And He’s Back…

Well… He’s been back for a while, but you never want to report on these things too soon– and I’m lazy. So here is an update on Yuri’s condition.

February 4th, Yuri went in for his surgery, he needed to have part of his Thyroid removed and several bladder stones needed to be taken out.  As a 14 year old dog, there was no guarantee that he was going to survive the surgery and if he did, there was no guarantee he would recuperate well; nobody knew what was really going to happen.  So we gave him lots of kisses and goodbyes and see-you-laters and waited impatiently all day to hear how things had gone.

And then the vet finally called…

HE WAS OK!!!!  He had made it through his surgery very well and was resting.  He had woken from anesthesia and started howling almost immediately– Which is typical for a Husky who doesn’t like the vet.

Actually– That’s just a typical Husky everyday.

However, he was disturbing the other patients (not to mention the staff, I bet) so he was given a sedative until he was in his “happy place”…

Translation: He finally shut up.

That Saturday morning we got to bring him home and he was not at ALL sluggish or lethargic.  Which shocked us all as we expected him to feel miserable after such a horrific sounding surgery.  However, as soon as they brought him into the waiting room and he realized we were there, he was ready to go.  He got out the door before we did and was impatiently waiting for someone to ‘start the frigging car already because it’s cold out and he has no fur now!’  It was better than anyone expected, it was brilliant!

The car ride home was both happy and furry (he still sheds like crazy even though he’s shaved like a poodle) and it was nice to know he would be coming home.  I was so afraid any sudden stop would send him hurtling to his stitch-popping death, I had a vice grip on him the whole way home.  My coat still hasn’t recovered from the fur overload.  But, he had a happy homecoming regardless, because let me tell you– Somebody who shall remain nameless but is both yellow and Husky-like, missed him very much:

I wait hewe fow Yuwi.

Yuri was so happy to be home, I didn’t get much more than blurs for photos, so I can’t say there’s much to show except the many faces of Yuri on drugs:

Is this real?!

Whoaaaa....

I need sleeeeeeppp!

Yeah, he was a little out of it, but check out his new haircut!  To be fair, since it’s been almost two weeks, it’s already started to grow back– Mom says it makes him look mysterious, I think he thinks he looks stupid, since everyone comments on how beautiful his fur is.  Hard to be beautiful when your claim to fame is half gone, but hey, what do I know?

His stitches weren't as gross as last time, and he didn't try to pull them out either! They've been out for a week now.

Sorry it’s blurry– He honestly would not stop moving and that’s ok with me.  It means he was happy to be home and feeling good.

Yes-- They did shave *everything*... Poor guy.

Why Mister Spock-- Your ears have grown rather fuzzy...

At least they didn’t take all his fur off.  But after the excitement of seeing his girls and humans, he needed to rest again.  And it was good.

Rest my good boy, we'll be here in the morning.

But not before he let us know he hadn’t forgotten where the cookie jar is:

Nah, just dump 'em all on the floor, I'll take care of it.

So now, after all of this, he is stitch free, his fur is growing back in, he can pee normally and he doesn’t have to go back to the vet to have his calcium levels tested anymore (since they had to remove half of a gland that controls that stuff, they needed to make sure the remaining half could take over sufficiently and keep his now normal levels at normal) he can now stay home and chillax on his bed or around the house rather than be carted off to doggy daycare while the humans go to work and earn monies to pay for his surgery.  I’d say he’s rather thrilled about the bed part, but isn’t particularly sympathetic about the toils of his human pets.  Or as he would say:

“I’m half naked– Get over yourself.”

Anyway, I am THRILLED my boy is home and is looking so wonderful.  Even with the missing fur, he looks fabulous, he seems healthier (and has from day one).  My only concern is now when he breathes, he either sounds like he’s percolating or he’s practicing his Darth Husky impression.  It’s funny some days, others it concerns me, even if doesn’t concern the vet.

They can’t be right all of the time.  Anyway, he’s home, he’s happy, we’re happy, he better live forever now and we all realized how much we love and missed him.

Yo'we my favowite Yuwi.

Until next time,

Jaina, Faith, Yuri & Paisley Puppy

Yuri and the Story of the Hyper Thyroid

*Edit* Yuri’s surgery will actually be tomorrow,Thursday, February 4th.  Please keep him in your thoughts.

I’ve been keeping things quiet regarding a few things as tough decisions needed to made and diagnoses revealed in the last few weeks.  Now that everything seems to be settled, I guess I’d like to ask everyone to keep Yuri in their thoughts the next few days as he will be undergoing some fairly serious surgery come Tuesday.

Let’s start from the beginning– On Christmas morning, everyone was opening presents and generally being excited for the holiday.  Yuri in particular; he had just gotten some rawhide bones and was looking forward to chowing down on one.  After getting his little puppy lips on one, we noticed that it disappeared rather fast and that he had begun to walk funny.  Mom was worried that he had chewed about half, got annoyed it was taking so long and swallowed the rest of it whole.

Plausible, right? Sure looks like he ate one!

So, the next day she took him to emergency care to see if they could find it and what to do were it there.  Apparently x-rays can’t pick up rawhide (I don’t know why not) but it was very detailed in the picture of the staple he had swallowed.  He’s pretty, not always bright.  Despite the staple looking gargantuan and poky, the vet was less concerned about that and more concerned about his calcium levels from the blood work they had taken.

Yuri has always had issues with kidney stones and such, so high calicum levels weren’t especially surprising to us, but the vet was concerned it was a preface to a cancer diagnosis.  So, we were referred to a specialist, who was very impressed that Yuri looks so good in his old age (he is almost 15 years-old you know) and made him feel special.  She couldn’t tell us anything conclusive from the tests they perform at the office, so she made it apparent we needed to get a sample to one of their off-site labs as quickly as possible so we could begin treatment on whatever it was.

My boy :0)

Whatever it was being either cancer or a Thyroid condition– the latter being the more preferable of the two.  So Mom worrying for her baby (as we all were) had them get everything sent off and then either through incompentence or just plain idiocy, it took over a month to get his test results back.  I won’t go into the gory details, but if a lab specifically tests for something, like cancer– would it not make sense to have the supplies to actually perform the test?  So, whatever it was had a month to continue doing what it was doing to Yuri.

You have to keep in mind, we had taken him to the vet concerning something that wasn’t even related, which happens a lot in our family, but because of that, it’s not like we were aware of what kind of symptoms to really look for, or if he was handling being sick better than anyone could think of.  And even if symptoms did come up, how would we know what it was or what to do without a diagnosis?  After several frustrating weeks, we finally found out what’s wrong with him.

He has Primary Hyperparathyroidism (try saying that 10 times fast) and it’s caused a benign tumor (ask me what benign means, I dare you) to grow on his thyroid gland.  Despite it not being cancerous, the tumor itself will continue to grow and eventually block off his windpipe (It’s already causing him breathing issues) and it’s also causing the gland to overproduce and distribute calcium throughout his body.  Left untreated, it will cause his organs to harden and shut down and that is a most painful way to go.

So, despite the happy news that it’s not cancer, the unhappy news is that it requires surgery.  Both to remove the tumor and to remove bladder stones that were formed through the tumor being on the gland.  At age 14, he’s probably more at risk than a younger dog to have complications and from previous experience with a surgery to remove kidney stones, he heals very slowly and is irked by stitches.  He will be wearing the cone of shame for a while.

Don't worry, Dug. Yuri doesn't like the cone of shame either.

I’m very scared for him.  I know that as a dog, his life does not necessarily outweigh that of a human’s and he doesn’t necessarily understand what’s happening, but he’s my baby.  He’s my beautiful, funny, dorky, pushy, talky baby and I’m scared he won’t come home to me and the girls.

CHEEEEEEESEEEEE!

So please, if you have a little or even better, a lot of understanding for what it’s like to have so much love for a fuzzy love, please keep him in your thoughts during his surgery Tuesday and of course his recovery during the coming weeks.  If he were your dog, the joy he would bring you is insurmountable.

Be strong my sweet boy. We all love you and are pulling for you :0*

Much love to all our readers and most especially to Yuri, the bestest Husky of them all.

Until then,

Jaina, Yuri, Faith & Paisley