| ANASTASHIA (Ana Banana) Named in sweet memory of Stashia, who went to the bridge far too early. She was a very brave little girl, never a complaint. Loved her ball and life. Stashia fought cancer till the very end. Rest in Peace little angel. Ana is sweet buff cocker girl. She's spayed, up to date on shots, and we're cleaning up her terrible ears. We're using BLUE POWER on her, and giving her only the best foods, & she's responding well. Her age is approximated to be around 5-7 years old, which is really just half of her life. I would guess the first part of her life wasn't all that great. The least we can do is make the second part the BEST part. We sprung Ana from a kill shelter. The vet there called me & asked me why I wanted this dog. She has a few warts and possibly a few fatty tumors, why did we want her. WELL, I have a few warts too - and to be honest, I have some fatty spots as most of us do. That doesn't change anything. She'll love you unconditionally, warts and all. Could you love her too - even with a few warts and other minor problems? Ana Banana DID test low thyroid, so she's getting two pills a day, then we'll recheck her levels. Thyroid pills are inexpensive and very easy to give. |
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| Ana, gettin a squishy |
| Ana's cute little nappy face. |
| Ana after a few days. She loves being in the kitchen. She's a little piggy with fur. |
| Ana enjoys the outside. In fact, she takes her toys and bones and buries them in a secret place that only she knows about. |
| We had our vet do a needle aspirate of Ana's right mammory tumor. I knew the waiting would be torture. I woke up on Saturday 8/3/02 with a call from our vet. She said the path report came back saying it was suspicious for a malignant cancer. The next step will be 3 chest x-rays to see if her chest and lungs are clear. Blood work to see if she can withstand the anesthesia and then surgery to remove the tumors and the mammary glands. Another patholgoy report to see if they got all the cancer. Ana is happy all the time. She never complains. She's just part of the gang here. Uses the doggy door all by herself, follows me around and loves to eat. She lives for food. She probably didn't have much in her previous life. I'll be updating her page as she progress's. She is doing well with her thyroid. Her black skin is pinking up and her ears are getting better. Here's a pic of her hynee when we first brought her in. |
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| Just about all of her black skin in now growing little fuzzy hairs and turning pink. Her belly, neck, ears and butt were really nasty looking. It was the color of tar, smelled sour and was like snake skin. Today, 8/4/02 she is having a blast with a little puppy we brought in to foster. She's watching over her and trying to get her to run and play like all puppy's should. |
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| Thanks to the following special Ana Angels: Caren & Bailey ~ Ana says thanks for sending her some toys, treats & a giftcard for Petsmart. Jan & Terry ~ Thank you for your generous donations. Barb Otter ~ For keeping Ana in your heart and sending a generous donation. Barb & Girls ~ For always being there no matter how busy you are, and for your generous donation. Tina & Tucker ~ Always wanting to help, thanks for your donation and words of encouragement. Mary & Jane ~ Thank you and please thank the Blues Brothers for their generous gift for Ana. Elwood & Jake II ~ Thank you babies, for your generous gift, go kiss mom & dad for us. |
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| 8/5/02 10:00 AM Update: Ana went in to have xrays and bloodwork done. IF the xrays show anything bad, we won't procede with the surgery. If we do the surgery, it will be tomorrow, Tuesday. After bombarding my vet with a list of questions we had, here are the highlights: *Can this cure her? It will most likely be more like remission *Is this a painful surgery? Most are but this isn't the radical one where they do the mastectomy. This is a lumpectomy. Both lumps and glands will be removed. *Is Laser surgery prefered? Yes, less bleeding as the mammory glands are filled with lots of blood vessels. *Which one of the Doctors will do the surgery? Dr. Vandergaag *Has she done many of these? YES, lots *Can I bring Ana home after the surgery? Yes, same day *If we don't do the surgery, what is the prognosis? Not long *With a Grade 2 murmur and a skipped heart beat, is she more at risk? Yes, there is always a risk with surgery. EKG is suggested before surgery. *Conclusions: We will have it done if her blood and xrays check out ok.. and will probably have the laser surgery done. |
| Ana's x-rays are clear, her blood work is ok, nothing too bad, just a few things that showed elevated, usually seen in older dogs. We are going ahead with surgery, scheduled to take her in at 8:30 tomorrow. |
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| Monday night, waiting for daddy to get home |
| Ana hears daddy's van and starts to sing |
| Ana getting a hug from daddy, finally!!! |
| We got Ana to the vet by 8:30 this morning (Tuesday). At 9:00 our vet called and said she feels another lump, so that will also be removed. Also she felt that the one they took a needle sample from might have grown since last week, so that's not good news. UPDATE 2:00 PM JUST GOT THE PHONE CALL FROM OUR VET. ANA IS OUT OF SURGERY. SHE HAD 5 GROWTHS REMOVED. SHE PUT THE STITCHES UNDER THE SKIN, SO THERE IS NO NEED TO HAVE THEM REMOVED. SHE IS GOING TO BE ON ANTIBIOTICS STARTING TOMORROW. VET IS SENDING THE ONE LARGER ONE OUT FOR PATHOLOGY, WHICH TAKES ABOUT 10 DAYS FOR US TO HEAR IF WE GOT IT ALL. I CAN PICK HER UP ANYTIME AFTER 5:00 TONIGHT. Thanks everyone for the well wishes and the calls of concern. These pictures are of Ana after her surgery, when we first brought her home |
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| Ana is home, walking, and trying to get comfortable. She's in her cribby to keep her from going up and down the steps and jumping on couches. She's eaten a jar of baby food, had some much needed water and even made potties in the yard. She is having a hard time laying down, poor thing, her chest must hurt really bad, but she looks way better than I expected. No bandages. They want air to get to it. Little bit later she'll get some more dinner, a nice bowl of puppy soup is waiting for her. |
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| In her cribby |
| Making a weedle :-) |
| Under the kitchen table helping us with dinner |
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| Baby Girl is having trouble getting comfy, but she's so tired she finally gave in. She hasn't turned over yet, so I didn't get a chance to see her boo-boo's. Maybe tomorrow. I am very curious to see the spots they did. |
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| Wednesday 8/7 Update: Last night, she did pretty good. She got up at 1 and went outside to bark and peepee. Yawn!!! This morning she rolled over so I could see her boo boos. She's a good girl, she'll do anything for a snack. :-) |
| This is booby at #1 position, right side. This is the largest one. She also had the left side removed. This is the one they sent to pathology |
| These are boobies #5 left & right. Near the back legs. |
| This is near booby #3 right side. Not too big. |
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| It amazes me how well these little creatures of fur do after surgery. It's only been two days since she had her tumors cut off and already, she's back to her silly self. Today, Thursday, she was playing with Bunny the cocker pup in the yard. {Sorry, of course the camera was nowhere in sight}. She is trying to scratch her incisions, and is licking a bit, but does respond if we tell her no. The shelter vet told me she was deaf. Well, guess what? She is NOT deaf. She even knows her name now and runs if she hears us making up bowls of food. No surprise there huh! There have been many people following her story. Some were even interested in adopting her. As we all know, there is NEVER a guarantee that a foster dog will live another 5, 10 or longer years. Our only hope is that our tossed away fosters will have a second chance to live happy and loved in their new homes. Ana will have that chance here, if no one wants to take a chance on her. She is a perfect example of what rescue does. Some will criticize me for spending too many rescue dollars on her. Some will say, I could have saved 5 dogs for the amount we have spent so far. I say, Ana might surprise us. She has a strong will to survive. She won't give up and neither will we. |
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| Ana in her t-shirt, she was scratching. Bunny pup is telling her she looks way cool |
| We are going to plan B. That doggy t-shirt just didn't do it. Ana is scratching herself raw, so we have given her a benadryl, and bought some cute onsies and baby booties. |
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| Booties lasted a whole 10 minutes |
| 8/11/02 No medical update, just a few things we've noticed about her personality. We try very hard to figure out what these dogs have been thru, and sometimes, the things they do give us hints. For instance, she is not attacking the refrigerator or the trash can any more. When we take the dogs out for potty call, she would settle in out on the patio, as if it was going to be her "home". She did this especially at night. When I have everyone come back in, she always seems surprised and happy to be "allowed" in the house. Lately, she has been getting up on our bed to sleep with us. This is a change for her I'm sure. She was laying at the doorway of our bedroom. Sorta not quite in the room, but still trying to be part of the pack. Ana Banana Bread is starting to open up more, and becoming more comfortable here. She is rolling on me and rubbing, a good sign. :-) Now, if only I could get a kiss. |
| We've been told that Shark Cartilege can help keep her in remission. A very nice cocker by the name of Bear, and his mom Linda sent us some. |
| Update: 8/13/02 No word from the vet yet. I guess I'm in no hurry to hear how the Pathology report turns out. BUT, I wanted everyone to see the silly side of Ana Banana. This is her, this morning, doing her snort and roll |
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| ANNOUNCEMENT |
| Wednesday 8/14/02 Ana's Surgeon JUST called us to tell us what the pathology report said. You ready????? Here's what she says: Mammary Complex Adenosis In English is means, benign behavior. Low level activity. :-) Her radiographs show no signs of it metastisizing. MORE GOOD NEWS If any more lumps crop up, we should have them removed. We are doing the HAPPY DANCE HERE - and so is Ana Banana. I yelled & danced and she got all excited and joined in. |
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| To celebrate, Ana got her very own vanilla ice cream cone, Burp!!!! |
| 8/20/02 Ana with Mary Ellen. Mare is our volunteer that left work eary, and drove down to NJ to spring Ana from the shelter. She was here last night and they had a nice warm & fuzzy moment. We've had a few more people interested in Ana, but so far, it just wasn't the right match. Please understand we try very hard to match the dogs personality and traits to the correct type of home. She's completely house trained, uses the doggy door and would like very much to sleep with you and relax on the couch during the day. She's not destructive at all. In fact, she's very lady like. She also wants a fenced in yard and a natural diet. :-D |
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| September Ana Banana Ana continues to do well. Her boo boo's are all healed up, her coat and skin are much improved, and she's enjoying helping us do home checks for potential new cocker moms. She met a few kids during one home check and WOW'd them with her happy butt stumpy wiggling. She loved making them giggle. |
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| October Ana She's still here!!!! Ana banana continues to improve. Her ears are being treated with a special 'brew' mixed up by our vet, and her thyroid levels were just re-tested. We'll know the results in a few days, to see if he have to adjust her meds. Banana girl wanted to be a CAT for halloween, so here she is, posing in her "ears". She's so funny, lets me do all sorts of things to her. She STILL takes her bones outside and buries them in the leaves. Gotta see her nose when she's finished, it's covered with dirt, and she makes faces at me. |
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| Silly Silly December Ana Ana has not had much interest lately. She surprised us yesterday, when she took a flying leap into a snow drift and rubbed her face in it and danced with glee. She sure was loving our snow storm. She was hopping like a little snow bunny and rolling around, doing an occasional Aroo, Bawoo! Um, she's also put on a little "winter" weight, hehhe, making sure she stays warm in the winter. At this time of year, we realize money is tight. We are very grateful for 2 donations that came in to help us. Buddy (rest in peace baby) sent a generous donation to make sure the foster kids have a Merry Christmas, and Jan & Terry sent us a wonderful donation so we could have a "special" jacket made for Ana. She can't have one that rubs on her legs or belly. As soon as it arrives, we'll take pics. Thanks Everyone, and Happy Holidays!!! <-- Ana's new coat has arrived, and she looks cute in it and LOVES it. It's pink hearts with cuddly bears. |
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| WOOO HOOOOO After 1 1/2 years in foster care, Ana has finally found her forever home. On Friday, 12/5/03 Ana was adopted by Lorrie and Jennifer. She's doing well and we already received new pictures of her. |