A Deal Is Made...Minutes Before Surgery

I finally got a phone call from MedVet a little after 6:30 p.m.; however, it wasn't Dr. Kennedy calling to discuss the cost or hear my decision about Lexie's mastectomy.  It was just some girl calling to say, "Ms. Bell, we're just calling to let you know that Lexie is going into surgery now."

I asked, "Well, what exactly is she about to have done?" to which she replied, "Ummm....I don't know.  They just told me to call you.  Let me get someone else."

The next girl who came on the line told me that Dr. Kennedy was unavailable to speak because he was in surgery, but asked if she could help me.  Oooooohhhhh.....that poor girl.  I basically WENT OFF.  I will spare you all the minute details of my psychotic rant, but here is a run-down of some of my major speaking points:

• The doctors knew that Lexie's wounds were infected the day they performed her surgery.
• The doctors know that an infection can sometimes cause an incision to pull open.
• The doctors had not yet received the results of Lexie's bacterial cultures the day after her surgery, so they were not aware at that point that she actually had both staph and serratia infections, which were quite extensive, and yet the doctors told me that Lexie was "stable" and ready to go home when she clearly was not. 
• The doctors sent us home with Cephalexin, an antibiotic to which staph and serratia infections are resistant.
• Lexie's stitches pulled open just approximately 14 hours after she was discharged from MedVet, and now she has had to stay there for another seven nights and have another surgery as a result.

I told that girl that I did nothing wrong.  I simply came and picked Lexie up when the doctors told me she was stable and cleared to go home, which was obviously too soon.  I felt like I was having to pay for THEIR mistake.  I also launched into a big rant about how I've been told by five different doctors all week long not to worry about the cost of this visit because they were "doing all they could to keep the costs minimal," so I honestly wasn't expecting to pay more than $1500 TOTAL.  I told her I was perfectly fine with the fact that I would have to pay full price for Lexie's mastectomy IF I was actually being cut a break on everything else.  I even went so far as to say, "I'm even willing to pay the $1800 that I was quoted for this surgery if that's ALL I have to pay."


She put me on hold for about 20 minutes while she spoke with Dr. So-and-So, who apparently has the ability to approve or deny discounts.  Finally, she came back on the line and told me that my total bill for Lexie's stay and surgery, including the mastectomy, would be $1800.  I said, "That's all I wanted.  Thank you."  


Lexie is in surgery as we speak.
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Surgery Pushed Back to Wednesday

After crying off an on all day yesterday about the fact that I'll have to wait until probably Tuesday to pick up Lexie (I miss her so much it hurts), I found out today that I probably won't be able to pick her up until at least Thursday.

The reason I've been so upset about not having Lexie home with me, despite knowing she's receiving excellent medical care right now, is because I feel like these first couple of weeks after having her eyes surgically removed is a very important time for me to BE THERE for her, and I'm not.  She awoke from her surgery to a pitch black new world, and instead of learning how to re-adjust to her daily routine with mine and Justin's help and love,  she has spent these last couple of weeks either in a car being rushed to the vet or locked up in a kennel for observation.  Besides the 11 hours she was actually home, her only interactions have been with unfamiliar doctors and vet techs.  It breaks my heart to think about how confused and alone she must be feeling right now.  She's probably wondering why she hasn't heard mine or Justin's voices in so long and wondering where her sisters are.  

However, I'm trying not to dwell on such thoughts too much because I do realize it's actually a very good thing that they've pushed back Lexie's surgery.  The doctor I spoke to this morning (I forgot her name) said that Lexie's infection has cleared up a lot since we first brought her back in last Thursday night.  Apparently, her staph and serratia infections were much more extensive than I had realized, but the doctor said that the wound looks much better today.  She said she even took a picture of Lexie's wound and sent it to Dr. Kennedy, who agreed that the antibiotics appear to be working nicely.  Therefore, they've decided the best plan of action is to wait another couple of days to continue to allow the antibiotics to do their thing and clear up the infection as much as possible before repairing her incision, which will probably be on Wednesday.  (Remember, these infections were the reason why Lexie's sutures pulled out, so the less infection present in the wound when they sew her back up, the more likely the wound will stay closed this time.)  Therefore, even though I'm bummed that I have to wait even longer to pick up my Lou, it's nice to know that the vets are being extra cautious this time to ensure that no further complications will occur once I finally get her home.  In fact, I'm trying not to even get my hopes up about bringing her home the day after her surgery because it's quite possible they may keep her an extra day or so, just to be safe.  I probably won't know that until after her surgery, though.  

I also don't know yet whether or not Lexie is going to have her swollen mammary gland removed during the same surgery.  I reminded the doctor I spoke with today about this, and she said she'd mention it to Dr. Kennedy and see if they can get a cost estimate for me.  I hope I can swing it, because now I feel like I just want to have it done so as not to have to put Lou through any more surgeries.  *fingers crossed*

Then, They Brought Up the "C" Word

Dr. Kennedy just called to give me an update about Lexie.  She's doing well.  They cleaned her right eye really well yesterday and bandaged it, but they aren't going to change the bandage again until tomorrow.  If it looks like it NEEDS to be closed tomorrow, they will, but Dr. Kennedy would like to perform the surgery on Monday, if possible.  

Then, he asked me about Lexie's swollen mammary gland and how long it has been producing a discharge.  Excuse me?????  I had noticed her swollen mammary gland for the last couple of years, but I had never noticed a discharge.  I certainly would have taken her to the vet if I had.  My dog, Sam, had growths happening all over her body for a few years, but the vet assured me they were just benign fatty deposits.  Still, I decided to have five of Sam's growths removed  last year (shortly before Lexie had to have emergency surgery for pyometra) just because I didn't want them to get any larger.  I had planned to do the same for Lexie this year, but then all of this happened.  

Anyway, I was not aware that a growth in a dog's mammary gland is a bigger deal than a growth anywhere else on the body, until Dr. Kennedy just told me that.  He said that anytime there is a growth in a dog's mammary gland, there is a 50/50 chance that it will be cancer.  Not only that, but if they were to aspirate her growth right now and the cells tested positive for cancer, then it's cancer; however, if the cells tested negative for cancer, there's still a 50/50 chance that it's cancer.  I asked how much an aspiration would cost, but Dr. Kennedy said that he hated to perform one because, if it tests negative, it's just a waste of money.  

I asked Dr. Kennedy if cancer would have shown up in Lexie's X-ray and/or ultrasound that she just had done recently.  He said that it takes billions of cells for an X-ray to show a 1 cm growth.  So, while it's GOOD that Lexie's X-ray and ultrasound did not show any signs of cancer, it still does not mean that there is no cancer present.  

AWESOME!!!!!!

Basically, Dr. Kennedy just wanted me to be aware of the fact that a mammary growth is not something that should be let go for very long and suggested I have it removed sooner than later, because even if it's not cancer it still needs to be removed.  I told Dr. Kennedy that, after all Lexie has been through lately, I would love to be able to wait until her eyes are completely healed before putting her through another surgery.  On the other hand, now I'm super worried to wait any longer to have her mammary growth removed.  Dr. Kennedy said that he still didn't know what Lexie's current stay and upcoming eye surgery was going to cost because Administration has just told the vets to do what Lexie needs to have done, then they'd discuss my bill.  However, Dr. Kennedy said he was going to go ahead and ask for an estimate of how much it would cost to also remove Lou's mammary growth during her surgery on Monday.  He made it clear that Administration is only going to try to cut me a break on Lexie's eye surgery, so if I decide to have her mammary growth removed I will be charged their regular fee for that procedure.  

So, yeah.  Now there's also the question of cancer to worry about.  It's probably going to depend on how kind Administration is to me in regard to the cost of Lexie's eye surgery whether or not I will have Lou's mammary growth removed on Monday.  Believe me, if I can figure out a way to afford it, I'm going to have it done.  If I can't afford it right now, I'm going to save all my pennies so that I can have it removed as soon as possible.