’m worried that removing the existing ones will just cause new ones either in a different (more painful) location or in the lungs, but be more aggressive. My mind is like why rock the boat? With that said, it may be a naïve point of view, so I did finally email him with the X rays to see what he thinks, I should probably email Ellie’s oncologist as well, but I’m pretty sure she would agree with me, as that was her concern with the surgery originally. I know Dr. Thomsen has commented that he usually sees dogs after they’ve exhausted everything else and are pretty advanced which hurts their chances, so I don’t want that, but we’ll see what he says.
Regardless, we have been enjoying our summer. Ellie has been swimming twice!! She’s a total Rockstar, and it’s been a lot of fun seeing her do everything she loves to do. We recently had our 3rd annual cardboard regatta (a hilarious cardboard boat race), I brought Ellie and she received so much love and attention, and met a bunch of new dogs who she actually played with (usually she ignores dogs after initial sniffs)!! I made a really silly/stupid “trailer” for the race that I just have to share:
We were lucky enough to be the winning bid for one of the Tripawd Dog paintings! I’m absolutely in love with it, and it has found it’s perfect home on my gallery wall. It adds special meaning knowing this was Sapphire’s last painting and I assured Sapphire’s parents that it would be cherished always.<3<3<3<3
That’s that update! I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer and I will post again soon! Till next time <3 <3
Oh gosh! Soooo glad to hear from you!
Gonna come back a bit later with more, but just HAD….absolutely HAD to pop in and get my picture fix of Ellie (and of course, hoping for good news too)! Got my fix and got good news! Made my day!
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Your “decision fatigue” is hard earned and well deserved. Wear it like a Badge of Courage, okay?
And the thing is, after a little “sabbatical ” to recharge your batteries emotionally and physically, you’ll reconnect with your ability to get past this seemingly “stuck” place.
When I find myself overwhelmed and unable to find a path forward, my “go to dysfunction ” is procrastination. I have become an Olympic Champion at procrastination! And it NEVER, EVER was part of my DNA. Anyway, just kind of fumbling through ti try and say, “I get it!” I also hope you can recognize you ARE making GOOD “decisions” for Ellie and yourself everyday…..deciding to take Ellie swimming…..deciding to email that Dr….deciding to bid on that tripawd artist , etc
Give yourself credit and be ki d to yourself.
Now, if only I could put off procrastinating….😂
So glad Ellie’s xrays are looking good. FWIW I like “not rocking the boat” attitude. To me, it’s not naive but a “decision” to stay focused on the Now
Makes me so happy to know Ellie is being Ellie😎 Are you kidding me? Ellie doing zoomies? Have to video that!!!
The “Cardboard Regatta ” video was brilliantly done!! Had not even heard of that before so it was fun getting glimpses of it. And I have no doubt Ellie made herself the most beloved Mascot they have ever had👍
Love the pic of Ellie with Sapphire s painting. I do remember seeing that one and the story. So glad you have it.
Thanks so much for taking the time to update and to share your thoughts and what’s going on with sweet Ellie.
Oh, a thought on the fur loss. Sounds like some sort of dermatitis. Regardless, glad it’s gone away and glad her tummy has settled down too.
Honest to goodness, Ellie takes THE best close up photos! She is soooo pretty and so unique. And that one where her ears are relaxed …OMD…so cute!!
Always look forward to yoir updates and glorious photos! Zoomies please!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Awwwwwww! Oh my dog I am so glad I waited to read this until I had a chance to breathe. We’ve had our own version of decision fatigue here so I totally get it.
It’s good to see Ellie out and enjoying summer with you and all her fan club friends. These are the moments to cherish, the reason why you said yes to amputation. Everything that happens after healing is icing on the cake. Enjoy getting that icing all over the place, and licking up the sweet sugary frosting!!!
I’m with you on the “why rock the boat” approach. We felt the same way with Jerry. What I can tell you is that when his time came, and that nasty cancer came back, I did have a lot of shoulddas & coulddas because we didn’t pursue further treatment. But I think no matter what you decide to do you will ALWAYS feel that way. So right now, if this is how you are feeling about which way to go with her care, then your gut won’t steer you wrong.
I was so thrilled to see you got Sapphire’s painting! THANK YOU!
Let’s meet up soon before we head to Alaska. I’d love to see you and your very wonderful sweet Ellie! Message me. xoxo
And we want video of the meetup!