2/4/16
Today was Jackson’s 2nd treatment with Zoledronate we saw Dr. S and he stated tonight they would be doing the treatment a little differently with a different kind of pump. He commented that we could continue with this treatment as long as Jackson was gaining some pain relief and it was improving the quality of his life. In re: to the supposed bone re-growth that it states it says it does, how do you measure this? Unfortunately I have noticed Jackson is losing muscle mass in the right front bad leg even though he continues to put weight on it, I’m cautious not wanting him to injury this leg further. So we’ll have to wait and see how round # 2 goes and whether it continues to help him.
In the past they would take Jackson out of the room to place the IV and then bring him back in for me to be with him while he had his treatment, but tonight they stated I could stay if I’d like, which I decided would be a good idea from last time. This technician we had met one other time, so she was fairly new to us. She got Jackson to sit on a big comforter and began to set the IV in the left leg (the good leg), unfortunately she wasn’t able to get a good vein on the first try so she had to shave a 2nd patch of fur up the leg to get a better vein. He was such a good patient staying completely still while the other tech held him in place.
Once the IV was set she hooked up the Zoledronic acid and said it would take about 15min for the pump to administer the medication. She left the room and I tried to keep Jackson comfortable, yet he kept wanting to try to get up as I could tell he was uncomfortable panting and breathing heavy, all signs of distress. She returned to the room to check on us but as she looked at the pump she seemed a little perplexed and proceeded to get another technician from the hospital to come in and check on things. Come to find out she had miscalculated and set the pump using Dr. S. calculations, so it was dripping the medication at a rate that would have taken 5hours to administer, luckily the other tech. reset the pump and we were on our way. Phew thank God as I wouldn’t have wanted to be sitting their for hours.
Jackson continued to be unsettled and at one point he rested his head on my thigh and looked up at me something he’s never really done before. As I sit with him I try some Reiki thinking that might help him relax but this time it seemed to not help at all, he continued panting and feeling restless.
Once the treatment was over I went outside to get Jackson in the car and I proceeded to step in some other dogs poop, yep disgusting in every way it was all over the bottom of my boot, yuck!! Why don’t dog owners have the courtesy of picking up after their dogs? Anyways, it has been a long day time to head home and get some rest.