Need Some Support Friends, My lab is sick Options

[terio]

********** Hi! We thought it best to bring Terri's post to the "Death & Dying" area, for more exposure, so that she can
receive more love, comfort & help........ I know that Marcia alluded to this in a post, but I "spoke with Terri",
and she agreed to the move.........
Lightning-Strike is a wonderful place, with exceptional human beings who love people, and the "furry family"
who loves them...(or...finned...winged....rodent-type, etc., etc., etc....) LS is for all of us!!!!

God Bless You All..............Love, Denise (Muffins)...xo

P.S. PLEASE DO NOT WORRY YOURSELF OVER "LONG POSTS", MY NEW FRIEND............. I FEEL THAT
I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO TAKE UP MORE SPACE THAN A LOT OF THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE ON HERE.......********
ALWAYS BE SURE THAT YOU SAY AND GET OFF YOUR CHEST WHAT YOU NEED TO SAY...........
WE ARE ALL HERE FOR YOU...........JUST REMEMBER THAT..........OKAY?????????****





Hi everyone,
This is my first post here...so I'm just figuring out how to post ect. My dear 9 year old lab is very sick and I need someone to talk to and go thru this with me. About a month ago I found a lump... it was a cancerous tumor that was removed and the margins were clear so I hoped for the best.
She seemed normal for about a week...but then she went into a decline. She was having a lot of trouble with her back legs and her arthritis prescription didn't seem to help. She was whining a lot and I knew things weren't right. I took her in for one vet visit where they didn't run test or in my opinion investigate completely. She had a hernia and said she needed hernia surgery but that wasn't what was causing her pain.
The morning of her scheduled surgery I told them she wouldn't be having hernia surgery because she wasn't eating and seemed to be in pain. She was diagnosed with diabetes... the vet said all would be fine and we could take her home and give her insulin ect. She then went back into the back room and came out to tell us that she just got the results of another test and things were much worse... she was in a bad stage of it.
After several days of trying to regulate her diabetes she again took a turn for the worse...vomiting ect... Today she had ultrasounds that revealed probable stumach/liver cancer and she is requiring anti nausea meds to see if she can hold food. I feel like I'm paralyzed and can't leave her side..my couch ect. Luckily I work at home so won't have to leave her but I do licensed day care so worry about if she starts dying while I'm at work with the kids.
With her diabetes and cancer and who knows what else..her condition could decline rapidly. I feel sick to my own stumach and am just coming to terms with this...
I think this is too long for a first post..but hopefully I can share more about some of the anxiety's I'm feeling and get some support and offer support to others too.
I do believe in the rainbow bridge. The bible tells us that God will give us the desires of our heart and that we can't even imagine the wonders he has prepared for us...so I believe our wonderful pets will be there.
Thankyou for listening and Blessings to all... I have another dog, and two cats but Dutchess is the senior pet and it is heartbreaking. Terri

This post has been edited by Muffins: Jan 1 2005, 01:32 AM

[terio]

Hi Steve,
Thankyou for your input... you have made some wonderful points that I agree with. As sad as this is... she is the star of the house right now and everyone is lavishing love on her and she is enjoying it!! I am thankful that during the last week that her condition has deteriorated both my husband and I are off work, my human babies (20,19 and 16) are on school break and our routines have been fixed around dealing with this. Nurturing sick animals seems to bond us even tighter to them which makes the grief more intense.
And I know that people that lose their pets abrubtly don't have the time we are having to say goodbye. There is no easy way to lose a loved one. I am hoping that we will settle into a new routine that is the "new" normal for us... and I just pray that we are able to have her put to rest before she does any real suffering... I feel that if she can't eat her food without throwing it up there isn't any need to prolong things..but the vet sent her home with 3 meds to take half an hour before meal time to help her keep her food down. We will see if it works...
I'm wondering if these meds keep her food down if she still feels nauseated. I think that feeling sick to your stumach is very unpleasant.
You say you don't have any experience with sick animals... what brings you here? Thanks and God bless all of you! Terri