Dee Dee

Dee Dee arrived into rescue on Sunday, October 23rd thanks to our wonderful volunteer, Bree. She did great her first night at her new foster home. Her foster dad, Rob, fell in love immediately and she made herself right at home and climbed up onto the couch to take a snooze after the excitement wore off of being in a new place.

On the downside, she is in rough shape medically speaking. We decided to take Dee Dee to Alameda East Animal Hospital right away on Monday and she saw Dr. Fitzgerald. He confirmed that the big growths around her nipples are indeed mammary tumors. It is very clear that she was bred many times and she did not receive proper time and vet care in between litters. She also probably started having puppies at much too young of an age.

10-31-05 AM

DeeDee underwent surgery today at Alameda East and it was a much more major surgery than we were expecting. Dr. Fitzgerald had a family emergency, so Dr. Steen stepped in and did the surgery in his place. When he opened Dee Dee up to get a better look, he found that she needed a radical mastectomy and not just some mass removals as we had predicted. There was tumor tissue in every single mammary, so all of her mammary gland tissue had to be removed.

The surgery ended up taking over three hours, which is a very lengthy procedure! It was much more extensive than originally planned and much more expensive, so donations are desperately needed right now. Dr. Steen had to do a huge Y incision and another smaller one behind it on Dee Dee's belly. She will have to stay in ICU overnight on heavy pain meds and a Fentanyl patch. She is awake now and doing well according to the doctor, but she has a long road to recovery ahead of her and will need your continued thoughts and prayers!

10-31-05 PM

We went to visit Dee Dee her first night at the hospital. She is being kept very comfortable on her pain meds, as you can see in the photos. She is receiving a fentanyl drip so she is not feeling any pain. She is in a large kennel in ICU, with a "bair hugger" wrapped around her. This is a warm air cushion that will keep her very comfortable while she recovers. She is receiving top of the line care and has 24 hour medical monitoring.

11-3-05

Dee Dee was able to go home with her foster dad on Tuesday night. She is doing great considering she just had a radical mastectomy, spay, and mammary tissue removed! She is a wonderful, brave girl and has been through so much that she is truly an inspiration to all who meet her. Dee Dee has staples from her chest to her pelvic area and a huge incision, but everything looks like it is healing well so far. She is eating, drinking, and sleeping well. Dee Dee is such a trooper and whoever adopts her is going to be very blessed indeed.

11-11-05

Dee Dee's test results came back completely benign! She got her staples removed Friday, November 11th and she is cleared and ready to go to her forever home when the right family comes along.

11-23-05

Dee Dee went to her forever home with Tony in Englewood. She has a new Basset/Dalmatian mix sister named Shelby to play with. Many of Tony's extended family and friends were there for the placement as well, because everyone was so excited about his new addition. It was very clear that Dee Dee will get all the love and attention a girl could dream of! She will live the life of pampering that she deserves after all she has been through. We look forward to seeing both Dee Dee and Tony at future events as he also intends to become a volunteer!