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Staging- Abdominal Ultrasound

We had a 10am appointment to drop off Atticus for his ultrasound. I loaded him up with Trazadone and Gabapentin, in the hopes he wouldn’t need to be sedated.

VCSS was busy, busy busy that morning. After calling to let them know we were outside it took a while for a tech to come out and get him. When our surgery tech, Trish, came out, she seemed frazzled, and let me know they were running behind because of an emergency surgery. That comforted me quite a bit. We were in the right place, a place that takes care of emergencies for their patients. We waved goodbye to Atticus, drove home, and waited for the call.

Several hours late Dr. Perry called. There were no tumors in his abdomen! Only one thing of note; a lymph node in his abdomen was slightly enlarged, but the lymph node closest to his tumor appeared normal. This could be a coincidental finding, or less likely be the cancer metastasizing. Unfortunately this was not a lymph node that could be biopsied without opening him up.

The lymph node worried me, but it didn’t change anything. He was in pain, and the amputation was the only thing that could fix that. We were going forward with it on Monday.

When he came out, Atticus was still pretty drunk. Of course he had to be sedated for the ultrasound. After all, this is a dog that has to be sedated to get a good look in his mouth. When we got home he went to one of his favorite places, our landing, and passed out.

I hopped on my computer to try to catch up on work. About 30 minutes later, Kevin called me down because he was worried about Atticus. He was still super gorked, and was shaking hard. I thought he was probably just coming out hard from the sedation, but Kevin was really worried, so we called the clinic. Our lovely surgery tech had us see if he would get it with some encouragement, and he did. She suggested we keep him warm, and give him some time. Sometimes older dogs have a harder time coming out of sedation, which I know from experience.

We got him upstairs to him room (well, our guest room, but it’s his now), settled him in bed under some blankets, and let him sleep it off.

4 thoughts on “Staging- Abdominal Ultrasound”

  1. Bummer about the sedation hitting him so hard. Glad he’s sleeping it off now.
    A nd YAY for a good ultrasound! And yeah, that lymph node thing is probably nothing, so no worries.
    Thanks for the update. Give that handsome boy a smooch for us.
    Hugs
    Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

  2. Woah, that sedation recovery experience sounds so much like my elderly mothers’! I’m glad you were able to get advice that could help you stay cool.

    By the way I just love how your outlook helped you get through the day when they postponed his surgery for a bit. Seeing the vet clinic as awesome because they took care of an emergency first, instead of being angry and upset that Atticus wasn’t seen on schedule, says soooo much about your pawsitive personality!

  3. Thank you for the update. Brody is also scheduled Monday for amputation and relief from his pain. We use the same meds and he still has to be sedated for most exams etc.

    1. I’m thinking good thoughts for you and Brody! If you’re here, you’re in a great place for support.

      Although it wasn’t enough for the ultrasound, the combination of 200mg of trazadone and 300mg gabapentin is working really well so far for chemotherapy visits. Last time Atticus was falling asleep on the table!

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