Dear Humans: feel sorry for me and give me lots of presents

Hello dear readers! I know, it has been a long time. I've been a busy girl, with things to do and places to go. Not a lot of time for diary writing, but I thought I'd oblige you all and give you an update on, well, being me.

Lets see...where to start. I guess my story here is a follow up on my last diary entry. The whole "Luna has a heart murmur, blah blah blah" story. Yeah, I get it. Meh, I am not too impressed with it.

Mom and Dad, see they love me lots. And are they nervous nellies? Well, you could say that. So Mom has been watching me like a hawk ever since my diagnosis, even though the cardiologist said that my mitral valve disease was minor and that I'd be around for a lot longer. She knows all that, but still can't help but worry if I start to show even the slightest of symptoms.

So a couple of weeks ago, I had a little tickle in my throat. Nothing major, just an itch. I cleared it, and since I was laying on my sleeping mother at that moment, she felt me cough that little cough, as I am 70 lbs. I heard her explain to Dad the next morning as she dialed the Vet on her speed dial that coughing is one of the first symptoms of heart failure. They got me in that day.

Well, the nice Vet listened to my lungs, said they were clear, and said there was no reason to worry. She knew it was just a throat tickle, with her medical degree and all. But, she had a great idea. Since I had never had chest x-rays, and only an echocardiogram, why not schedule me for them just to get a baseline for the future? Ya know, since my lungs sounded so good and all, something to compare to down the line?

Come to find out, this place schedules x-rays like a surgery day! I had to get pre-anesthesia blood work, have Mom not feed me the morning of, yada yada. Well, I went in all normal and happy, and proved to the Vet how amazing I am. She said, "this dog is so sweet, she is laying down calmly for an x-ray. we don't need to give her anesthesia!" So all that work for nada. I was in and out in five minutes.

However, the Vet called Mom at work with some shocking new. She said my lungs had what appeared to be fluid in them. She said she couldn't believe it, and even brought in the head of the practice for his opinion. Both Docs were shocked that my lungs could sound so clear, and that I wasn't hacking constantly, why there would be this fluid.

The Vet emailed my x-rays right away to my Cardiologist. We had to wait until today to get his opinion.

Ever since this news, Mom has been a crying mess. I keep looking at her like she's an idiot, because I thought she knew by now that I defy all odds and do my thing the way I want to do it. Even still, she got choked up each time she looked at me, thinking the end was near or something. Psha. I don't think so.

Over this past weekend, Mom and I hung out with my first Mom. She was also very upset about my prognosis, even though I tried to tell them both that they were acting like weirdos for being so worried. My first Mom did have some interesting news to share though-when I was a puppy, I had very bad kennel cough, and it turned into pneumonia. It was so bad, that I wasn't expected to survive. When Mom heard this, a light bulb went off...maybe...just maybe...could it be?

It was the case! The Cardiologist confirmed that my lung damage is NOT heart related, and rather resulted from some long past trauma. They said I must have coughed so hard, I actually caused my heart to sit off to one side! Even though that isn't really a bad thing, they said, they couldn't figure it out since most times that happens with dogs who have severe lung trauma, like being hit by a car. But when Mom shared the news that she just found out about my puppy hood, they said that was the exact cause.

So, the verdict is, I was once again correct and Mom is a blubbering mess. I am no worse off than I have been in the last five years since coming to live with Mom and Dad.

This last week did get me a lot of extra love and attention though. I might have to rile the humans up more often!

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