to spleen? or not to spleen? that is the question...

The past week has been such a mixture of joy and holiday cheer mixed with anxiety and sadness.

Christmas was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful! We spent time relaxing, spending time with family, giving gifts to one another and enjoying a holiday feast. And Santa was very very generous to us all (we must have been NICE this past year!).

But all during Christmas, Lucy was so bummed and lethargic and just not acting her normal self. As mentioned in our previous post, we were planning on driving out to California the day after Christmas, but ended up staying behind with Lucy Pants because she was kind of freaking us out. And we have been to the vet ALMOST every day since then:

• Saturday 12/26 - Saturday's tests determined that Lucy's liver enzymes count was super high awhile her t-cell and platelet counts were super low, causing the doctor to think that her cells and antibodies were off in the liver somewhere fighting an infection. Antibiotics, liver boosters and probiotics were prescribed and an appointment for a bile acids test was set for the next day. The doctor recommended, also, an anti nausea medication, but it was very pricey, so we decided to hold off since she wasn't constantly vomiting.
  
• Sunday 12/27 - The bile acids test was performed. During this test, they analyze the bile acids before a meal and two hours after a meal to determine how the liver is functioning. Results would be ready in a couple days' time.
  
• Monday 12/28 - Lucy didn't eat much more than 1/2 a cup of food this day and was still very lethargic. She ended up vomiting again so we decided to suck it up and get her the anti-nausea medication. 90 bucks. For 8 doses. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? But it seems to work because she hasn't puked since then.
  
• Tuesday 12/29 - Lucy didn't eat at ALL this day and towards the evening started becoming increasingly lethargic and just lying around unmoving. She began shaking uncontrollably and was acting very feverish and out of it. Scary stuff. But, seriously, how are you supposed to know what to do when it's a dog and they can't say "dude, I'm okay, just leave me alone" or "dude, I'm dying so take me somewhere right now." You know what I mean? We were so scared for her because she was so unresponsive and just lying in our arms, unmoving. We called an emergency line and basically she wasn't have seizures or anything and she was still drinking water and was easily roused, so we just kept her warm and decided to take her to the vet in the morning.
  
• Wednesday 12/30 - I was supposed to go to work today, but we took Lucy to the vet this morning. We didn't have an appointment, so it took awhile to be seen, but the doctor was very good today. She said that the bile acids test came back normal, meaning her liver is functioning just fine (yay!). But she recommended more bloodwork to rule out other diseases as well as some xrays. Once Lucy was ready to be picked up, the doctor informed us that her platelet counts are up since Saturday (which is awesome) and she also told us that the blood work showed that Lucy doesn't have parvo, giardia, pancreatitis, or any other detectable disease (more awesome!). But...her liver enzymes are still high, which means that there is still some sort of infection somewhere. AND...the xrays showed an enlarged spleen (which would definitely be a cause of Lucy's discomfort, lack of appetite, lethargy and irregular bowel movements). So the doctor advised the following plan of action: getting an ultrasound done tomorrow which will show us if the spleen is enlarged due to (1) a hematoma or (2) a tumor. If it's a hematoma, then the spleen might need to be removed entirely because of the risk of massive internal bleeding. If it's a tumor, then the tumor might possibly need to be removed and/or the spleen removed entirely. That's the plan, as of today. Lord only knows how these things can change day to day. And a side note - can you imagine the bills we've accrued this week alone?
  
• Thursday 12/31 (tomorrow) - Back to work and dropping Lucy off for her ultrasound. Only time will tell what the results will be...