Yesterday morning I woke up thinking it would be my last day with Lazo here at home with us. I was in hospice mode when I got a call from my vet, Dr. Blair. Her and I had tentatively scheduled Lazo's euthanasia for that evening. Scheduled tentatively because on Wednesday we were at the vet and the discussion was had about what to do about Lazo not eating. Dr. Blair was concerned it was from the likely hydrocephalus that she believes Lazo has and that if this was the case, his prognosis was bad. The vet in Mexico also believed Lazo has hydrocephalus so this was something that I knew from the beginning. Once he was here in MN, there were lots of clinical signs to support this. Unfortunately, a CT scan to verify this is super expensive and in the end there isn't treatment options for the most part anyways. Dr. Blair wanted to do lab work on Wednesday to rule out any other causes and so we did that and Thursday evening she called with some odd news. His lab results showed a through the roof sodium level, along with a high chloride level. She asked me to give her that evening to do some research into what that meant, while still keeping our appointment for Friday night. So Friday morning rolls around and she calls first thing and explains to me what could be going on. She admits she rarely talks clients out of euthanasia. Since I had put my trust in her from the beginning I decided to bring him back to the vet that day. She wanted to give him IV fluids, all day, and try to slowly bring down his sodium level. She thought that the elevated sodium level could be the reason he stopped eating. She had two main ideas about what could be causing this. Some type of brain lesion or a condition called primary hypodypsia. Mainly, the dog doesn't have the drive to drink. So did I ever mention that I have never seen Lazo drink??? She said it is a rare condition that affects Schnauzers. So him, Chula and I spent the day at the vet. Later in the day his sodium level had come down and he started eating and drinking. She discharged us home with low sodium food, IV fluids, and the plan to give him the weekend and re-check his sodium Monday.
So he's still with me. Downstairs with my Mom because I am a bit on the verge of losing it right now. This has been so hard and very consuming. He wouldn't eat this morning and then this afternoon he put a pretty good dent in some food and water. I attempted to give him the fluids under his skin but he was totally traumatized by the needle, which also happened last night at the vet. I decided not to do the fluids and see how things go on his own. I'm trying really hard not to put him through too much, be realistic and as I said before, follow his lead. My gut tells me we are still headed in the same direction that we were before yesterday, but time will tell. This morning a photographer named
Sarahbeth came to my house and she took pictures of the three of us. She offers a service called a Joy Session for terminally ill or dying pets. I have followed her amazing work through her blog for a long time. I would really encourage you to check out her blog and keep her in mind if you need pictures taken. She was so kind to all three of us this morning and I believe I got a lot more out of it than just pictures. She was very compassionate and took a lot of time talking with me about Lazo and what we have been going through.
Honestly, I am amazed by all the thoughtful and caring things that so many people have done for me over the last few weeks. I really hope that someday when I am not so consumed with all this I can pay it forward.
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| At the vet |
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| Nurses' Assistant & Patient |
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| Home working on eating |
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