In a nutshell

The past few days, in a nutshell...Taken from an e-mail update I sent to Audrey. I was too tired to write so I bullet pointed everything. :)

Woke up on Sunday and Woody was breathing funny -- or at least I thought he was. So we took him to AERC and they did another chest x-ray. Things looked fine -- but they told us until we had him evaluated to make sure he didn't move too much and watch him carefully.

We scheduled our appointment for today. I asked Andrew if he needed me there, because I had 3 big meetings at work today -- A Republican (Minority Whip) came to our offices, we're being profiled by the WSJ for Thursday publication and I have a big presentation tomorrow. He said "I guess if I have to be an adult I could go on my own but I'd prefer not to". Okay, you can only imagine how furious I was and, quite honestly, still am. So I decided to stay home. We also heard from our regular vet and he wanted to see Woody today as well.

Went to see the cardiologist this morning. Lovely man. Kind man. Told us what he'd be lookinig for and what modifications we'd have to make for Woody. Took him for his ultrasound. Came back. Woody is an anamoly. He has a stage 4/6 murmur but is only kicking back 10% of blood flow -- as opposed to the 50-70% he was expecting to see. He was surprised based on his diagnosis on Friday night.

Pissed off at Animal 911...

Really pissed off at Animal 911...

So he told us no modifications were needed and Woody should live, at least from a cardiovascular perspective, a long and happy life. We need to get chest x-rays once a year and just watch him for signs of any significant cardiac change.
He never had fluid around his heart and lungs -- no sign of congestive heart failure.

Really, really pissed off at Animal 911...

He doesn't know how things got so bad for us at Animal 911 and apologized. Said he was glad we didn't make any rash decisions.

Took Woody to see Dr. Swiatkowski.

He was really upset by the events of Friday night. Was going to call and find out what happened.

Thinks Woody might have IBD or an ulcer. We'll treat conservatively until we rule things out.

Woody is acting absolutely normally.

Woody is HOME!

Yay!

He's home, resting and has an appointment on Monday.

Animal 911

Hate having to post this information...but if I truly want to keep a log of Woody I have to include the good with the bad. Or vice versa. Woody has been sick all week. We thought he was getting better until last night when he seemed to get decidedly worse.

We took him over to Animal 911 and found out that he has severe cardiac issues (a heart murmur rated 4 on a scale of 6) and some fluid around his heart and lungs. They also believed he had torqued his stomach due to vomiting. Fortunately this wasn't the case and he responded to medication. Initially we were told we'd have to decide to have him operated on or put him to sleep. His chances of surviving the surgery, due to his heart issues, were slim to none. Before we left, we had to sign a DNR on him. Ick.

He rested comfortably through the night. He was doing well this morning and we're about to call again. We might be able to bring him home. He needs to follow up with an internist or a cardiologist. With the severity of his heart issues, with meds, he could live 2 months or 2 years. Either way we want him to have the best life ever.

Say prayers for Woody. :)

Still Sick

Poor Woody is still sick. We don't know what he got into. We thought it was the walk, then the cookie but clearly it was something else. He's on medication now. He's eating plain rice. We walked a little last night. He was slow but he sniffed a lot.

All About Me

No Woody today -- Completing Lori's ABC's of Me!

Age: 41
Bed Size: Queen
Chore You Hate: Cleaning the toilet
Dogs or Cats: Both -- Woody and Maxie
Essential Start Your Day Item: Coffee
Favorite Color: Blue
Gold or Silver: Silver
Height: 5'7" 3/4 -- Hey, I'm going to be as tall as I can be.
Instruments You've Played: Flute
Job Title: Project Manager/Administration
Kid(s): One: Andrew - ha!
Loud or Quiet: Quiet
Married? How Long? Yep, 15 years
Nicknames: Pumpkin, Sweet Babboo
Overnight Hospital Stay: Yes, when I had knee surgery.
Pet Peeve: It's hard to pick just one...People who walk right by you (assuming you know them) and don't say hello.
Quote From A Movie: (Paraprasing) "What's up with that wierdsmobile?"
Right or Left Handed: Right
Siblings: Brother, older -- Robby
Time You Wake Up: Around 6:00 am
Underwear: Every day
Vegetable you Hate: Cauliflower
Ways You Run Late: When I'm waiting for someone else and they're late.
X-Rays You've Had: Dental.
Yummy Food You Make: Make? Hmmm...chocolate chip cookies, bruschetta, lasagna and tortilla casserole
Zoo Favorite: Monkey

Marathon Man

Holy Cow! Woody walked all the way around the park today (almost 1.5 miles) without stopping to be stubborn. I didn't have to pick him up or redirect him once! Now, that being said, it did take us over an hour to walk around the park with all the stopping to sniff, pee, sniff, pee, sniff, sniff, be petted, sniff, and pee. Now he's totally exhausted. He can barely move. I don't know what got into him this morning. He just kept going and going.

Woody the Wood Cleaner

He was at it again -- licked all our baseboards, rugs and carpet yesterday. I think it made him sick -- either that or the rawhides. He threw up three times last night and has been really lethargic today -- won't walk. It's also 100 degrees outside so he's not too excited about being outside. I feel bad for him. He just looks like he doesn't feel well.

On the bright side, my baseboards look fabulous...

Nothing to say

It's been a pretty quiet week for the Woodster. He had another Cujo moment and actually made some contact with Andrew's cheek. I was asleep so I didn't see it. Andrew was MAD. I think he was more scared than anything. Otherwise it's been pretty quiet. He continues to chew his rawhide/toy/thing. He spent hours on it last night. It is very funny to watch him.

Woody in Action...Sort Of...

Chew It!

Holy Cow! We've found it. We've found something Woody likes to chew and keeps him busy while we're gone so he doesn't go looking for trouble. We went to dinner on Friday night in Andersonville and went to a little pet boutique while we were there. I found some sort of chew braid that looked like he might like it and bought two of them. We brought them home and gave him one. At first he didn't seem to know what to do with it. He gnawed at it for a bit but then walked away. The success story is that Andrew went out yesterday and when he came home Woody didn't run to greet him. When Andrew went looking for him he found him in our room, happily chewing away at his new treat/toy. No more shredded address books! Hooray!