Frankendog No More

My little gargoyle finally got his staples taken out after his little procedure a couple weeks ago, so Nemo's not a Frankendog anymore! Yay!

Nemo's thrilled. He can barely contain his excitement.

We also got back the tests results we were waiting for. We had the bump that was removed from Nemo's neck tested to see if it was a mast cell tumor and we also had a blood test done to confirm Nemo's insulinoma diagnosis.

There's good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news first.

The bad news is that Nemo's blood test definitely indicated that he has insulinoma. We weren't at all surprised by that result though. While Nemo's blood glucose levels have been really good lately - because we've been so diligent about feeding him regularly and monitoring his activity level - after the test we had a really tough time getting his levels back to normal. In order to do the test Nemo's blood glucose levels had to be fairly low, which meant that he didn't eat for 15+ hours. On a regular day, Nemo eats about every three hours. After fasting for such a long time for the test, it took a few days to get Nemo back in the normal range. It would never take such a long time with a "healthy" dog. By the time we got the official test results back, we already had our answer; there was no question that the blood test results wouldn't be in our favor.

On the good news side, the bump that was removed from below Nemo's ear wasn't a mast cell tumor. Nemo is just a bumpy, warty little guy.

For continued good news, even though Nemo's insulinoma test results weren't great, Nemo himself is still doing okay. By all indications, he feels good and is still happy and feeling healthy (even if internally he's got a lot of not-so-good stuff going on). When we went to the vet we also found out that Nemo's already gained three or four pounds thanks to constant feedings and restricted exercise since his original diagnosis. I'm not sweating it though. I'll take Nemo fat and happy for as long as I can.