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Thread: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    Washington
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    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    That's wonderful! I have been (silently) following along and am so happy to read these updates. Thank you for keeping us informed - and I hope his recovery continues to go well.

    Shana
    Mama to Jackson and Kira, and my darling Cushing's angel, Visuddha

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
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    Florida
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    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    He's home. We arrived to pick him up about 5:30, and were on our way by 6. He got home, talked us out of a couple treats, drank some water, and wanted to go outside again fairly shortly after coming home. He had a soft but formed bowel movement. He is quite depressed with the cone on his head...it's like he is just so sad his spirit drops until the moment you take it off, then his personality is 65-70% back to normal...still just a little quieter. I took the cone off this evening while we were watching him closely and he slept well. I just gave him his pain medication...little bugger already knows that tramadol tastes nasty and he as super tentative taking the food from me so I had to force the pill. I will have to try hiding it better next time. He was taking the phenoxybenzamine so well before surgery in a little meatball of canned food.

    I just moved his crate into my bedroom and put his cone back on him. It's been about 20 minutes and he still won't lay down. I thought about setting up my small air mattress on the floor so he could sleep with me rather than be in the cage, but I don't trust him not to jump on the bed (if we stay in the bedroom) or the couch/chair (if we were in the living room). It is a little bit of a tight fit in the crate with the cone, but not too bad if he'd just try it. I may have to look into other options like a bigger crate or exercise pen tomorrow.

    Edit: I gave him 45 minutes to settle down in the crate and he never did. I figured out a way to block him into a smaller portion of my bedroom that prevented him from having access to the bed. He thanked me by peeing on my blanket I'd put down for him. I can't be mad though, anytime he is on pred he drinks a ton and pees in the house. The IMS said it shouldn't be a problem at the low dose he is getting (in the past it was higher doses when he struggled with allergies), but it looks like even this low dose is rough. At least there are only six more days of pred. He still hasn't settled down with the cone on, but he isn't quite as upset out of the cage.

    Edit #2: It took another 30 minutes and me eventually lying down on the floor with him, but he's now sleeping on a pile of my blanket and two extra pillows on the floor while wearing his cone. He sat up when I got back into bed, but he settled down again fairly quickly. Finally!
    Last edited by WinstonTheWestie; 08-11-2017 at 11:31 PM.
    Kellie, dog-mom to Winston

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Glen Cove, NY
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    1,941

    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    They do hate that cone, don't they? When Sibbie was fixed I found an inflatable donut for her, I think at Petco. She was much more comfortable and happier with that and even used it like a pillow.

    He must be so happy to be home with his mom!
    Joan, mom to my Angel Lena, Angel Gable, Angel Phoenix, Angel Doree, Cooper, Sibble, and now Raina.

  4. #14
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    Jul 2017
    Location
    Florida
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    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    Well, he's been home a couple days now. Everything seems to be going okay.

    That first night was very rough. He would only sleep a half hour to an hour at most at a time, and just as I would nod off he'd be up bonking his cone into the wall. When my mother woke up and was able to watch him a little I took the cone off and he and I slept for about three hours. Eventually I just put on a larger doggy tank top thing I had at home that he sometimes wears it when his allergies flare up and he is scratching his skin raw. It covers 85-90% of his incision. It doesn't snap closed or anything, but so far he hasn't tried to mess with the staples while he is wearing it. Last night he wore that in his crate instead of the cone and it was much better.

    Today, we can tell he is feeling better. He is becoming more like himself, and he's tried jumping on the furniture twice today (and didn't like it when I told him no). He is eating about half of his normal food, but still drinking and peeing a little bit more than normal. He is still taking pain medication, an antibiotic, an anti-nausea pill, and prednisone.
    Kellie, dog-mom to Winston

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    California
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    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    Baby onesies work great for covering incisions. They snap around the tail. My dog wears Carters size 18 months, to cover her skin during allergy flare-ups. She weighs 14 pounds.

    Kathy
    Kathy and Angel Buddy. The mightiest of all lizard hunters!

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    Canada
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    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    How long till the stitches come out? They really do hate those cones. Soft ones work pretty well and the onesies.
    Sharlene and the late great diva - Molly muffin (always missed and never forgotten)

  7. #17
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    Jul 2017
    Location
    Florida
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    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    They said 10-14 days after surgery for the staples to come out. So sometime between next Monday and Wednesday. I am hoping I can schedule the staple removal with the surgeon and the ACTH stim with the IMS on the same day. I'm waiting on the IMS to tell me when exactly she wants to do the stim.

    Today we got great news...the adrenal tumor was benign! The intestinal biopsies showed mild IBD like we thought. The nodule in his pancreas they called about during surgery came back as an 'islet cell adenoma.' From what I was told and read, this is a benign tumor of the cells within the pancreas that make/secrete the insulin. It's apparently rare in dogs for this tumor to be benign, and it may or may not be actually secreting insulin. But it makes sense that it likely is truly benign since it has been there not changing for 18 months and he's never ever had signs of low blood sugar like the tumor was making excessive insulin. I haven't heard back from the IMS about what, if anything, we need to do about this now that we know what it is. Probably occasional ultrasounds to watch it like we did with the adrenal for a while if I had to guess. But thank goodness for good news!

    Today he seems completely normal personality and activity wise. There is a little swelling along his incision, but it isn't painful, red, or weeping. Today is the last day of Cerenia...he's eating so well I don't really think it's necessary anyway but we'll finish it like prescribed.
    Last edited by WinstonTheWestie; 08-14-2017 at 08:33 PM.
    Kellie, dog-mom to Winston

  8. #18
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    Mar 2009
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    rural central ARK
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    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    Oh what wonderful news on the pathology report!!! WHOOHOO!!!! I am so glad things have worked out this way and know your heart is lighter than it has been in some time. Take a deep breath, Mom, and let all that tension go...then love on that precious boy for a bit and do something fun, but not too strenuous, with him. You both deserve a little treat today!

    Hugs,
    Leslie
    "May you know that absence is full of tender presence and that nothing is ever lost or forgotten." John O'Donahue, "Eternal Echoes"

    Death is not a changing of worlds as most imagine, as much as the walls of this world infinitely expanding.

  9. #19
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    Jun 2012
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    Canada
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    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    Great news on the pathology. You just never know with these tumors if they will be benign or not. Scary suckers.

    So glad he is more comfortable now. First nights after surgeries always seem to be rough. The good news is that he is over that initial 24 - 48 hour period after the surgery and home. I'm sure things will just continue to improve.
    Sharlene and the late great diva - Molly muffin (always missed and never forgotten)

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
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    Canada
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    Default Re: Winston, 8 year old westie with adrenal tumor

    How is Winston doing? Did the stitches come out today or later this week?
    Sharlene and the late great diva - Molly muffin (always missed and never forgotten)

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