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Yup, you read that right. We had to rush Hilo back to the ER. 
Yesterday, Hilo was incredibly lethargic. All he wanted to do was sleep all day. It might have been from all the pills he had to take, but we knew something was not right.
We called the vet to see what we should do. She suggested to call back if his condition worsened throughout the day.
It started to worsen after the clinic was closed.
Every time we took him out to “potty”, he would have major diarrhea. ((Sorry for the nastiness.)) Every Momma knows that this can cause dehydration, and that was my main concern because he was already dehydrated.
Once at the ER, they poked and probed Hilo… AGAIN. Blood tests, again. Painkiller shot. Fluids injected into his body. The list continues. He was brave, though.
The sad face from Hilo is a rare sight.
Gloria spending time with Hilo while we wait.
They tell us he has a fever. Sigh. They suspect that internally, he’s still trying to fight off the Lepto vaccine that was given to him.
After waiting and waiting, his blood results came back, and his WBC are much higher than they were yesterday. Phew!
Because he’s been traumatized with the transferring from clinic to hospital so many times this weekend, the vet said it would probably be best for him to rest at home rather than stay the night.
Once again, we’ve got our fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
Thanks so much for the concerns and well wishes. We will keep you posted.
(and Gloria, Maui, and Hilo).
Note: This is going to be a long post, so please bare with me.
Hilo is the furball with brown spots in the majority of my photos. He’s cute enough to make anyone smile, and I can bet you on that one.
One of the many puppy photos of him.
Friday morning, we dropped both Maui and Hilo off to get their yearly exams and vaccinations. Before we headed out, we made sure that in the notes it read that Hilo was not supposed to receive the Lepto vaccination. He did not receive it last year, and he was not to get it this year either. ((Hilo’s littermate died of complications after receiving this vaccine.)) The receptionist told us it was noted in his patient file.
When it was time to pick them up, the nurse had notified us that Hilo vomited in his crate. Gloria looked at his paperwork and saw that Hilo was inoculated with FIVE vaccines! What?! I was told he was only to receive TWO vaccines that day. On top of the other four vaccinations that Hilo received, he was also inoculated with the Lepto vaccine.
That explains the vomiting.
We quickly notified the nurse who administered his exam, and she looked stunned. A couple of minutes later, the vet (not his usual vet) rushed Hilo back to get a couple of shots to fight the allergic reaction: steroid (epinephrine) and diphenhydramine (fancy term for Benadryl) shots. To monitor his progress, the vet asked that he stay a few more hours.
While waiting, so many thing raced through my mind. I knew that this was a HUGE erroneous mishap. How is it that a nurse and a vet oversaw the notes?! Did they even look to see that he was allergic to that vaccine?! Is Hilo going to make it?!
We wait a few hours, and he seems “fine”. …at least that is what they told us. We drive home, and he seems thrilled to be out of the clinic even though he’s acting strange. Within 15 min of being home, he starts walking funny and his back starts to break out in rashes and hives. We notice that he has diarrhea. The steroid and diphenhydramine shots obviously didn’t help that much with his reaction to the Lepto.
Maui is a highly allergic dog, so I knew that Hilo was having an anaphylaxis.
We immediately called his vet right before they were about to close. She told us to rush him to the pet ER.
Sigh.
We rushed him to the ER, and they basically do more tests on him. They poked and probed him, again. The ER vet told us it was an anaphylactic shock. ….duh! I could have told you that when I found out he vomited the first time. She administered another dosage of shots to help the allergic reaction and requested that he stay over night to monitor him. She told us that he needed to be hooked up to IVs to help his system get through the shock.
We had to walk him towards the back, and he didn’t want to go. It was late, and I’m pretty sure at this point, he just wanted to go home and cuddle up next to Mommy.
The rest of the night, we stayed up hoping that we would not receive a phone call that every parents fears the most.
No call. Phew. …but are we in the clear? No.
We rush back to the ER bright and early in the morning, and they let us greet him. My heart broke just looking at how tired he looked.
He still had the IV on his leg.
Gloria captured a blurry photo of the treatment and shots from the ER.
They sent us back to the “ICU” with the rest of his IV fluids.
Thank you Hospira for manufacturing the IVs for Hilo. 
He spent all day being monitored, and of course, they poked and probed him… AGAIN! When the clinic was about to close, they let us pick him up. Hilo was so ready to get out of there, and we were so relieved to see he was doing much better.
They sent us home with pills galore.
TONS and TONS of medicine for Hilo.
…and that’s how the story goes.
If Gloria had not looked at the paperwork, we would have never seen that he was given a Lepto shot. Thus, I don’t think that our little furball would have made it through the anaphylaxis. The reaction to his body would have been too much for him.
Right now, he is drowsy from all of his meds, but I rather have that, then not have him at all.
He is having so many issues right now, and we are trying to keep him hydrated. If things worsen throughout the day, we are going to have to take him back to the vet. I’ve got my fingers crossed all remains well.
Thanks for all of the positive thoughts and prayers from everyone this weekend. It was definitely needed and much appreciated.
(and Gloria, Maui, and Hilo.)
PS: I will post again soon with scrapbook updates, but for now, I’m going to tend to our little furball.
((Replying to emails, listening to all the chatter in the cafe, and sniffing amazing coffee is definitely NOT the best place for me to work. ))
There really shouldn’t be an excuse to why I haven’t been updating as frequently as I normally do. I can only justify my absence with how incredibly busy I have been with work! …and it’s definitely a wonderful thing that I’m busy.
For the next few months, I have a handful of classes which I have been offered to teach. As soon as I get the chance to update my Classes page, I will add all of the projects and information there.
I have received a couple of (surprising) emails recently that had me smiling from ear to ear.
- Three more of my projects were picked up for publication! I’m beyond thrilled about this one. Let’s just say that I know a lot of you are subscribed to this magazine.
- I have been offered to design some projects for a friend who contacted me this week. I’m excited to be playing with some new stuff that she will be carrying in her store.
- I might be traveling to teach a class in a really awesome part of the country. I’m not sure yet, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that the class dates work with what is already on my calendar.
- I’ll be leaving for Texas next week for the Great American Scrapbook Conventions. If you are in the area, let me know! I’d love to meet some of you.
I so badly want to share my latest projects with everyone. Unfortunately, I can’t post any of them until each kit is revealed. Here are a couple of sneaks from The Sampler and My Paper Tree House:
The 2010 June kit from The Sampler took me outside of my box, but I thoroughly enjoyed every part of it. Don’t miss the full reveal!
The 2010 June kit from My Paper Tree House is definitely a fun one to get your hands on. I got right to it when I first saw what was included in this one. Here are a couple of sneaks to keep everyone on their toes:
I finished another layout featuring Imaginisce and Core’dinations. They are still doing a blog swap featuring each other’s products, so I thought I would join in on all of the fun. …and yes, I know this is a Christmas layout, but who says you can’t celebrate the holidays in May?!
…and I made one with scraps and random products that were scattered all over my table. These, in my opinion, are always the most fun to create! This is definitely one of my favorite completed layouts, but the process of creating was a thrill.
I’ve got a fond love for brads and eyelets lately. Can you tell?! Good thing I’ve got a ton of them in my stash! Besides, the more I use up, the more new products I can buy. Okay… not really, but I like to tell myself that, haha!
Oh, and in case you haven’t, head on over The Paper Life to listen to a podcast about my very own paperlife. There are some amazing prizes up for grabs, so you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity over there!
Now, I’m off to pick up my babies from the vet because they had their comprehensive exams today. Hoping all is well with the both of them.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_J_w-4boPw2E/S1kmJExQB_I/AAAAAAAAHak/VStRbkIdOpE/hugs%20sarah.jpg
…of me! I’ve been quite the slacker, or shall I say bad blogger! Bad, Sarah!
I plan on updating sometime very soon. In the meantime, hope everyone is doing well.
Some of you might have heard of a paperlife. For those of you who have not, I’m sure you are wondering, “What is a paperlife?” Even though I want to tell you right here and now, I suggest that you pop on over here to find out.
Let’s just say that you’ll get an inside scoop to the paperlife of yours truly.
…and what’s even better?! There are awesome giveaways to those who check it out! When you are done checking out my paperlife, head back to this post for your exclusive chance to win a MEGA GIVEAWAY. It’ll contain products from the manufacturers I design for (Imaginisce, Kiki Art, Urban Swank, and Zutter).
Are you still reading this post? …STOP before you continue to read!
I also wanted to share some layouts that I recently created.
((If you’re still reading, stop! Click here.))
This first layout was created for my friend, Audra. She donated to my AIDs Walk goal, and as promised, I created her a layout with her choice of photos. I used Imaginisce‘s Splash Dance and Core’dinations cardstock. If you didn’t already know, there’s a blog swap going on with both of these awesome manufacturers. Both blogs have stunningly creative projects to share, so make sure check both of them out!
Check out how awesome the i-rock is! It makes bling so easy.
My next page was created with the pretty paper from The Girls’ Paperie and the help of an AccuCut.
Aren’t those flowers super pretty?! I surely think so.
Now for the good stuff… Did you head on over to The Paperlife with Amy Coon to hear about my paperlife?!
- If not, this is your second warning, haha! Just kidding! …but seriously, you are going to want to click here.
- If you already checked it out, then leave me a comment to this post telling me one thing you remember that was said in the podcast. You have until Saturday, May 29th by 11:59, to be entered to win a MEGA GIVEAWAY containing products from the manufacturers I design for.
Lastly, I wanted to thank you all for taking a peek into my very own paperlife! You have all played a big part in it, and I am truly thankful for that.
See you all soon!
