Scotty started out on Vetsulin. We tried it for about 6 months. We could just not get him regulated on it. He would never be good for long. We'd raise the dose, he'd be good maybe 10 days, then start drinking and peeing again. No matter what dose he was on he always seemed like such a zombie for most of the day. He had lost quality of life.

I was fortunate to find this group in May of 2006. Thank heaven for all of you. I started to truly understand diabetes and what was happening. After hearing about nph from several of you, I decided to switch him to it. Within 3 weeks, Scotty was regulated. He was like a pup running around and playing again. Happy! He was totally new, and we were happy.

Then in November, right before Thanksgiving, Scotty was getting sick. Coughing and gagging a lot. We took him in to the vets. At that time one of his lungs was not working, and the other not well. The vet saw something on the x-ray that appeared to be a tumor in his medial stinum. Gave us meds and we were to return in 2 weeks for a check up. On November 20 we took him back and he said both lungs were working now, but not well. Changed antibiotics and we were to continue the Theophylline for a month and then return for another chest x-ray. Well the antibiotic made him terribly ill, so we switched that again. He started to cough a little more and instead of waiting I took him back on December 13 for another check. The vet listened to his lungs and again said this is not good. His heart didn't sound good either. He was in congestive heart failure. He gave me Lasix and said he would call me in 48 hours. Well on Friday, December 15 when the vet called he wanted me to bring him back in. The lungs were actually moving air in and out, however his heart, spleen, and liver were all so enlarged they looked ready to burst. Also, there was still that shape in the stinum area showing up on the x-ray. No wonder there was no more eating. Too much pressure on the stomach for one, and the other reason was the stomach was no longer in the place it should be. The liver had pushed it way out of place. He said he was dying, and he didn't know if he would have 6 days or 6 months. He said to bring him in on Monday the 18 and he would do an echocardiogram. However, on Sunday he stopped eating altogether. Casey kept telling me "mom, we need to get him to eat something". We knew his time was coming fast. Much faster than we were prepared. I took him in for his echo on Monday mostly so that the vet could see him and maybe do something to make him more comfortable. He wasn't able to eat and had stopped drinking. He would look at his dish, but he just couldn't eat. One last attempt to save my beloved boy.  Scotty has been sick and at death's door before. I've always been able to make him better. Not this time.