One of the greatest Gifts we can give one of our pups after they have Healed is the Gift of an incredible Home. We found the perfect home for Dear Pepper. Both Pepper and her new Family were a match made in Heaven. Life could not be any sweeter for these two. Unfortunately, Pepper's Life took an unexpected turn for the worse last week when she lost control of her rear legs. Her new Guardian immediately scooped her up and took her to the ER at Carolina Veterinary Specialists where she is known and loved for the amazing dog that she is. CVS is all too familiar with Pepper since they did her original Mammary Tumor surgery.
Unfortunately, Cancer is an ugly beast that doesn't care how sweet you are or how loved. Pepper was immediately transferred to the Neurology Team at Carolina Veterinary Specialists. An MRI was done, and it appeared Pepper had a rupture in a disk from what appeared to be a tumor or cyst. Time is not your friend when it comes to spinal injuries. Each hour that passes the animal loses deep pain sensation, and eventually, they cannot regain it even with surgery. I spoke to the Specialists throughout the night and Pepper's new Family.
Our hearts were broken for this amazing dog. There was no guarantee Pepper would regain the use of her legs if we did surgery and if we did not do surgery, we would have to put her down. Pepper was started on Prednisone to control the swelling and to give us a little time to decide what would be the best solution for this amazing dog. The next morning, I spoke to several Neurologist and decided to go ahead with surgery. I just could not abandon Pepper when she had already come so far. Her disk rupturing was something that was right out of left field. I had to give her this chance, and if it did not work, then I would know it was time to say Good-Bye.
Pepper had her surgery in the early afternoon, and it went beautifully. A biopsy was sent off to determine exactly what the growth was. By the next morning, our dear girl was starting to walk again and use her rear legs. To say we were elated is an understatement. We knew we could not get rid of her cancer completely. Our hope has always been to improve her quality of Life so the time she has left, she can be happy and loved for the special dog she has always been. Pepper is out of the hospital and being pampered by her wonderful Family. We have started her on a different chemotherapy in hopes it will slow downher cancer and give her more time.
An MRI and Spinal Surgery is extremely expensive, but that is what Pepper needed to walk again. We don't know how long she has, but we do know we did our best to give her that remarkable chance. Please, Donate whatever you can so we can help more pups like Pepper. Thanks for caring and making her Journey to walk again possible. We greatly appreciate your Love and Support for our animals.
