I just got home from the vet hospital where Peggy Sue died after having four mast cell tumors removed. I spent three hours with five different doctors, my own vet and the medical review team. The necropsy report showed that Peggy Sue died of acute aspiration pneumonia. There was bacteria and necrosis in the lung tissue consistent with aspiration pneumonia. She got through surgery just fine. In fact, they told me that she came out of the anesthesia and was still intubated. They said she did not struggle and appeared to enjoy being able to breath so freely. When they checked on her at 6 PM, she was fine. For those of you who have been following this, when I got there at 8:30PM that night, I was shocked at how she was breathing. They told me it was a reaction to the Phetanol. I believed it. Today I can see that so did they. I spoke with each of the doctors who were there, reviewed the notes with them and read the pathologists report. In the hours between 9PM and 11PM, her lungs sounded clear. They heard no crackles but she was still panting. She was exhibiting as if she had upper respiratory issues. They gave her a steroid to open her airway and some ace promazine to relax her and she appeared to be breathing much easier. Her blood oxygen was still good, her gums were pink and she appeared to them to be having a reaction to the medications she was given and they had her on a watch. About an hour later, she began to deteriorate quickly. At midnight, they started to hear crackles in her lungs. Her breathing was worse. They started her on lasix and an antibiotic. She continued to get worse. When they attempted to get an x-ray, she went cyantoic and coded. They got her back and immediately intubated her. When they intubated her, fluid came pouring out of her lungs. This fluid was not there an hour earlier. Aspiration pneumonia happens when acid from the stomach is ingested into the lungs. The burns on her lungs coupled with the acute nature of the deterioration, necrosis and bacteria they found in her lungs are consistent with aspiration pneumonia. No-one saw her aspirate. All of her symptoms were upper respiratory. There was no sign of pneumonia until midnight and then she crashed. I still have questions about what would have happened if they intubated her earlier. So do they. But I believe they did what they thought was right given what they saw at the time. Our family vet read all of the reports and concurred. This was a tragic and freak thing. I asked if it was rare. They said sadly it is not. It happens often. The rare part is how quickly it came on and how acute it was leaving little they could do to save her. I still struggle with having chosen to do the surgery as opposed to treating with benadryl. The oncologist told me that the tumor on her vulva was a grade 2. She said that operating to remove it was the best thing for her. The tumor was in a bad place and would very likely have metastasized. All of the doctors, including our own, agreed the surgery was her only chance for cure. Somehow, Nilo and I have to accept this and be grateful for the time we had with her. We always get so much more from them than they get from us. The hole they leave behind when they are gone is immense and painful. I will always question whether or not I did the right thing for her. But, based on all I have seen and heard today, I know that she was not neglected by the veterinarians. I saw tears in all of their eyes today. They were real. Somehow, Nilo and I will have to move on from this place. We love you Peggy Sue. We wished we had more time with you and we will never, ever forget you. Say hi to Wally, Niko and Peanut for us. We will all see you again one day...we are counting on it.
Posted on: Tue, 20 May 2014 03:23:23 +0000