Bubba

It's been a while since I've blogged.  We've been very busy the last few weeks. 

For starters, Cooper, our beloved "Bubba" had a ruptured spleen and had to have emergency surgery.  It was a tough call for Andrew and I because we knew going into the surgery that he might not have a good prognosis coming out of it, but Cooper was too young and healthy to just give up on him so quickly. 

It all started last Monday night when I got home from work.  My Mom and the girls had arrived home just a few minutes before me and my Mom said when I walked in that Cooper was acting funny.  He was just standing still, not moving much, and staring off into space.  I checked him out and didn't see anything wrong.  While Autumn was eating her Chick-fil-A nuggets I gave one to Coop.  He refused to touch it.  That was when I knew there was something really wrong.  I got Cooper to lie down on his bed and then I rushed Autumn off to swim lessons.  Before heading out the door I called the vet to get an appointment for the next day.  When we got home I took Cooper out to go to the bathroom.  He went potty and then he laid down on the grass.  I couldn't get him to move.  I had to carry him inside the house.  Cooper weighs 65 lbs, so dead lifting him was no easy feat.  He was able to walk some when Andrew got home, but not much.  Andrew and I assumed he had a slipped disc in his back or maybe hip dysplasia.  We made him comfortable and made plans to take him to the vet in the morning.

In the morning the vet looked at him and said that things just didn't seem to add up.  Cooper was acting like he had a slipped disc or something of that nature, since he wouldn't walk, but he was also showing some signs of being anemic.  His ears and gums were very white (as opposed to their normal pink) and he seemed very weak.  We left him at the vet to run some blood work, x-rays, etc.  Within about an hour Andrew got a call from the vet that Cooper had a ruptured spleen and would need surgery immediately.  We were very upfront with the vet when we went into the appointment that although we love Cooper dearly, there is a definite limit on the funds we can spend on him.  Andrew and I had actually had conversations on this in the past.  We have known people who had spent thousands of dollars on their pets and we both agreed that we were not those people.  We had a range that we would be comfortable spending if the time ever came.  When the vet told us the cost of the surgery it was within our range and we agreed to go ahead with the surgery.  Within a few minutes the vet called Andrew back to tell him that he did not believe that Cooper's lameness was related to his ruptured spleen and that there was a possibility Cooper would not walk again even if we did the surgery.  Andrew put calls into his Dad and Luke to discuss the vet's opinion and after discussing it with Luke we believed that the lameness was related to the ruptured spleen and that the sooner we could have the surgery done the more likely Cooper would be to recover fully.  We decided to "roll the dice" in Cooper's favor.

Cooper came through the surgery just fine.  He had to have a blood transfusion.  Aislynn kept asking where the doggy blood comes from, so I asked the vet.  He said that there are blood banks, but in this case, and in many others, they just have one of their employees go home and get their dog to donate the blood.  Cooper now has Rottweiler blood from one of the receptionist's (Wanda's) dogs.  Cooper stayed two nights at the vet to recover from the surgery.  Andrew and I went to visit him before and after work.  He still wouldn't walk, but his coloring was so much better.  Finally he walked a little and was able to go potty outside, so they discharged him home to us.  The hopes were that he would eat more (he hadn't really eaten much of anything yet) and have higher spirits at home. 

Once we got home Cooper was still a little timid, but he began to walk more and more, although he favored his right back leg and often turned his left back paw under.  He also started to eat more and more.  It's been a week and a half since his surgery and Cooper is doing much better.  His spirits are back to normal.  He wags his tail, kisses our faces, and barks, but he has started not walking with his back left leg.  He just lifts it up and hobbles around on the other three legs.  We think he hurt his paw by licking it too much and he is on an antibiotic/steroid spray to hopefully heal his paw.  I'm hoping that we can get him back to walking on all four legs soon.

We went to the vet on Monday for a follow up visit and the lab results were back from the parts of his spleen that were sent off to pathology.  Cooper was diagnosed with hemangiscarcoma, cancer.  This is not a good form of cancer either (not that any kind of cancer is really ever good).  From what Andrew and I have read on-line he probably has weeks or months left to live and will probably bleed out again (like he was doing when his spleen ruptured).  The good news is that the vet did not see any masses in his lungs, liver or kidneys.  We are hopeful that Cooper will live longer than we expect, but we are also very aware that his days are numbered.  Right now we're trying to spend lots of time with him, make him comfortable, and watch for signs that he is in pain.  We have several trips to the beach planned in the next month and a half.  The beach is one of Cooper's favorite places.  I have also asked Tio Luke to take some family pictures of us with Cooper soon.

I won't go on and on about how great of a dog Cooper is.  I'll save that for the post that I am not looking forward to writing when he is gone.  For now I'll just share a few favorite pics of my biggest baby.

When Cooper wouldn't eat chicken nuggets
there was obviously something wrong.



Mommy came to visit him right after surgery.




At the vet recovering.




First night home.




With his paw bandaged up to keep him from turning it under.




At the vet for his post surgery check up.




Wearing the "collar of shame" to prevent him from licking his paw. 
Autumn says he is her Lion - "Roar" when he wears this.




Mommy dressed him up very silly for St. Patrick's Day one year.




Recovering from his first camping trip.




With Mommy at Lake Ouachita in Arkansas.




He loves to pose.




Sitting in our fishing guides lap.  He makes friends with everyone.




Chilling with mommy by the fire.


Ok, way too many pictures, but before Autumn and Olivia came along we only took pictures of Coop.  There's lots more where those came from too.

Please continue be in pray for Cooper and for us as we enjoy our last days with him.  Thanks everyone who has been praying for him and sending their well wishes and love through Facebook.  It means a lot to me.

I have a lot more updates to do soon: Olivia's 6 month update, swim lessons, etc.  We also have A LOT going on in the next month or two: multiple trips to POC, Dewberry Festival, trip to DFW, Disneyland, etc.  Hopefully I won't be too busy to actually document some of these happenings.