[Dailydrool] And then there were two.....Mark ATB

[Leigh Ann Herrin]

Mark's lymph nodes started to swell on Tuesday. He was himself all week, 
playing and eating well, until last night. He spiked a fever quickly and 
he became lethargic. I took him to the emergency vet. His WBCs had 
jumped to 37.2 from 12.6   1 1/2 weeks ago.   The ER vet said that she 
had never seen anything like his mandibular area that was not swollen, 
but the tissue was firm around the area. He stayed overnight at the 
emergency vet for fluids and to get his fever down (I believe the lowest 
it got was 103.5). I picked him up this morning and we went straight to 
my vet. Doc had not seen him since his nodes had started to swell. His 
fill-in had seen Mark on Tuesday. His thoughts on cancer quickly 
changed. I had planned to have him biopsied early next week after the 
steroids had worn off, but his lymph nodes were so swollen, he had 
trouble sitting and laying down. His eyes were swollen, draining green 
gunk. He had light, blood tinged nasal drainage. He was absolutely 
miserable. He was playing yesterday morning, ate well, begged for 
treats, basked in the sun......hard to take in how fast this all had 
happened. Doc, the tech, and I sat on the floor with him as we sent him 
on his way. I brought him home and brought Beauregard and Rockefeller to 
him to say good bye. Rocky licked him as they had bonded. I dug Mark's 
grave as Beau and Rocky watched from the gate. Rocky wailed as I covered 
him up. Heartbreaking. ---(a very sad) Momslave (With Beauregard, 
Rockefeller, and Mark ATB-- Pensacola, FL)