Iona and I met with one of her new doctors at the NC State Vet School yesterday. We had never been there before, and I must say that it was a pretty cool place. As a teaching and research hospital, everyone has an air of “hope” about them. That includes the 12 or so dogs hanging out in the waiting room. Much different that the ER/Trauma Vet that we were at last week. No one was there unless it was bad news, and that just sucked to be around.
She had her exam and then they explained today’s procedure to me in more detail. Since they don’t want the nuclear scan pets to be around others, they have set up the quarantine area at the far end of the horse barn. For entertainment, they actually walk the dogs straight through the barn, as “most of these city dogs have never seen a horse”! Iona is going to want to herd them all. After I stopped laughing at the visual of my pretty orange ball of fur parading past rows of horses, I couldn’t help but think of Lexi. It was just about this time of year when Elizabeth and I went to adopt her black lab Lexi from the ghetto house. Somehow on our way back, we got stuck literally IN the New London St. Patrick’s Day parade. All around the car were bands and people and HORSES. Lexi apparently hates horses. This funny happy dog immediately turned into a frothing wild beast as she attempted to vacate the backseat and go eat a horse. And yes, it was hysterical. So that is the image that kept me laughing at the vet school.
Today I drop Iona back off. She’ll be under a light anesthesia so that she stays still and then they’ll inject the radioactive iodine into her. The dye will settle into the tumor and define the size and density. Although the procedure will be over pretty quickly, she won’t be able to come home until she is no longer glowing in the dark. A technician will periodically come by her cage with a hand-held version of a Geiger counter (yes, Michael was right!), and set her free when the levels are low enough.
And this is where it gets hard for her. She will be in a cage with a grated and raised floor. She can’t be let out of the cage to go on walks or to do her dog business because of the radioactivity. So she needs to do her stuff inside the cage. That is the only way the dye is excreted from her body, and the only way she can come home. Poor Iona would rather explode than ever mess within her home/cage/car. Dog might be there awhile.
I will be talking to her the whole ride over there this morning. Hopefully she will get it. Poop=Go Home.
The Badass Unicorn 