Ginny Update #2

My phone rang at 2:50 am and I almost leapt out of my skin when I saw the emergency hospital's number on the screen. The vet was calling to let us know that Ginny's blood pressure had dropped to a concerning level and they wanted to address that. They were running some tests, but didn't want to proceed with any treatment before letting us know what was happening. We told her to do what she needed to do for Ginny and that was the end of the call.

About 20 minutes later, my phone rang again. The first call was bad enough, but getting a second call so soon afterwards caused my heart to fear the worst. Fortunately, the vet had just looked at some of Ginny's test results and her recent blood work was indicating anemia, so she wanted our permission to do a blood transfusion. Of course we agreed and that was that last information we received for about 15 hours. They had told us that "no news is good news," but I'm not sure it's in my DNA to not worry when someone I love is hurting.

I couldn't sleep after those two phone calls; I tossed and turned for a few hours and then finally decided to get up and keep myself busy. It was a long day of waiting for news.

Two happy distractions...since we canceled our trip to NYC this weekend, we were able to have dinner with my best friend and her husband last night and then today, we were able to go to the first hockey game of the season that our two godkids were playing in. Being around people we love makes a world of difference to us because we feel supported and understood as we worry about our girl.

After an anxious day, the vet called a short time ago with an update for us. The good news is that Ginny responded well to the blood transfusion. The not-so-good news is that her catheter - which was supplying all of her intravenous medication - had to be removed. The site (her jugular!) developed an infection and the decision was made to switch over to insulin injections and oral meds. As you might imagine, it's difficult with the comically short little Dachshund legs for a catheter to be effective and remain in place, particularly because Ginny is not sedated in any way, so now she'll be monitored as she adjusts to the new administration of medication. She's drinking just fine, but only eating a little, so they'll watch that with the change in medication as well.

As for us, all we can do is wait. Tomorrow her care will return to the internal medicine team (over the weekend, the animals are under the watch of the critical care veterinarians), so perhaps by the time we speak with them tomorrow, things will be looking up.

Here's hoping for good news with the next update and no more scary phone calls in the middle of the night.

another cute pic of her from last week

family

Happy Tails to you...