Spring

#13-040 Spring, update 6/28

EGF DOG

We have some wonderful news to share!

Back a couple of months ago, before Spring had her marathon double mastectomy, X-rays revealed a suspicious mass in one lung – “almost certainly a malignant tumor,” said the vets. The plan was to repeat the films in three months to check on status – was the mass growing, or staying the same? If it was growing, was its progress fast or slow?

New X-rays were taken on June 25^th. And… the mass sure isn’t growing. But it’s not staying the same, either. It’s GONE!!

To make sure he wasn’t seeing things (well, NOT seeing things), the vet called in the radiologist who had orginally reviewed the pictures for additional analysis. That vet confirmed that the phantom “mass” is no longer anywhere to be found. The explanation: the mass we saw in April was “an optical illusion, a shadow created by the convergence of several normal blood vessels. The grouping of blood vessels is of no concern.”

What a stunningly happy turn of events! And in other good news, Spring’s ears, so badly infected at the start, look good now. That just leaves chronic allergies to address—and like many other Central Texans, Spring will be taking Zyrtec to help with that problem.

Happy summer, Spring!

#13-040 Spring, update 6/3

EGF DOG

It’s been a month since our last update – and here’s the latest: Spring's ears are clear and the cultures are negative! Namely: no infection left at all.

Foster mom reports, “I was so excited to get such a fantastic report about Spring’s ears today. We’ll continue to flush both ears every one to two weeks & also continue with her baths once every week or two, then once a month. Her skin is in great shape so far. We also plan to stop her pain meds. If she should show any renewed snappiness when her back end is lifted, we’ll likely start them up again on a reduced dose… but it might just be that there’s something in Spring’s past that causes her to react the way she does at times. Overall she’s so sweet! We’ll just work on this issue—Spring is meeting with a behaviorist at the end of the month, and we’re really looking forward to it.”

In other  exciting news, Spring has been joined by another EGF dog: little Ladybird, who just had surgery on a badly fractured foreleg and needs a month of recuperation. Since foster mom is a nurse, what better place for an injured puppy to rest and recover?

In about a month, Spring will have a follow-up visit to re-evaluate the spot we found on her lung back in March. Send lots of prayers her way!

#13-040 Spring, update 5/2/13

EGF DOG

It’s been just about one month since Spring’s marathon surgery—and doesn’t she look pretty! Clean, silky, shiny, loved, and enjoying her namesake season. “I’m on Easy Street now,” says Spring. “I have the world’s best cheering squad: a wonderful, devoted foster mom, a dedicated vet clinic, and of course an entire rescue organization!”

There was a little bump in the road with a mild infection at Spring’s spay site, but we’re happy to say that by now, all of her incisions have knitted up beautifully. One problem we didn’t mention before: on top of everything else, looks like this little gal’s tail was closed in a  car door or pinched in a gate at some point. Ouch! It had a good-sized open wound, which is still healing.

Fantastic news about those awful ears, though: after 4+ weeks of dedicated treatment with multiple meds, her right ear is clear and her left one is almost there, too. “We’ll continue with antibiotic drops and ear washes for another 2 weeks,” says foster mom.

When Spring first settled in at her foster home, she’d growl when anyone touched her spay site, her tender tail, or her ears. “If I had all these incisions & other problems, I'm sure I would growl too! She’s grumbling less as she feels better—but if you try to lift her back end, she does complain. The vet wonders if she has a back problem? We’ll keep monitoring. In the meantime, my solution is to use Easy Step pet stairs—saves having to hoist her.”

Sweet Spring loves to be loved and petted! She likes playing with her toys and loves to have the ball thrown. And she LOVES her twice-weekly medicated baths.

Spring and GRR send a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who’s sent donations and good wishes her way as she starts her new life!

#13-040 Spring, age 6

EGF DOG

Can you help GRR help Spring? What we’d like most of all is to find a family devoted to giving this sweetheart a warm, safe haven, knowing from the outset that her time may be short. We’ll pay for her continued veterinary care—you’ll provide top-quality food and love (and it won’t be hard to fall in love with Spring!). Here’s her story so far:

Spring… it’s a time for new beginnings, new awakenings, brightness and warmth. A time for new life to appear. So what better name than “Spring” for this lovely lady, who became a GRR dog just a few days into the season?—and who so clearly needs and deserves that brand-new start.

The most we can say about 6-year-old Spring’s former life is that it involved many litters of pups—and very little medical attention! “Worst ears I have ever seen,” winced our intake volunteer, “thickened, goopy, and almost swollen shut.” But the discomfort the pretty champagne blonde has surely suffered for a long time from her ears alone couldn’t dampen her social nature. She’s a Golden!—and ”My motto is Rise Above!” she’d probably say. Nothing was going to get in the way of her making a new friend. “So sweet… rushed to meet me. When I sat on the floor she first leaned in, then kind of melted up against my side, then slid to the floor and rolled right over for a tummy rub.” It was then that problem #2 became evident: Spring had at least one sizable mammary tumor and probably more. And when she gave her classic Golden grin, problem #3 showed up: two broken canines on the left side.

The minute Spring was sprung from the shelter a few days later, we whisked her to the clinic.

The news wasn’t good.

The vet discovered mammary tumors in every quadrant, and beyond that, X-rays revealed a suspicious shadow—almost certainly a cancerous mass—in one lung. It was time for  Spring’s medical team & the GRR board to decide on the next step. One option, ofcourse, was to just wait and see if the lung & mammary tumors would grow quickly or slowly; since we have no medical history on Spring, we just have no idea how long it has already taken for things to come to this pass. But if we did that, thereby postponing spay surgery, too, Spring’s body would continue to produce estrogen, feeding her mammary tumors.

Commented her vets, “There’s really no 100% right answer—whether to do surgery now, or just skip it and limit treatment to pain meds as needed and treating her infected ears. But if there’s one thing EVERYONE agrees on, it’s what a wonderful personality this dog has. She deserves every chance. The cancer may be fast-moving, but then again it may be slow-growing. Our vote is to do the surgery and spay and hope for the best.”

The GRR board agreed: “By doing the surgery now, we’re giving her the best chance for a longer, more comfortable life.”

April 1 was a long day for Spring AND her vets! The surgery was “huge,” but the little 47-pounder came through beautifully – by late afternoon (helped by some effective pain meds), she was bright & perky and standing up. Not bad for pup who has two 2-foot-long incisions, one on each side of her tummy, and had to sport a pressure bandage to help prevent seromas (pockets of fluid) from forming! Besides performing a double mastectomy, the vet spayed Spring, pulled the two broken teeth, and flushed out those “terrible” ears. No wonder the whole process took close to three hours! The pathology report came back with the news we pretty much expected—half of the tumor samples were indeed cancerous, but the surgeon got good margins, and there was no sign of cancer in the lymph nodes he submitted. And on the bright side, the other mammary samples were benign.

As of today – just a little over a week later – she has healed amazingly well, and her sutures came out. Hooray! The big challenge for the moment is her ears, which are very painful. She’s OK if you don’t touch them – but of course, it’s important to instill antibiotic drops to help heal the deep-seated infection, and poor Spring doesn’t enjoy that process one bit. The doctor sent home antihistamines & two different meds for pain and inflammation – let’s all keep our fingers crossed that it helps! And though Spring may be touchy about her head & ears right now, she’s still seeking out attention, closeness, and affection. She gets long great with her foster dog friends, too.

What’s next for Spring? For her ears – continued care. For her cancer -- no chemo or other treatments, just loving care and  the best-quality diet possible. Cancer patients need high-quality protein (no byproducts), quality fats, and limited carbs (no wheat, no corn), so that’s what we’ll provide. We’ll repeat X-rays in July to see where we stand at that point. And we’ll make sure that the new life that started on March 25^th is as wonderful as it can be for as long as it lasts, whether that’s for just one more springtime or, as we hope, at least a few more!

Donations to help with Spring’s medical expenses can be made through our website, http://oldsite.grr-tx.com/about/howhelp.htm#Donations, or sent to us at GRR, PO Box 956, Austin, 78767-0956. And if you are interested in permanent-fostering Spring, just let us know. As always, THANK YOU from all of us at GRR.