On January 19th at an exam to remove a dead tooth, our vet discovered that Sampson had a heart murmur and an irregular heartbeat. Subsequent X-rays and Ultrasounds could not determine the cause of the irregular heartbeat, but they did find a nodule/mass on one of his adrenal glands. We were told the nodule/mass could be benign or something sinister. The recommendation was to recheck the adrenal in 1 to 2 months.

To compound the situation, a week later Sampson did a partial tear on his ‘good’ leg. I say, ‘good’ because to me it seemed like he never really walked well after that ACL surgery. In fact, I’m not entirely convinced his poor recovery from surgery didn’t aid in the partial tearing in the other leg, but I’m not a vet. Many, many dogs have ACL tears and surgery for repairs and recover well. Sampson just wasn’t one of them.

We did a lot of soul searching about how we were going to treat Sampson. The two major issues for us were the nodule/mass on the adrenal and the ACL tear.

Of course the heart issues are concerning, but the murmur is faint and the irregularity in the heartbeat is mild, so our focus turned to the other issues.

We decided not to do surgery on the ACL. First, we aren’t even sure they can DO surgery because of the irregular heartbeat and second, based on his experience with the first ACL surgery, well it’s just not something we want to put him through again.

We have a good plan in place to treat it conservatively. Some traditional medications, along with some supplements, acupuncture, short slow walks and physical therapy.

We made our decision based on his age, his previous experience with surgery and we also considered what was going on with that adrenal.

Speaking of the adrenal…

The treatment for a malignant mass on the adrenal is to remove it. From what my vet said, the only way to tell if it is cancerous is to remove it.

Hubby and I decided we didn’t want to put Sampson through abdominal surgery at his age, especially if it wasn’t going to significantly extend his life. Our thought process is, if this is the beginning of the end for Sampson, we don’t want his days to be filled with tests, treatments, missed meals and days away from home. We want his time left with us to be spent keeping his life as normal as possible.

After many, many telephone consultations with the team of veterinarians at our clinic, we rescheduled his ultrasound for yesterday.

I’m going to tell you something here and some of you may laugh, and that’s okay. I’ve said it before, we are all on our own journey and we all have our own beliefs. If you don’t agree with mine, I’m okay with that.

So here it is.

I prayed over Sampson. I placed one hand on his stomach and I had one hand open and raised and I prayed for healing. While I was doing, I heard very clearly in my mind, “The adrenal is healed.” I said thank you and considered it a done deal.

I told the vet techs this story yesterday and told them they were going to be surprised when they saw the results of the ultrasound.

When I spoke to our vet yesterday afternoon she told me the nodule/mass hadn’t changed, and that the ultrasoundographer didn’t find anything alarming on the ultrasound.

I believe I pounded the roof of my car and said, “Yes, yes! I knew it.”

Then she told me, the next thing would be a blood test that could check for cancer. I then told her what Hubby and I had decided and that I didn’t think we’d be doing that test.

Yes, it might be the best $100 we ever spent if it ruled out cancer, but if it didn’t, I know I’d obsess over it and I’d be stressed, which in turn would make Sampson stressed, and that’s not beneficial to anyone, especially if we are not going to treat it anyway. Besides, you know if you dig long and far enough, you’re bound to find something!

I told her if that opinion changed after I talked to the Hubs, I’d let her know.

I talked to Hubby and we are both in agreement. We will not be pursuing the adrenal.

So that’s where we’re at. We will be working on helping Sampson heal his ACL tear conservatively and not be worrying about that adrenal gland.

Disclaimer:  I am not a veterinarian, the decisions we have made are made after much soul searching, and consultations with our Vet team. If you are facing decisions regarding your pet, you should consult your own Veterinarian.

All that being said, I have stayed at the Holiday Inn a number of times and can highly recommend them.

 

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