Stinky Butt?

My M says I'm a silly boy, coz the other day I slept with my face in my big brother Herbie's butt. She says it's stinky butt, but I no smell anything stinky. In fact, it help switch off the bright light so I can sleep better.

Stinky?


Still can't smell anything


Oh, my big brother Herbie says that my M has made an appointment for him to be cut up again on 10 Sept. He says it's a 'bye-oopsy'. I hope when they cut him up, he will say bye bye to the bad things in his body, but he says they are only gonna take out a small part of the bad thing to test. I hope he'll want to play with me after that.

Me alarm clock?

Yesterday my M woke up late for work. I try to wake her up to go workie. I lickie lick her toe, she keep her toe. I lickie lick her hand, she keep her hand. I try to tell her, you late, go workie! But she ignore me. Then she was late.

My MM said he changed the time on the alarm clock and forgot to tell her. I say next time dun use alarm, use me! Me a veri good alarm clock!

My big brother Herbie is still sickie. He dun wanna play with me so much. I lickie his mouth but he never get up to play. My M says she dun know what to do now. I hope he gets better coz I wanna play with him.

Play with me!


(M: I'm not sure what to do next with Herbie. All tests came back inconclusive. The 1st vet is certain it's lymphoma (by process of eliminating other causes) and suggests starting him on chemo, but I'm quite reluctant. She also felt that another biopsy will not help much as the pathologist said that the tissue sample is a good one. By the way, the pathologist is unable to release the slides. They say that human cells are a little different from animal cells, and a human pathologist won't have anything for comparison even if he reads the slides.

So now here I am, stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should I start on chemo, and risk that the lumps are not cancerous? Should I not start on chemo, but what if it's cancer and I'm delaying his treatment. Should I get a third opinion, and confuse myself further? Should I do another biopsy, will it help?

I don't know if I'm being paranoid now, as in, Herbie has always been lazy and slow, but recently I seem to think he's a lot more slower. I don't know if he's always been like that, or am I starting to imagine things and looking at his slowness with another perspective, and I keep thinking it's his cancer making him tired.

He's still begging, but now he's a little more choosy. He won't eat certain fruits while in the past he will just gobble things up. Now he will sniff before deciding if he wants to eat it. And I start thinking if it's cancer making him lose his appetite.

He plays lesser now. Every little expression of his, every movement (or lack of) that he makes, I keep thinking is it cancer making him behave this way.

I tell myself to wait another week and observe, but I keep fearing that I'm delaying his treatment and he will slowly deteriorate. Any advise?

Dog Show

We went to the dog show today, coz Helios was being shown. Unfortunately, he didn't win anything.... again. And unfortunately, my M made a boo boo of herself in the show ring.... AGAIN. But at least this time she is smart enough not to video herself, so there's no hard evidence of her making a mistake. Therefore, we can only rely on eyewitness account (read: me).

The contestents...


Apparently, after all the dogs have finished running one round around the ring, the judge pointed to a few to walk to the front. My M was the last one, and he didn't point to her, so she happily assumed that she did not have to do anything. The judge then signaled to the 1st handler to run around the ring again, and everyone else follwed behind... EXCEPT my M. The judge turned around to see her still hanging around and had to signal her to run as well before she moved. Talk about embarrassing!

boo boo?


Anyway, I think Helios was molested quite badly. The judge was touching him EVERYWHERE, even his balls! Does he not understand the meaning of privacy?

Molest!


Of course, Helios thought today was fun. Fun for him because my M bought new toys for him.

Helios: Yew have new toy toy for me?


And he began parading around with it...

Helios: New toy! New toy!


But it was a TOTALLY boring affair for me! For one, I don't like toys. Secondly, there's NO food stalls! I mean, there are stalls selling kibbles and free samples, which I am obviously not allowed to eat because I'm allergic to kibbles. What happened to the bakery stalls that used to set up booths at the show? There NONE in sight!

I was so upset that I decided to sleep my blues off....

No food~~~


I think maybe this guy came to check if I'm still alive...

Is there a pulse?


My M took pity on me and allowed me on her lap. Actually, I suspect it's because the aircon is too cold and she needed a leg warmer.

Lap dog?


It was such a long day, we were there from 10:30am to about 5pm, that we were totally knocked out when we went home.

Knocked out... with another new toy


Knocked out... with no food


On another note, thanks to everyone who recognised me and came up to me to ask about my condition. My M was pleasantly surprised to meet so many people who are concerned about me.

Anyway, we went to another vet on Friday for a second opinion. The vet also could not definitely say that it's cancer based on my existing reports (which the other vet faxed over). He's reluctant to start on chemotherapy until he's positively sure. Since mine doesn't seem to be a clearcut case, he suggested that we adopt a wait and see attitude. We'll wait another 2 weeks to see if the lumps get any bigger, and maybe we'll need to do another biopsy.

The vet said that maybe the tissue sample taken out the other time happen not to show anything, and a tissue sample from another area might give more clues. Sigh, I think I'll have to go under the knife again...

Wish me luck guys!

More Questions

My M just spoke with the vet today, the results are back. It's negative for microbacterial or fungal infection. The vet says that the pathologist feels that it's cancer, just that my cells are quite irregular so she wanted to do more tests to find out.

Anyway, my M's big boss, who is a human surgeon, happened to ask her about me the day before, so she showed him my lab results. He thought it could be infection, and told me M to try and get my slides from the lab and he'll ask a pathologist friend to look at it. I *heart* my M's boss! He's such a nice guy, although he's not really a dog person. So my M asked the vet if she can get the slides. The vet said she will check with the lab, because they sent my tissue samples to a third party lab and she's not sure what their policies are.

I think my M's gonna get a second opinion soon as well. She still hopeful.

Where's Helios?

Can anyone find Helios?



On a side note, still waiting for results of further tests. Vet says she'll as the lab to test if I have fungal or microbacterial infection. But if both tests comes back negative, then it's cancer. My M's gonna get a second opinion if the tests comes out negative tho. She'd prefer to be extremely sure it's cancer rather than deduce it's cancer by process of eliminating other causes.

Tests inconclusive

My biopsy results are back, and the test is inconclusive, which in a way is good news. Usually the results come back with a very definite answer, but they can't really be sure if my tissues are cancerous, although the vet still feels that it's cancer. However, she wants to run more tests to make sure and not rush into chemotherapy.

The test results says:
From the sections examined the section is moderately cellular with multifocal areas of necrosis; cytologically the lesion is significantly heterogeneous with a background population of small cleaved lymphocytes and larger vesicular lymphocytes with an apithelioid appearance and 0-2 mitoses per hpf. Differentials for this sort of cytological heterogenity include infectious granulomatous inflammation and lymohomas specifically T-cell-rich B cell lymphoma and periphertal T cell lymphoma. Additional clinical diagnostics and surveilance is warranted."

What a mouthful of medical jargon!

Anyway, what the vet roughly explained is that there are some large and normal cells in the tissue, and enlarged lymph nodes can be caused by some other factors including cancer. However, there are also some split cells in the tissue, which is a characteristic of cancer. So they cannot determine if it's cancer or not.

She will have to call the pathologist tomorrow to ask if the pathologist can do further tests if the cause is infection, and if it's tick fever. So I got some blood taken for further blood tests. However, if my previous tissue sample is not enough, I may have to be anaesthetized again for them to take more tissue samples for the pathologist. I hope it's enough, I don't want to go under the knife again!

My blood


The vet says I'm a very good boy because I didn't struggle while she was taking blood. She did a test for the common tick fever, the results were negative, but there's another form of tick fever which she does not have the equipment to test for and she'll have to send my blood to the lab for the test.

Tick fever negative


The vet also said that IF it is cancer, at least it's not those fast spreading type, so we have time to make proper diagnoses instead of having to rush into chemotherapy. In the meantime, I'll continue with Reiki and the enzymes and cottage cheese mix (licks).

Keep those pawsitive vibes coming! I think it's helping!

Still waiting...

... for the results. My M called up the vet today but my biopsy results are still not out. Apparently the lab usually takes 3 weeks for the results to come back, but my vet told them to rush it out in a week because of suspected lymphoma. I guess my M will wait another 2 days before calling again. Anyway, I have a review with the vet this sunday.

In the meantime, my M has been reading up on various links kind people have sent her. She was given this link which recommends this Dr Johanna's flaxseed oil and cottage cheese mixture, so she rushed out during lunch today to the organic store and came back with organic flaxseed oil and organic cottage cheese.

While at another organic store, the lady recommended this enzyme drink which is supposed to have antioxident and cancer fighting properties. The drink cost $138 a bottle, and each bottle lasts 2 weeks. The lady said for humans, it's recommended that they take a 6 month supply at one shot. When she realised it's for me, she said I can also take a 6 month supply.



My M has not heard of this drink before, and 12 bottles will cost $1600+, so she dare not buy so much at one go. In the end she, Aunty G and Aunty V shared a carton, so I get 4 bottles.

Seems that getting sick is not that bad after all! I now get extra cottage cheese mix everyday, and enzymes as well!

Begging

Still waiting for results. So on a slightly happier note, my M said she will never stop me from begging if I get well. I hope she keeps her word! Everyone be my witness!

Hooray to begging!


We have beach pictures from 2 weeks ago, but my M is too lazy to sort them out. Maybe at a later date. My M would like to say a few words.

(M: I'll like to thank everyone who has been praying for Herbie. Some whom I've never met, or never knew the existence, or silent readers until now. I've told friends and everyone is sending their kind thoughts, prayers and wishes. It's amazing how an average dog like Herbie has managed to crawl into so many people's hearts. I guess that's what dogs do best. Crawl into your hearts quietly and before you know it, they've made themselves comfortable there with their cushy bed and favourite snacks.

I'm still hoping against hope that Herbie's results will be in the 10% that's negative. Failing that, I've read a one and only article whose dog managed to be in remission for more than 5 years, and I hope that Herbie will be as much of a miracle dog as that one. There's still so much that I want Herbie to do. I want him to teach Helios how to be patient. I want my first kid to be old enough to know who Herbie is. I want Herbie to live a few more happy years, at least until his age reaches the double digit. And I hope he will find the courage to fight to survive.)


Ok, let's get moving with the sentimental part. I'm not dead yet. The important thing is.... I can BEG for all I want now!!!!

Results by this week

Thanks, everyone for the prayers.

The biopsy results will be out by this week. However, the vet is 90% sure that I have lymphoma from some other tests she did. Aunty V has started me on reiki, and she will do reiki for me everyday. If anyone has any information on reiki for dogs, or success stories, or whatever, please let my M know. She's worried, and she's acting like a tap today.

I'm staying over at Scuba's house tonight with Helios so that Aunty S can look after me tomorrow to make sure I don't scratch my wound open. My M had half the mind to call in sick, but she just started on her new job 2 months ago and it's not so nice to call in sick so soon I guess.

My battle scar


My M thinks that the irony is, I did a complete blood test today, to lest my liver, kidney, blood count etc etc, and everything is normal. She even said my teeth is well kept for my age. So I am healthy in every other way except for my lymph nodes.

I'll need more prayers!

Bad News

I'm at the vet, and she suspects that I have stage 2 lymphoma. So now I have to stay for the afternoon to do a biopsy to confirm if I do have cancer. If I really do have, I might have to go for chemotherapy. My M and MM and Helios had to leave me behind in this small cage at the vet. I'll have to be anaesthetised to undergo the biopsy.



I hope the test comes out negative. Please pray for me.

Taking turns

Helios and I are taking turns giving our M health scares. After she thought that he's broken his tail on Sunday, he was back to his 'tail whacking in your face' self by Monday evening. So I guess he did really have the cold water tail.

However, on Tuesday, my M found 2 lumps in my neck area, which she remembered clearly was not there on Sat when she was giving me a neck scratch. The lumps were making me a little uncomfortable so I didn't finish my dinner that night, which is a RARE thing. This is about where the position of the lumps are:



She called our 'in house vet' Aunty G again, who wondered if dogs can have sore throat. Or she thought it can be tonsilities. So she said to observe for a few more days before bringing me to the vet.

My M is praying that it's just sore throat because she just gave me a lot of biscuits that morning. According to traditional chinese medicine, there are 'heaty' food and 'cooling' food. So heaty food will cause sore throats. If one is too 'heaty' or 'cooling', they will need to eat something of the opposite effect to offset.

So my M went to the market this morning and bought barley to boil barley drink for me, because barley is supposed to be 'cooling'.

My barley drink


I just hope it's a sore throat, and not a tumor, or a problem with my lymph node or something serious. If the lump is still there on saturday, I'll have to see the vet. Everyone cross your paws for me!

Broken tail?

I broke my tail. Actually I think I did. But my M says it's not. But it's wagging weirdly. My wag is not as hard and strong today, I lost my power wag!

I try to think wat I did that spoilt my tail... it was working find yesterday, it was working fine this morning. And the we went to the bleach, and I swam... and swam, and run and swam and run and swam and.... you know wat I did right? Then I got showered, went for air-dry, went home and my tail got spoilt!

My worried M called Aunty G, our in-house vet and asked her if dogs can get sprained tails, coz she touched my tail but I didn't cry out in pain, so she doesn't think I fractured it.
(Herbie: Don't start misquoting! Aunty G is not a vet! She just happens to read a lot about dogs and health/ nutrition/ illnesses etc.)

Anyway, I think cleber Aunty G managed to find the root of my problem. I've got a
Cold Water Tail. According to this article she found, the description fits my symptoms almost to a T!

It says:
""Cold water tail," "limber tail syndrome," "broken tail," "dead tail," "broken wag" are all euphemisms for a relatively common occurrence in sporting dogs. The tail of the dog hangs down from the tail base or is held horizontal for three or four inches and then drops down. A flaccid tail episode appears to be a painful, but relatively benign affliction that can occur after swimming, after a heavy hunting day or even after a bath with cold water or water that is too warm. It is not always associated with swimming or water, but can happen after a heavy day of work that involves a lot of tail action. The majority of limp tail cases have been reported in sporting dogs or hounds -- Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Setters, Pointers, Flatcoats, Foxhounds and Beagles are the breeds frequently named. Almost all dogs that suffer through an occurrence return to normal within a few days. "

Strange my tail still feels like it's normal body temperature although it's now called a cold water tail. My M says she will observe me for the next 2 day. I thought she sees me everyday, why would she need to observe me? Maybe she's scared that my tail will freeze from the coldness.

I'm just glad that I'm not gonna lose my tail!

Scawie me?

I think I am a scawie and fur-rocious dog. Becoz my M told me that. But I don't know why I'm scawie.

My M told me it's because of our trip to the night market last week. The humans took us (me, my big brother Herbie, Tommy, Jack & Joey) to the nearby night market for a walk. Then I saw a shih tzu walking with his female owner so I wanted to go and sniff butts to say hello. It's only polite to say hello to a fellow dog when you see one, right?

Aniway, the shih tzu seemed to be curious about me too, coz his face was alert, but he doesn't seem scared or fierce at all. But I think my scawie looks scared the owner coz she immediately scooped her dog up and walked away when she saw me coming.

After that, Aunty G said that before we went over (Aunty G was walking far ahead of us with Jack and Joey), the shih tzu sniffed butts with Jack. How come the owner let the scawier Jack sniff her dog's butt but not me? *sad*

Maybe I should try not to look scawie. How can I look less scawie?

Scawie me?