Until we meet again....

Yesterday we said good bye to Miss Sassafras. As you know she was a strong fighter. She found her way to our home in February 2013. We rescued her from Muttville in SF, but she was found in LA as a stray. Sassafras Plea Video from LA  She was with our family about 17 months before her diagnosis of cancer and the start of her battle with hemangiosarcoma in July 2014. The rest of her history can be read in prior blog posts. An update since our last post: In June 2015 we had her spleen removed and it was full of cancer nodules. The surgery was a success and she was doing great. We were #Makingeverydaycount.

The last few months after losing Indigo in May, Sass and I became best buddies. We consoled each other as needed and enjoyed the good times. 

I am very in-tune with Sass and recently I knew something was wrong. (Always listen to your gut!) Beginning on Nov. 13 I noticed Sass was really "off." We made a vet appt for Sat. Nov. 14 and her blood work and urine culture were done. Both were perfect (including her one functioning kidney), but after work on Nov. 16 when I got home, something still wasn't right and she seemed unresponsive when I came home from work. We took her to the ER doctor and she received IV fluids and some anti-nausea meds. She came home and seemed to feel a little better. We had an ultrasound appt for Thursday, Nov. 19 at the specialty vet to check out her gall bladder and liver, because something still wasn't right. We found new cancer nodules in her liver, but no signs of bleeds. They took an x-ray of her neck because it seemed super sensitive and they found 4 fractured but healing ribs on the right side. What the heck!!! Nov. 7 at my mom's house she ran into the glass sliding door and this is the only thing I could think of that would do this. She was sent home with a Fentanyl pain

 patch and after a full day she started crying and whining, we were in Lake Tahoe for the weekend so after calling the ER vet we decided to remove the patch, as it may have been side effects. She settled down some, but still wasn't herself. Walking in circles, her gait was unsteady and it appeared her vision was impaired. After enjoying the morning Tahoe sunshine with her,

I was still so worried about her, She was doing laps around the hot tub and seemed so off. The pain meds should have been out of her system within an hour or two at the longest. We left Lake Tahoe a day early and came home so she would be in a safe and comfortable place. She was given pain meds and anxiety meds from her general vet that evening and they seemed to take the edge off. On Sunday, Nov. 22 I took her to the emergency specialty vet where we all agreed something was going on with her Neurological system.

She stayed the night for observation and was given IV meds to calm her down and make her comfortable.

Kissing her when I left her Sunday at the Specialty Vet

  The plan was for a CT scan Monday, Nov. 23. However, instead we decided on an MRI and I was able to get her in at another specialty vet that has an MRI machine. The Neurologist she saw was kind, patient, bright and compassionate. After a consult, we decided on an MRI to tell us what was going on in her brain. I watched Sass walk away with the doctor down the hall and little did I know that would be the last time I would see her walking down the hall. I got the call with the results of the MRI and there were bone abnormalities most likely from a small tumor, but we could treat the edema and when the swelling went down, her neurological symptoms would improve, including getting her eyesight back. I was thrilled to hear!, we could help her out. It would not be a cure, but we would get our girl back until the cancer decided to take over. C.J. and I were on our way to pick her up when we got the call that she wasn’t breathing on her own.

They pushed meds to help with the brain swelling and something to tell her to breathe, but nothing worked. She was on a ventilator for just over 2 hours supporting her to breathe. At that time we made the hard decision to end her suffering and tell our love bug good-bye. I honestly think this may have been her way of going out on her own terms. No ruptured hemangisarcomas on her watch. I took this Selfie in the waiting room before her MRI and I am so thankful that I did. She was standing under my legs, as I tried to snap this photo. Sassafras we will miss you, but I am confident your sister Indigo is thrilled to have you join her in paradise! Until we meet again sweet girl, mommy and daddy love you!!