Saturday, April 16, 2022

Saturday, April 16, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2009. Mattie received this singing birthday card from his school counselor. He absolutely loved it. It played a very cute song and featured I believe guinea pigs. Either case it brought us laughter and moments of entertainment while stuck into a two by four of a room. 

Quote of the day: They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. ~ Tom Bodett

The vet finally called me today. I was getting very frustrated, because I called this morning to track the doctor down again. At 4pm, he called me. Better late than never. He told me that Sunny's urine test did not show anything remarkable. Thinking this was good news, he then told me that sometimes cancer cells are not shed into the urine. Delightful. So we know NO MORE than we did earlier in the week. He now recommends more testing, 12 hours of it to be specific. 

Basically he wants to rule out adrenal cancer. He says Sunny's adrenal glands are very swollen, and also asked if I have seen any of these symptoms in Sunny:

• Weakness.
• Shaking.
• Collapse.
• Lack of appetite (anorexia)
• Lack of energy (lethargy)
• No interest in usual activities (depression)
• Vomiting.
• Panting.

The answer is NO! The vet feels we need to know more about the adrenal glands before addressing the huge mass in his bladder and spleen. Naturally none of us know whether any of these masses are cancerous. However, he indicated that the bladder and spleen could most likely be addressed through surgery (maybe), but that he can't proceed without knowing more about the adrenals. 

Adrenal tumors can secrete hormones into the blood and also raise blood pressure. Therefore, Sunny is going into the vet clinic on Monday for about 12 hours. During that time, he will get a blood test every four hours to monitor adrenal hormone levels. He will get his blood pressure taken over time as well. 

The vet asked if I ever noticed Sunny urinating in small amounts, having difficulty urinating, or having accidents in the house. The answer is NO! Other common symptoms of bladder cancer are discolored or bloody urine, and persistent urinary tract infections that are resistant to treatment. To me, Sunny has no symptoms of bladder or adrenal cancer. But then again, I saw this same thing with Mattie. He too did not have long standing problems. His arm pain came on suddenly and like Sunny, I would never have even thought of cancer. Sunny of course presents with NO pain, no symptoms. The only reason we are having this discussion is because his routine wellness ultrasound found these masses. I believe in addition to testing his blood for adrenal hormones, Sunny is also getting a BRAF test. BRAF is a genetic mutation that is identified in around 80% of dogs with transitional cell carcinoma in the bladder and prostate. The Cadet BRAF test is PCR based genetic test that allows detection of this mutation in the urothelial cells that have been shed in the urine.

All I can say is NOT again. Really, this is just too much to take. 

I share this photo that Peter took in our backyard last night. Reflections of the trees in the pool. But look at that Mattie Moon!