Zora Update: Michigan State Veterinary Clinic Follow-Up

Today was the long awaited follow up appointment from our last trip to the MSU veterinary clinic. I'm so thankful for my mom and Ryan taking turns being my mobile support group. Nervous and praying for good news, Ryan, Zora and I hit the road early this morning to make the trip over to East Lansing.

Zora's been off the Clavamox (antibiotic) and Panacur (dewormer) for the last five days or so, but has been on a steady dosage of the Prednisone (steroid). The Prednisone is what has decreased the inflammation in her airways and stopped the heaving. At least for now.

Even with the heaving being under control, I was still concerned about her overall well-being. My 3-year-old crazy puppy isn't anywhere close to her old self. However, the weather has been hot and humid, her sickness has been going on for seven weeks and she's been pumped full of A LOT of very potent meds lately... so it's really hard to tell if something is still not quite right or she just needs some time to recuperate.

The goal today was to redo bloodwork and x-rays. Thankfully Miss Zora didn't have to be away too long and they had the results (and my brave girl) back to us within a couple hours. For once, we were greeted with happy faces and good news. Her eosinophil count (white blood cells) went from 20,000 on June 11 to a normal count of only 500 today. Her bronchial pattern went from severe to mild and the vets were amazed at how much her lungs cleared up in the x-rays.

We were also told to file our lymphoma fear under "extremely unlikely."

... ... ... deep breath.

Our next step is to cut back Zora's Predisone from one and a half to only one per day. After two weeks, we decrease the dosage again to only a half a pill a day. After three weeks, she should be off the Prednisone completely. If the heaving does not come back, we chalk this whole ordeal up to either bronchitis or parasites (most likely lungworm). If it does come back, we get her back on the lowest dose of Prednisone we can in order to reduce the inflammation to prevent any further episodes. In theory, she'd be diagnosed with Eosinophilic Bronchopneumopathy.

Even though today's visit didn't provide any definitive diagnosis or answers, it felt incredible to receive some good news for once. She's not 100% out of the woods yet, but we're making great strides and there is light at the end of the tunnel. To be honest with you, I went into today's appointment fearing the worst. We are all so relieved and thank you everyone who has kept my fur baby in your prayers these last couple months. xo

Volleyball Mamas + Awesome Papas

I am so thankful to have spent so much time this past weekend with friends, family and loved ones. Ryan, Brody and I hit the road on Saturday to celebrate my BFF's "official" return to Michigan. This was an extra special get together as it was the first time Moose, Molly and I have gotten all together since 2008. Waaaay overdue. It was also the first time we were able to get all of our little ones together AND it was the perfect opportunity to introduce Ryan to my friends/teammates/fellow mamas and their husbands. 

Yes, we successfully got all three munchkins to sit still next to each other. Win.

In addition the sandbox, bounce house, wagon and bubble maker... Brody thoroughly enjoyed the beverage bucket ice cubes. 

I love these ladies! And I love seeing my two favorite boys spending time together. xo

On Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day at Docker's with Ryan, my parents and siblings. My cousin's fiance was also performing so most of my extended family was there as well. Sunshine, the waterfront, good food, drinks and all my people. Couldn't have asked for a better day. 

Hope everyone spoiled their papas and told them how much they're appreciated. Papa Z, thank you for all the support (especially over the last year) and thank you for always lending a hand whenever I need help. I love and appreciate you more than words can say!

Zora Update: Michigan State Veterinary Clinic

Sorry for the delay on the Zora update. I've been waiting for the MSU vet office to email me the diagnosis write up so that my update didn't sound something like "Zora might have this thing with a super long name that I can't pronounce."

So anyways, after getting no where with my local vet, I decided to make Zora an appointment with the Michigan State Veterinary Clinic. Yesterday could not have come soon enough. She took her last meds on Sunday and things spiraled downhill very quickly... wouldn't eat or drink, heaved for hours throughout the night, borderline lethargic.

Zora is usually very anxious at the vet. She stress sheds and paces all over the place. Yesterday, she curled up under the table with her eyes closed. Broke my heart. I filled the vet in on all of Zora's symptoms over the last month and "thankfully" Zora heaved a few times in front of her. Even though I brought along her x-ray films and bloodwork results, they wanted to redo all her tests, but on a more advanced level. So my poor baby was taken away and Mama Z and I waited around for over two hours.

Welp... doctors came back with four possible diagnoses. She has a severe bronchiolar lung pattern which means she potentially has one of the following:

1. Lungworm
2. Allergic Bronchitis
3. Eosinophilic Bronchopneumopathy
4. Lymphoma

We brought along a poo sample to be tested, but unfortunately the results won't be available for 24-48 hours in order to diagnose lungworm. Lungworm and allergic bronchitis are both curable, so they are the diagnoses we're most hoping for. The vets were both leaning more towards eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy, which unfortunately is not curable. However, it is treatable through lifelong steroids, but of course those come with complications of their own. The last possibility is lymphoma... which we won't talk about because it makes me sob uncontrollably.

Let me save you the trip to Wikipedia: "Eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy, also known as pulmonary infiltrates with eosinophils, is an immune mediated condition characterized by eosinophilic infiltration of lung and bronchial mucosa. The cause is unknown. Most common signs include cough followed by retching and gagging--- it is often compared to a smoker's cough."

Basically Zora's heaving is caused by inflammation in her airways which is brought on by potentially one of those reasons. She's been battling whatever she has since May 17. It breaks my heart to see her in so much pain and discomfort.  

We were sent home with an antibiotic, steroid and dewormer. From here on out, we're eliminating our options in stages. We'll know if it's lungworms by tomorrow when the fecal results come back. In two weeks when the deworming meds and antibiotics are up, we'll start weaning her off steroids. If her symptoms don't come back, her infection was most likely the allergic bronchitis. If her symptoms do return, we have to run further tests to determine whether to proceed with lifelong oral steroid to treat Eosinophilic Bronchopneumopathy or.......

So we here are. Waiting..... trying not to cry..... lots of spooning. Lil Man senses that Zora needs her space and lots of love. He hung out near her all last night, giving her kisses and refraining from pulling out her fur. He even went and got my cutting mat out of the cupboard and covered her up with it. Bless his little heart.

Keep praying everyone. Pray for a positive outcome and pray that these meds provide her some comfort. Stay tuned...

Fast Cars and Country Living: Meeting the BFs Family and Friends

It's been quite awhile since I've left the Mitten. Shoot, it's been a while since I traveled outside my 30 mile West Michigan triangle. Between needing a little break from life and awaiting Ryan's return from commissioning sites, I was so excited all week for our trip to his hometown in Indiana. Although super busy and always on the go, it was a much needed break and some time together.

Took off Friday to head to his best friend's house in West Lafayette. He and his wife were such wonderful hosts and let us crash there all weekend. They invited another couple over and we grilled out, played some games and spent the evening out on the patio. It was such an awesome time.

Of course these furry guys and I are BFFs now. The terrier is Lily and Gabby is the other woman in Ryan's life. What big babies. 

...and then there's Colby. He's my BFF too.

Saturday morning, we helped Ryan's sister move into a new apartment. I was fortunate enough to meet his two sisters, their boyfriends and his younger brother. All such wonderful people!

Their aunt and uncle hosted a graduation party later that afternoon. A beautiful, quiet evening out in the country enjoying some cornhole, a Euchre tournament, too much food and a campfire. Well, it was quiet until the boys rolled out the restored 1973 Corvette. 

Ryan took me for a leisurely cruise around the block. Shit, who am I kidding... we wanted to see what that baby could do. I'm not a car enthusiast by any means, but it was a hell of a ride and made me at least appreciate its awesomeness.  

How could anyone not appreciate some good ol' country living? Beautiful.

Sunday morning, we met back up with his friends to eat ourselves silly at Triple XXX on the Purdue campus. Apparently it's not only an awesome place for drunk food a midnight snack, it was featured on The Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Ermahgerd. Thank God for elastic waistbands. 

Since we had a few hours to kill before graduation, Ryan took me on a tour of the Purdue campus. Despite school being out for summer, all of the athletic facilities were unlocked so we may have snuck inside for a peak. Between the Corvette and checking out the football field and other arenas, my gearhead/sports nut of a boyfriend was like a kid in a candy store this weekend. LoL!

Even though it didn't float my boat quite like it did his, it was a BEAUTIFUL day outside and it was cool to see where he went to school.

Our last adventure of the weekend was watching his little brother graduate high school. This weekend was so wonderful and much needed. I loved getting to meet all his friends and family so I can finally put a face with a name. 

It was quite a new experience for me. It was my first official "meet the parents/family." Like ever. So a bit nervous, but I think it went really well. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Praying that Brody's "eye-teeth" poke through this week so my little man feels better and that we find some answers when we take Miss Zora to the MSU animal clinic on Wednesday. Stay tuned and keep praying!!

Love and Goulets: Bridal Shower

My beautiful sister, the future Mrs. Goulet, had her second bridal shower this past Sunday. Hosted by our aunts and Grandma Neiser, it turned out beautifully and we could not have had better weather. Yes, a bit warm but after the winter we just had, I'm not complaining. 

Guys, can we just stop for a second and check out how hot my mom and sister two sisters are?! For reals. I pray at 29-ish I can still look that good! ;)

Beautiful decorations... amazing food... I ate 2 servings of everything... whatever. Exactly what I need to be doing a week before I get my bridesmaid dress fitted... c'mon, Andrea.

How cool is that backdrop my aunt put together with the help of her Silhouette and a shower curtain!? (Because it's a shower... duh.) ;)

These went in my belly. My belly was pleased.

The beautiful hosts and bride-to-be! And then there's all seven of us Neiser cousins. Everyone looked so beautiful! 

We discovered, with the help of a little game, that Adam knows my sister's favorite food is pizza rolls, she loves to use her coupons at Kohls and he's a big fan of her boobs (but then again, who isn't?) ;)

Mamas and sisters. In only a few months, there are going to be two Ashley Goulets who could pass for biological sisters. I'm pretty sure those two look more related than my own sister and I do. Weird. 

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the shower a total success!! Only 73 more days!

Memorial Day Weekend Recap

This was one of the most productive weekends I've had in a long time. With Brody at his dad's and Ryan gone for work, it was just Zora, me and a super long to-do list for most of the weekend.

I met up with my parents Saturday night at the West Olive nursery. My plan was to walk around and get some ideas for my yard, but I ended up leaving with a rhododendron, an azalea, two blueberries bushes and two hydrangeas. I've been putting off landscaping for a few years now, but I'm making an effort to at least plant/move a few shrubs and get all 300+ feet of blocks in place... at some point this summer.

Plant shopping made us hungry. Date night at Logan's with the parentals.

Miss Zora is still not quite herself yet. She has about another week and a half of meds, so I'm hoping she'll start to perk up then. Poor baby. :(

Sunday was spent at my grandma and grandpa's house grilling out and spending time around the pool with family. Lil Man and I braved the chilly water and had a wonderful time. He sure does love the water. 

...and then there's this stud. Ryan's been in Indiana for work for the past couple weeks and unfortunately did not have a long weekend like most of us. Since he was originally scheduled to work both Saturday and Monday, I knew I wouldn't be seeing him at all. I was pretty bummed since this was the first family gathering of the summer and I was dying to introduce him to the rest of my family. Well, he drove the 10 hour round trip to spend the afternoon with me and my family. I think I shall keep him around. ;)

The big project over the weekend was cleaning and organizing my garage. Oh happiness! 

...and then there was getting the new plants in the ground and moving hostas around. Before and after landscaping pics to come soon.  

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and can survive the short week!

Down With the Sickness

I bring you the latest Zora update from within confines of the disease-ridden Archambault household. Our lives have been an intricate medley of doctor/vet appointments, pharmacy runs, medication schedules and long nights for a solid two weeks now. Brody brought home what I thought was Bronchitis and naturally, one sneeze to my face later, I was sick as well. It ended up being either a nasty cold or allergies on crack for the both of us, and thankfully he felt better within a week.

Last Friday night, Zora woke up in the middle of the night trying to hoark something up. This isn't totally uncommon. She loves to gnaw on sticks and whenever she does, like clockwork, between 1 and 4 AM, she will attempt to regurgitate the tree pieces onto my bedroom carpet. Lovely. She let out a couple heaves, nothing came up and then she went back to bed. No biggie.

Saturday night was significantly worse. She spent almost two hours dry heaving and nothing ever came up. I was pretty concerned, but because we had spent all day outside doing yard work, I assumed she had digested some leaves or sticks as she usually does. 

Sunday, she went through spurts of dry heaving and by the evening, she was obviously very weak and sore. I called the emergency after-hours vet number to get her opinion. My super awesome friend Kristen did a pharmacy run for me to pick Zora up some pepcid and I made arrangements to have her at the vet first thing in the morning.

Zora's vitals checked out just fine and the vet didn't see Zora wince from any tenderness around her abdomen. I was concerned about something being caught even though she was eating and going to the bathroom normally, but the vet said it's highly unlikely. Obviously she doesn't know how much of a scavenger Miss Zora is... especially with small plastic kid toys. 

She was given an IV with some anti-vomiting meds. She sat perfectly still the entire time and took turns holding everyone's hands. Bless her furry little heart. The IV created a super gross bulge on her back, but thankfully went away quickly. We went home with some additional meds and high hopes for improvement...

...for both of us. Because I'm an idiot and think I can mentally power through any illness, I let my cold/allergy mess turn into a sinus infection. Go me. My doctor's office screwed up my prescription location, so I laid on the Walmart pharmacy bench for AN HOUR AND 20 MINUTES with a sinus headache that was taking over my brain waiting for those nincompoops to fill my antibiotic. With snot running down my face and no more tissues, a headache squeezing my right eye shut and 2% of a phone battery left... I was clearly only minutes away from going postal. 

One dose of antibiotics was not enough to get me through the day Tuesday, so both Zora and I spent 12 straight hours curled up in bed sleeping off the germies. I started to feel better, but her dry heaving got substantially worse Tuesday and Wednesday night. 

Her kisses are medicinal, right? 

SIDE NOTE... I got the official word on Tuesday that the MRI showed no signs of my pituitary tumor! Yay!!!

So anyways, I had originally scheduled a back-up, just-in-case appointment on Friday morning for x-rays if I didn't see improvement throughout the week. After sitting up with her throughout the night watching her heave and having her completely stop eating Wednesday night, I got her right back into the vet Thursday morning. 

Breaks my heart into a million pieces.

Zora's initial x-rays indicated she had an excessive amount of stomach contents and stool, but no clear obstruction. Blood work indicated a high white blood cell count, but thankfully they were able to rule out Pancreatitis. They thought the heaving might be related to a problem in the esophagus, but because an emergency case was brought in, I had to leave Zora at the vet and return to work.

In the meantime, they ran more x-rays and Zora and found that her lungs looked cloudy. After consulting with numerous other vets, they're certain that it's the source of her problems and narrowed it down to 3 different causes... infection, parasites or cancer. Because of her age, they wanted to be optimistic about ruling out cancer and aggressively planned out treatments to fight both the infection and parasite possibilities. She was given a couple shots with steroids and other heavy duty drugs and I was sent home with additional meds to administer several times a day. 

She was obviously exhausted and worn out Thursday evening from a very long, scary day. We both were. She ate a scrambled egg and we went to bed early. I was woken up at 2:30 AM by Zora smashing her face into my face. Thinking something was wrong, I followed her out into the kitchen where she sat herself in front of the dog food cupboard and stared at me. Finally, a good sign. She ate some dog food and a puppy cookie and went back to sleep with no heaving. 

She hasn't had any heaving episodes since we came back from the vet yesterday. She's eating some dog food, but pretty much inhaling her bland diet of ground beef, scrambled eggs and yogurt. Although a stinker when it comes to taking pills and a few very minor side effects from the meds, Miss Zora is definitely showing signs of improvement!! 

Thank you everyone for your concern and continued prayers!! Miss Zora is so loved! Thank you also to Dr. Sue at the Holland Animal Clinic for taking such good care of my baby and following up with me today on her progress.

Will keep you posted...