Cashew is doing well after 3 years from Insulinoma Surgery!

 I can't believe it's almost 3.5 years since Cashew's insulinoma surgery!  She's now almost 16 and she's doing well!

Her vision has good days and bad days, but she can smell when someone comes in the front entry from anywhere in the house.

She still starts hopping and skipping around the house when "walk" is mentioned.

Her schedule is pretty set everyday.

Cashew still wants to join the dinner table everyday with grandpa and grandma.  Grandpa hooks it up with human food so she likes to sit between them.

Cashew is doing fine!

 

So the random panting at night was due to pain.  We stopped playing fetch and she's now doing fine.

She still wants to play fetch, but she forgets how old she is and runs full speed only to be in pain later.

I'm forced to go for walks after dinner.

Always makes me laugh when I ask her "walk?" and she gets all excited.  Happy feet.

How could someone be so beautiful and cute and funny at the same time.  I can't stand her.  My parents just laugh just because she's sleeping in the middle of the hallway.

Cashew unable to sleep at night

Cashew for two nights have been panting heavily in the middle of the night

• Unable to sleep for ~4 hours in the middle of the night
• Panting
• Wondering around aimlessly
• Keeps scratching me to do something about it.  The last time she did this was when she got a bee sting
• Generally, vision has been getting worse but this is expected for a diabetic dog
• BG levels are perfect!  100 - 250 so it's not diabetes.

Visited Adobe Hospital and met with Dr. Cristi Blackwolf and she really had good news!

• Staring off is probably due to her not being able to see well anymore.  
• Not a heart issue - listened to heart.  weight is the same.  still eats, etc.
• High blood pressure wouldn't say much since perfectly normal dogs can have high BP and vice versa.
• Not a liver issue
• Probably either anxiety or body hurts at night
• Gave me pain medication
• Gave me supplement suggestions IF it's anxiety
• Not neurological because she knows where she is and she knows who I am

So I have been thinking of what I have done differently when she suffered.

• This happened 6 hours after a meal.  That's usually the time when I play fetch with her.  So I'm going to cut down on ball time.
• Probably not her food, but switching back to Nulo Raw Freeze Dried Meat.

Does not like the hospital...

My favorite shoes and shoes notes in general

I've struggled to find the right shoe until my mid 30s.

It turns out I just had 4E wide feet.  Combined with New Balance, my feet have been really happy.

993 blue - bought wrong size

928 (white/white) - my favorite!  They look beautiful and super most comfortable

928 (white/leather white) - wow, these are just great.  They are like $150+, but this is it.

Big downside is that these get dirty very easily.  One step on dirt and the white mesh is toast.  But these are so comfortable.

813 - Bought on Mercari (perfect)

812 - for some reason i don't remember these

623 v3 - a little pointy on front, squeaky bottom, feels a tad bit tight in the toe area

608 v5 - feels a little tight in the toe area

587 - wrong size

574 v1 - bought wrong size

Cataracts.. To have surgery or not...

It's been 28 months since Cashew's insulinoma surgery.  She is now 14 going on 15!

We are getting old buddy!

Cashew has diabetes and unfortunately one of the side effect is building cataracts (to go blind)

It's sad that Cashew still wants to play fetch, but she is unable to see like before.  She can still see, just not well.  She can't see fast ball movements.  Gee, I remember when she could see a tennis ball sitting in a field very far away.

She still eats dinner with us.

Still barks at me to go out.  Quite loud these days.

I've learned to make big hand gestures to tell her to come over.  She does every time!

I try to make big swinging movements and throw the ball near her so she can still fetch. 

Now.  She's almost 15.  Should I have her go through another surgery for her eyes?

She gets insulin injections twice daily.  Do I want to make her go through eye drops too?

We go on very slow walks fine.

I certainly want her to see well again...

Cashew is doing great! It's now 2+ years since her insulinoma surgery

Everyday is a blessing.  We were told 1.5 years on average to live after the insulinoma surgery and now it's been 2 years!  

Cashew gets to use my bed until I go to sleep.  When I go to bed, she gets up and goes to her bed. Very considerate creature.

Sometimes, I let her sleep on my bed and I sleep on her small bed, but she gets up and stares at me like I'm doing something wrong.

I have been tracking Cashew's blood glucose here and there to make sure her numbers are under 400mg when her insulins at the weakest levels and the times of her insulin.

My niece came over during the holidays and she played UNO with Cashew.  She said "When I grow up, I hope I can have a dog like Cashew" 😭 and my dad told me to just give her Cashew now. 😂

Cashew and I also got our 15 seconds of small fame thanks to my brother.

So we took this photo with cashew and my nephew / niece before they left for the holidays.

My brother was giving a talk and at one part talked about how Cashew was told she didn't have much longer to live, but survived cancer and living fine with diabetes 2 years later and the crowd cheered

Good job Cashew! 😁

👏👏👏   🐕?

Finding the right vetsulin dosage and schedule that works

Couple of things since last post.

• Her blood glucose are highest before breakfast and before dinner so measure those two.  Currently, Dr. Jennifer Koga and I negotiated to 4u vetsulin in the morning and 5u before dinner
• Cashew is doing well at 203mg in the morning and 247 at night.

• Cashew wants to eat breakfast when she wakes up (can be anytime from 9am to 11:30am). and she wants to eat dinner with the hoomans (6pm-7pm).  Otherwise, we are stuck with her begging every 5 minutes.  So, I'm hoping this schedule/dosage works for her

1. Wake up and eat breakfast
2. 4u vetsulin
3. 8 hours later, eat dinner (eat carrots and veggies for fillers)
4. 5u vetsulin
5. 16 hours of walk / sleep time

• Family has been very supportive.  Dad boiling carrots for Cashew and mom making sure he's not giving too much. 👴👵🐕