Buddy

So...after everyone in our house was sick, sick, sick, Buddy got sick too. He was acting so weird and started having accidents all over the house. Sometimes that can be a common occurs ce here and there when he's mad, but this was not the case. I took him to the vet, his urinalysis showed nothing because it was too diluted. He did a full exam and wellness panel and a blood draw and sent us on our way, assuring us that it shouldn't be anything too serious, he's only 7. The next day the vet called me back to explain he has a high calcium content in his blood which could lead to 4 things, however, he also has swollen lymph nodes, so that can only lead to lymphoma. That was a very sad day. I was in class for 15 minutes instead of the normal 3 hours and I only went because I had a test, which I studied for like crazy and almost failed from being so distracted. 

At that point we had to make to decision to put him through chemo or steroids. We decided on steroids because we just don't have the extra thousands of dollars or animal health insurance. Come to find out after we made the decision, it was probably the right one. The calcium in the blood makes this cancer very resistant to treatment. It has shown to only work about 10% of the time when there's calcium present. He's been on the steroids for 3 weeks now and they have seemed to do what they're supposed to. His swollen lymph nodes aren't swollen anymore and he seems to be more comfortable. He doesn't have the same side effects of increased hunger, he's been eating about the same amount as usual. However, yesterday he stole Marty's entire Jimmy John's sub off the counter and finished it off for him 😂 

My new concern is on his bowel movements. For the first week they were normal. The second week they weren't too different, just a little softer. For the past week however, he has at least 4 per day and it's uncontrollable. He's lost a lot of fat and muscle and we can now easily feel his bones. I don't know if it's possible, but I'm thinking he's not absorbing the nutrition from his food.  He's also very tired and short of breath. 

There will be very important discussions at the vet tomorrow. I know when it comes to decision time it's not going to be easy for anyone, however, I'm worried more about the kids. They've never had to handle the loss of a pet before, and at such young ages.