today today today

Today was a blur. It started with a test (my last, I believe, till next week,) which was, surprisingly, not hard. The following lectures, however, wre ridiculously taxing. And VERY long. I foudn this disconcerting because we usually get out early, and my original plan was to go see Dr. H (my advisor, or at least one of them,) to check over the schedule I'd chosen for next trimester, sign it, and then get myself registered before running down to the hospital to visit Haku, home for dinner and a quick visit with Cousin and Boychild, and then just as quickly off to Kung Fu.

This was not to be.

The registration process was a NIGHTMARE. And it was a double nightmare for me since I've decided to do both courses: the eastern medicine (including herbs and acupuncture) AND massage. So I got there, and they were all on lunch. Grr. They had it set up with a bunch of tables and all of the people registering you behind them in a neat row: talk to an advisor, register your classes, financial aid, bursar. Finally I got to see Dr. H and he signed my schedule(s.) I took a number (I was first) and waited for them to set up.

HOWEVER. Because I am wanted to enroll in both courses, I had to not only do both procedures twice, but also RE-ENROLL. As if, you know, they did not have my original papers etc. I even had to write another essay! JESUS.

Well, I finally got it done. (My classes for next trimester are: Anatomy/phys II, diagnostic methods, eastern nutrition in OM. Then myology 1 and Swedish technique for massage.)

I left at 3:45 and was only getting to the vets at 4:40 or so (I have to say I made fairly good time.) I went in and asked to see my she-male and they took me right back. Everyone there seems cautiously optimistic. Cautiously because even though the tissue they removed looked like uterine tissue and was attached to a tube that looked fallopian in nature to an oval structure bearing remarkable resemblances to an ovary--and his blood progesterone was fairly high--they still have to officially wait for the results of all the biopsies to confirm. They also did not yet get the results of his blood estrogen. It's questionable whether or not high progesterone could have caused a seizure, BUT, the uterine structure was filled with so much pus and blood that the toxins building up in there could have caused it for sure. Only by finding out it is definitely uterine tissue--in other words, my male dog definitely had pyometrium--can they be fairly confident that it's what caused the seizure. And then, I just have to, as much as I can for the rest of his (hopefully long) life, guard that one kidney as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Haku was just miserable. I was stupidly optimistic that he'd be so happy to see me that they'd say, "Oh, he's fine, he doesn't need heavy painkillers; why don't you take him home tonight?" But he is obviously in so much pain. He took forever to even sit down, and then lie down beside me. (I was sitting in the cage with him.) It was painful for him to go to the bathroom. Well, so I just sat with him and pet him and he seemed fairly content, though looking very sad and in obvious discomfort.

While I was in there, all the vets were telling me this, that and the other and generally making me feel better about the whole thing. Haku is just the talk of the entire veterinary world out here. I mentioned to the surgeon that I wished I could have seen these things she took out of him, and she offered to show me pics on her iPhone, which I eagerly accepted.

This "tubule" and the structures attached were so much bigger than I'd thought! It does look like an actual uterus and an actual ovary with an actual fallopian tube connecting them, OMG. We talked for a while about dogs being pseudohermaphrodites as opposed to actual, genetically intersexed. Haku's case is so odd (and with him missing a kidney etc.,) that the only way to find out for sure would be to send his blood for gender testing to see if it's a chromosome abnormality. XYX or something crazy like that. Because he definitely has male parts too.

It makes me wonder which side the testicle was on. It's entirely possible that he had a penis and a uterus in the center, and an ovary on the left and a testicle on the right. Incidentally (or maybe not,) his eyes have always been two different sizes, also. This of course makes me wonder if his brain is structurally abnormal too, and of that is what caused the seizure. However, two things: A) why all of a sudden and B) even if so, what could possibly be done about it?

The surgeon said, "He's the same exact dog he's been for three and a half years. Only now you're forewarned that you have to get his kidney checked every year."

Absolutely I have to wait for the biopsy results to come back--and I don't even want to think of the possibility of them not being okay--but I'm cautiously optimistic as well. And the caution is just from past experience.

*sigh*

I'm sorry this was so rambly and crazy. I'm just trying to get my thoughts down for my own future reference; Also writing helps me figure out new things I might not have considered before.

IN THE MEANTIME. I did not make it to Kung Fu tonight because the damn stupid registration ran for so long and I couldn't not visit my little "two-spirit," so that's a downer. But Cousin did come by with Boychild and she brought yummy dinner as well as brownies.

Also, mid terms AND registration are now behind me, and I swear I'm not going to open a goddamn medical book, or ANY book other than for leisure, until next week. Instead I'm going to go shopping tomorrow, pick up Haku on Friday, and spend most of the rest of my time reading for pleasure, playing video games and watching the History Channel or Family Guy. True story.