sff_corgi_lj: (WUB!)
I'm probably going to be terse, so feel free to prod me with questions if you have any.

Two months (almost exactly) after D'Argo's very successful surgery at the very end of December, I noticed a new lump, pretty much where the old one started, but not of the same nature. This wasn't mobile, and grew rapidly to about tangerine/orange sized, feeling very involved in his throat structures. Dr Bacon and Dr Marmesh discussed it over the phone and after both got a look at him (another trip up to Gainesville), decided that a second surgery wouldn't do much good under these conditions. The analysis said it was a very rare and very malignant form - surprising considering how it'd behaved before, but now it was showing its fangs. He'd already lost 10 lbs of the weight he'd put back on, having been disinclined to eat again. We went home with Prednizone and Tramadol and no way to be optimistic.

He had a constant problem with regurgitation - not like nausea, and none of the usual medicines for that seemed to work, although Dramamine eventually seemed to help a wee bit, but it was too late, really. I kept having to switch foods, he started to eat less and less (couldn't even hold down water), and a few days ago was turning away from pot roast and chicken nuggets.

He was 42 pounds today; badly dehydrated, of course, but it was his choice. He kept hanging in, poor thing, all wobbly. But he was sad.



I still owe US$1873.76 on his total/accumulated bills, not including Dr Marmesh's services today.
sff_corgi_lj: (Holidays - Ostara)
Very. I owe you all a post on D'Argo's condition, but haven't had the time/energy to put in everything - he's still here, but very skinny. Stupid hypercalcæ More eventually, honest.

I also missed posting on the Vernal Equinox, so belated Happy Eostre/Ostara. I've got a Geochron-like gadget on my iGoogle homepage, and couldn't miss those straight, straight, up-and-down terminator markings, but never got to LJ.

Also missed Ada Lovelace Day, for which I should make icons. It's been designated a day to celebrate all women in the sciences, and of course Sydney Padua is all over that. Blog-holidays are a great way to share information on special subjects (surviving zombie attacks, for instance) and Women In Science definitely deserve more celebration.
sff_corgi_lj: (WUB!)
Aside from an intermittent cough, sometimes accompanied by spitting up slime (ewwww (but better than throwing up in general, right?)), D'Argo's doing well. His last two blood calcium labs came back as 9.2 and 12.2, so we're cutting out the Tums but finishing out the D3 supplements.

An index of earlier posts, and a copy of D'Argo's surgical invoice for those interested.

Due to amazingly generous friends, I show you this:

easy fundraisers

People in Second Life who are moved to help will find a Christmas-coloured tipjar at the Falling Anvil biergarten in Tamrannoch, Caledon, or the residential docks in Port Harbor, Steelhead. Drop Tanarian Davies or Eugenia Burton an IM in-world if you have problems finding it. You've already helped a lot!

Payment plan is three months interest-free:
Payment date: 01/16/2010
Payment amount: $1029.00 (ONE THIRD!!)
Confirmation number: 1263663492573-010195

Balance as of 01/27/2010: $ 2,058.16
Payment date: 01/27/2010
Payment amount: $ 515.00
Confirmation number: 1264597836489-066666
(Halfway there)
(I have to wait for the PayPal transfers to complete with the U.S. bank holiday and all before I can pay more. The total due was adjusted slightly to reflect a deferred finance charge which has been billed to the CareCredit account in addition to the previously-reported total.)
sff_corgi_lj: (Perplexed boxer)
I finally have a real number to work towards, for those interested/helping; it's right about the low end of the estimate quoted to me orginally.

easy fundraisers

People in Second Life who are moved to help will find a Christmas-coloured tipjar at the Falling Anvil biergarten in Tamrannoch, Caledon. Drop Tanarian Davies or Eugenia Burton an IM in-world if you have problems finding it.

Surgical and aftercare invoice )

LLADRO STATUARY FOR SALE )

Edited to add:
Earlier D'Argo-relevant posts


sff_corgi_lj: (Perplexed boxer)
Please see this post for more info and means to help out.

For those of you not also on Plurk, D'Argo's doing very well; Dr. Bacon just called a few minutes ago with the latest blood test results, and since the parathyroid tumour was removed which relieved the artificially high blood-calcium levels (which could impact kidneys), the calcium has been dropping.

The catch is, dropping how far and how much farther. Thankfully, it seems to be starting to level out now, but Dr. Bacon wants to do one more test before D'Argo leaves for parts southwards. Therefore, D is staying one more night (easier than schlepping down, schlepping back, having to deal with All Those Stitches around the unruly mob here, schlepping back again to the hospital in the AM) before going home.

So. We're needing a bit of kibble, and maybe some tinned food for D'Argo on the way home since he's eating so well again (I need to call Mary and Maria...) and oh yeah laundry. Dr. Bacon said he'll see us before we leave, so maybe I can get a snap of doctor and patient together for D'Argo's attentive audience here *grin*.
sff_corgi_lj: (Perplexed boxer)
Please see this post for more info and means to help out.

D'Argo was taken by Dr. Roger Bacon for prep at around 08:45 this morning, after a very efficient drive up and a miserable few hours in no-kidding-FREEZING temperature. Due to Lludmilla Mirrikh (Marf Shopmeyer)'s gift of a WalMart card, after lubricating my freeze-dried throat (canNOT car-camp at 35F°) at Starbucks, I got some nice new socks and woolly slippers to protect my ankles from drafts.

I was able to get some more productive napping done on return to the Hospital (good thing I brought the extra blanket) and was called at about 13:30 to be advised they were going into surgery then. Between a raging tension headache and bored corgwn, the afternoon passed pretty slowly until around 17ish, when Dr. Bacon called to say the whole mass had been removed, D's larynx fiddled with to allow breathing (since the nerves were damaged by the pressure of the tumour) and a parathyroid tumour had also been removed. This was an unsurprising find in light of D'Argo's recent blood calcium levels.

He was still out from the anesthesia, of course, and still had a breathing tube in; naturally, he was spending the night. The puppies and I went off to have a little dinner, then up to Lake City to spend the night with the hospitality of the Browns, who I know as the Decostas in Second Life. They even fed me pizza, yum.

I still don't have an invoice on the surgery and post-care (since they're not exactly done yet, right?), but I'll update the appropriate diagrams when I can. We might be up here one more night, I'll find out tomorrow.

Thank you, EVERYONE, for your magnificent level of support and positive beliefs. I'm gonna have fun getting D'Argo fed up again when he feels up to it, he's way too skinny right now.
sff_corgi_lj: (Perplexed boxer)




Thank you, the two of you who've helped already! I'll be updating this as appropriate.

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