June Update: G’Lo Hits The Beach

Many kind folks have continued to ask about Gallo, so I thought I’d provide a brief update on him. Our little guy continues to heal from the incision he still has from his emergency surgery on May 9. The week following that surgery, we had to make sure he didn’t try to run too much (which was surprisingly difficult; he had a lot of energy at times) while keeping an eye on a number of symptoms. Perhaps his biggest challenge was the fact that he was dealing with the after-effects of his chemotherapy at the same time that he was facing the after-effects of emergency surgery and having a quarter of his liver removed. So needless to say, he had a lot on his plate.

We thought that no one had earned a trip to the beach more than G-boy, so we had planned on taking him down to the Outer Banks a week after his surgery. To get him cleared for such a trip, we took him to the vet on the morning of May 16 on our way out of town. They checked his blood work, and since his blood count had risen to a level higher than it was before he got sick, he was cleared for some more running and jumping. Upon our departure, he said goodbye to his doctor and the vet techs who have worked so closely with him over the past three months. Since we had ended his chemotherapy treatment (it obviously wasn’t working if they found a tumor on the same day he had his chemo), Gallo didn’t need to go back for three month. I have to say that it was a little bit of an emotional moment since everyone at our vet clinic had grown pretty attached to G’Lo.

After the goodbyes, we continued on to Nags Head. When we arrived and trekked down to the beach, we had to put a shirt on G to make sure that he didn’t get any sand in his incision, but he didn’t seem to mind too much. He loved running along the shoreline with me and darting into the water every now and again. He got a bit tired after a while (which is understandable considering he was still building up his strength), but he had plenty of water and we eventually took him back to our beachhouse.


However, on a down side, we noticed that there were a few cysts or growths running along Gallo’s incision line last week. We didn’t think it was anything serious, but to be on the safe side, we brought Gallo into the vet on Friday afternoon (May 30). After checking him out, our doctor said that Gallo had acquired an infection at the base of his incision, but it wasn’t serious and he looked very good otherwise. The infection was related to the fact that he has no fatty layer underneath the operated-on skin, so it was basically one flap of skin laying on top of another, and when he licked or bit at it, it got wet, which led to an infection. He was prescribed some antibiotics and some medicinal wipes to clean the incision twice a day. The incision still itches him, so we have to watch him closely and he has to wear a couple of shirts when we leave for work … but the good news is that the infection appears to be clearing up and the incision continues to heal.

I am fortunate to have found a better company with a new position that allows me to work the majority of my time from home, so I am able to spend more time with Gallo these days. He’s still doing great, though somewhat strangely, the hair around his nose and chin appears to be growing back — while hair around his knee-bows and neck look like they’re falling out. Odd, and even our doctor is a little mystified. Then again, nothing has been completely normal or by the book with G’Lo.

Anyway, we obviously know that nothing is guaranteed and Gallo’s prognosis is still dire in the next few months. But it is good to be near and around him as much as possible these days. He continues to eat heartily and go flying after sticks and tearing around the house when he’s playing, so he is happy. And that is good enough for all of us.

Thanks as always for the many kind thoughts that have been sent G’s way.


UPDATE, June 5, 2008: Just as we were beginning to wean Gallo off a few medications, we're back to adding them. At about 4 in the morning or so, G got sick a couple of times in the house. Then, about half an hour later, he was nauseous again. So we called the vet, who surmised that G'Lo was likely having a gastrointestinal reaction to the antibiotics. So she added three more medications and a different food to his routine, and I picked all these items up very early this morning. However, if he gets sick again, he'll need to be hospitalized today, which is slightly alarming. The good news is that he ate all of his food this morning rather quickly, so hopefully the nausea has passed and we can handle it with an adjusted diet and some medications. Since I can work from home, I'll be able to keep an eye on him today, which is a good thing.