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GOLDIE HAS HER
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Lisa sends a report:
Goldie had her ultrasound on Monday morning, October 23; this sweet girl allowed them to shave her belly and perform the test without sedation. We have mixed emotions with the results of this test . . . disappointed because there is a tumor in her liver, but encouraged because it is "cavitated", meaning it is confined to just one lobe of the liver, which is very good news when it comes to removing it.
The tumor is very porous which nixed the idea of doing a needle biopsy. In terms of removing it, we obtained opinions from two veterinarians, the consensus is, any living being, canine or human, has only so much energy to devote to healing. They both recommended at this time to allow Goldie to concentrate on gaining strength in her back legs.
Goldie will continue with weekly acupuncture & water therapy, and with receiving several massages each day. We also realize that surgery at this time would mean a large belly incision, which would be very difficult for her to use her harness, which helps her to walk. Our professionals feel it is fine to wait to deal with this well-confined tumor.
After last week's acupuncture treatment, there was marked improvement in Goldie's back right leg. About four or five days later, I noticed that improvement starting to wane, but Dr. Craig Ansbaugh has since informed me that this is totally normal and is to be expected following the first treatment. Dr. Ansbaugh he is very upbeat about Goldie's improvement.
An interruption to my typing of this report was the UPS delivery person with a very special package - Goldie's 4-wheel cart has arrived! I'm going to put it together right now and get this show on the road . . .
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GOLDIE'S WHEELCHAIR
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RJ & I anxiously opened the large package to find a maze of parts, but happily, we found assembly was pretty easy and we completed it quite quickly.
As tempting as it was to immediately put Goldie into her new chair, we followed Doggon' Wheels' suggestion of letting Goldie get accustomed to it first. Look at the photo and you can see that her new chair isn't causing Goldie any anxiety. Our Airedale Gracie, on the other hand was initially pretty flipped out. Ha!
When our Airedale girls had gotten accustomed to this new contraption, we put Goldie in her chair, just for a short time to see how she'd do. She did very well and she wasn't freaked by it out at all; in fact Goldie seemed to really enjoy being upright and comfortable with the chair's comfortably-distributed support. During this first trial, we also wanted to find the best way for us to get her in & out of the chair, since there are several methods.
This chair is amazing! It's so well made and very adjustable. The best part, which I didn't even realize until we were reading the instructions during the assembly, is that it can be converted to a two-wheel chair/cart. How cool is that! Also, the rear sling can be used as a hand-held harness. RJ & I are impressed with this tremendous piece of engineering.
Doggon' Wheels did a great job customizing the chair for Goldie's exact size. We're going to make one small adjustment before we put her in again. Next time we'll go out on the patio to give her more room and hope for some action! This is just so exciting for Goldie!
This wheel chair was donated to ATRA especially for Goldie by Doggon' Wheels and what a gift it is! The medical expenses for Goldie mount daily, plus what we will need for the ongoing tests, care & treatments for this precious survivor seem overwhelming at times. Goldie & ATRA are so appreciative of this expensive gift from the generous people at Doggon' Wheels. To show how caring these folks are, they even had a special note for Goldie handwritten on their Reference Manual. Now, how sweet is that! You can learn more about this wheelchair and their company HERE.
Dale hugs to Doggon' Wheels; what a lovely gift for Goldie. Time to get the tv crews out and let the world see how she's doing.
CONTINUE WITH THE SAGA OF
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