Lab Results

Turnip had a big lab panel done yesterday and the results were given to us this morning. She has extremely low levels of thyroid hormone which would explain her lethargy, weight gain and heat-seeking behavior. It may also explain her aggressive side and GI problems too, but we'll have to see if that changes with the medication. She was prescribed 0.8mg of thyroxine twice a day and she'll be on this the rest of her life. She also had a very high cholesterol level, but that is a side affect of the low thyroid hormones (I have to look into why that is - sounds like something I should know). For her GI problems, she has been put on metronidazole (temporarily), digestive enzymes, probiotics and a very low fat diet of chicken and rice and the once a day homemade spelt cookie. We're not thrilled that we have to cook all her food now, but putting her on this bland diet for 6 weeks will tell us if her GI problems are diet related. She's going crazy without her peanut butter. It's so sad to watch her pine for it!

In non-dog news, I'm getting ready for school by taking care of things like taxes that can be done early. I've got to go to San Jose later this week and get my parking permit and see which books I need for my ethics class. I've also been putting together a resume that I would like to keep with me when I'm at clinicals - just in case anybody asks! I think I've decided that I would like to get a job at Valley Medical (in San Jose where I've been doing clinicals) because I'm familiar with the hospital and I don't really know anything about working for the local hospital in Santa Cruz. I'll have to make peace with the fact that I'll be commuting if I work at Valley, but it won't be for too long since we're not planning on living here after Jake graduates.

We're planning a two-night trip to San Francisco from February 1-3 for my birthday and so far we've only decided where we're eating - sure sounds like us, huh? We'll probably go to some museums and do some shopping at Ameoba Music, the bestest and hugest CD/record store ever. This time we're staying in a hotel that actually has a bathroom in the room, NOT the European style I'm not so fond of (like last year). I can't wait for our trip, it's been so long since Jake and I went somewhere by ourselves (sans doggie)!

Turnip has reached 100!

Today we saw a new vet, Hannah Good, to get a fresh perspective on T.'s GI problems. She weighed in at 100 pounds which is up 6 pounds from two weeks ago. She's been on a diet and no matter what we do, she keeps gaining weight. This might indicate that she has hypothyroidism, but we have to do a $129 panel to be sure.
We choose Dr. Good because of her reputation for integrating alternative medicine into her practice. She recommended that Turnip start acidophilus and digestive enzymes (Prozyme), continue with her bland diet and eliminate fat intake. No peanut butter makes a very sad dog! An interesting perspective that she brought up is that Turnip's history with parvo virus (pre-adoption) could have resulted in an decreased amount of villi in the intestine which would radically alter her food absorption. After we get some tests done she'll be able to tell us a little more about the reasons for Turnip's problems. Who knew that treating diarrhea would cost thousands of dollars!!!

I need to add to Turnip's list of accomplishments

Napping in her new sleeping bag:

What Turnip is doing on her vacation

Testing out new sleeping positions:

Destroying Christmas gifts:

Cuddling her boyfriend on lazy Saturday afternoons:

Inspecting the aftermath of the storm:
And her favorite, napping on fresh, unfolded laundry (check out those major elbow wrinkles!):