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DJWriter
The blog of Chicago-based freelance writer David Johnsen.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Crunch Time / Teddy
As some of you know, I am working on a book right now. My manuscript is due September 1, so I have five weeks to get it done. I should be able to finish, but I am a bit behind at the moment. I wanted to have all the riding done by August 1, but it looks like I'll still have at least half a dozen rides to do. I've been on the road most of the month working on it, so I've had little time for blogging. I may not get to blog much until September.
On top of that, our older dog, Teddy, is very sick. He has auto-immune disease (white blood cells attacking red blood cells), and he has been hospitalized since Monday. He is acutely anemic; his red blood cell count was 42 in April, but this week it is between 10 and 15. My wife called from the emergency vet Sunday night, and I abandoned a paid-for motel room (ouch) to drive home. From her description, I was afraid I wouldn't get to see him alive. Fortunately, by the time we went to visit at 3 AM, he had recovered somewhat after getting fluids and steroids (which suppress the immune system). They let us walk him outside a bit, and he was strong enough to tug at the leash when he wanted to sniff something.
The emergency vet closes at 8 AM, so we had to take him to his regular vet in the morning. They said he would need to be watched for at least 24 hours. Since they close at 7 PM, we would have to take him back to the emergency vet in the evening. Instead, they recommended that we take him to the same place we took our other dog, Rosco, for knee surgery in March. On the 45-minute drive up to Buffalo Grove, Teddy seemed okay. He sat up in the back seat, the wind blowing his floppy ears. We checked him in and came home. They performed many tests and gave us some good news: they couldn't find any underlying problem like cancer that was causing his condition. It's a mystery how he got auto-immune disease, but at least we know we are dealing with the primary illness rather than a symptom of something else.
The vet called at 2 AM yesterday and said Teddy would need a blood transfusion. With auto-immune disease, the risk is high that the white blood cells will immediately devour the new blood, but when his red blood cell count dropped to 10, there was no other option. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened. By the time we went to visit him around noon, his count wasn't any better, and he was very weak. He walked in to see us, licked a little gravy off the food we brought for him, and laid down. We spent the next half-hour petting him, leaving a huge pile of hair on the floor. The nurse had to use a sling to hold up his back legs to walk him out. They called us as we were driving home and said they needed to do another transfusion, this time of two units.
As of this morning he is holding steady, which is good news. His first transfusion only boosted his red blood cell count for 8 hours, but it's been 18 hours since the second transfusion finished. They say his color and vital signs are better, and he isn't in any pain. Now all we can do is wait and hope that he can make enough of his own red blood cells to start improving.
The vet said Teddy was very agitated after we left yesterday, so we will probably stay away for a while. He's always had some separation anxiety--he doesn't misbehave like some dogs, but he gets nervous and upset. My wife doesn't want him to feel abandoned, but the vet and I agree that Teddy can't really afford to expend the extra energy to handle the stress of leaving us again. We'll have to wait until his condition changes dramatically. We're hoping for the better, of course, but we've been steeling ourselves in case he gets worse.
My wife calls Teddy our "child substitute." Although I don't like the term, I must admit that it is pretty accurate. We always knew a time like this would be tough for us, but it has been much harder than we imagined. The roller-coaster nature of Teddy's condition has made it especially difficult. I think it's like watching a basketball game that goes on for days. The score keeps changing and the lead goes back and forth, but it will all come down to the last few minutes of the game.
Hang in there, big guy!
Labels: dogs
- posted by David Johnsen @ 11:44 AM
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Nah - not child substitute but your dog child. I have both a human child and a dog child and they both get along great - much better than human siblings.
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# posted by 
: 7/29/2005 10:28 AM
: 7/29/2005 10:28 AM<< Home
