Cautiously Optimistic. A Sherman Story

One of my goals for 2013 was to maintain a positive attitude despite what may come my way throughout the year.

I have been trying really, really hard at this but it’s day 11 of the New Year and I’m starting to think that maybe the powers that be have it out for me, or even more so out for the ones that I love.

Allow me to explain:

Yesterday was suppose to be the day that we took x-rays of Sherman’s knees to determine the extent of his cruciate tears.

Instead we were taking repeat x-rays of his chest to determine if the pneumothorax and pleural effusion had gotten better.

Who?What? Where?

I know. It’s crazy shit.

So before I tell you the story I have to take a big deep breath, exhale and type really fast because that is exactly how I would tell you the story if we were face to face, so that is the way that you have to read it, but don’t worry, if you read too fast you can go back and read it again.

***BIG deep breath***

***Exhale***

Go!

On Sunday afternoon I noticed that Sherman was breathing kind of funny, at first I didn’t think much of it but as the day went on and I watched him closer I noticed that he was taking a lot of quick shallow breaths and when he was napping his breathing seemed labored. Then at one point in time I noticed that he was open mouth breathing. He wasn’t panting, he was open mouth breathing. The only thing that kept from taking him to the emergency room at that point was that he was nice and pink which meant that he was getting enough oxygen and his pulses were normal.

At first I though it might be due to pain because I had cut down the pain medicine that I was giving him.

I continued to monitor him throughout the day.

I was defintley concerned.

The next day I took him to work with me where the vet examined him and didn’t hear any harsh lungs sounds and his heart was normal, but she defintley thought his breathing was off so we decided to do a few chest films.

We sent the films off to the radiologist to read.

The chest films showed a small volume of pneumothrox and pleural effusion.

The radiologist asked if there was a possibility of trauma?

“Um, no. He’s on restricted activity for the torn cruciates”. I replied

WTH? Is what we were all left asking.

So they’re calling this spontaneous pneumothorax since there is no apparent reason for it to be there right now.

It’s a concern and the question to be answered is if there is anything more sinister going on here?

The heart is normal and there was no lung masses or bullae identified, but occult lung pathology is possible.

Confinement is suggested with repeat x-rays in a few days or sooner if respiratory signs worsen.

***Take Deep Breath***

And continue.

By Wednesday Sherman was not any worse but he also was not any better and this is when I began to panic a bit. I really was trying to not make any big deal over this. I was trying to be calm but after reading the radiologist report over and over again and asking the vet numerous questions my mind got the best of me and my positive thoughts began to dwindle, which is when I decided to ask for some positive thoughts for Sherman on Facebook. This was hard for me, not because I’m embarrassed by it or feel bad but because asking for positive thoughts meant, to me, that they were needed and that I had succumb to the fact that indeed there might be something more sinister going on here and to be honest I am exhausted from dealing with respiratory issues.

My husband is 90% better from his bout with pneumonia and a scary bout it was with the words, lung cancer, blood clot in the lung and other horrible words being thrown at as us for weeks, but thankfully we avoided all those scenarios.

Now we are dealing with a similar situation and similar words with Sherman, can we dodge them again? At this point I would be fine with never seeing another lung x-ray again.

On Thursday, after I had a good long cry from reading all the positive thoughts that were being sent Sherman’s way, we took another set of chest films and here is what the radiologist had to say:

Decreased pneumothorax and pleural effusion are evident.

A small volume of pleural effusion may be obscuring the border of the heart shadow.

Conclusion:

Improved radiographic appearance of the thorax.

This is good news but we need to monitor the situation for a bit longer to be sure.

The concern is still the fact that the docs don’t know why this happened.

We will continue with strict rest for Sherman and will repeat chest films in a week. We did run additional lab tests on him. Full bloodwork and a urinalysis showed some elevations in certain values, but nothing to be overly concerned with. They are noted and will be monitored.

If Sherman continues to improve we will be free and clear but without answers of why this happened. If Sherman’s condition stays the same or worsens we will be looking at more extensive testing, but…..I have been strictly advised to not get ahead of things, and to sit back and relax and wait.

That’s it.

That’s Sherman’s story.

Thanks for listening.

XOXO,

Cautiously Optimistic, Jen

 

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