our journey with angell’s angels begins
angell is a beautiful facility located in jamaica plan on south huntington avenue. the waiting area is always incredibly clean and patients are asked to wait in dog and cat delineated areas. liaisons call you in for the appointment and take a little time to get a feel for the situation, understand what brings you in, engage with the pet and go over any questions. the adoption wing is to the right of the emergency/medical area. the beauty of angell is its comprehensive, all-inclusive nature. emergency doctors, surgeons, neurologists, radiologists, oncologists, pain specialists and the like are all on staff at all times, working together, to ensure the best is done to save animal lives, diagnose problems and perform proper treatment.
dr. johns, who is currently dr. brum’s fellow, gave sullivan his initial exam. she spent nearly 45 minutes looking at him from head to toe, examining things that he’s never before had checked: each joint, muscle function, hip movement, eyes, and so much more. she was absolutely phenomenal. after typing all of her findings and sharing them with dr. brum, he came in and did a peripheral assessment of sully to augment dr. johns’s notes. while both doctors mentioned a myriad of possibilities for sully’s condition, namely cancer, immune-mediated illnesses, poly arthritis, orthopedic issues, tick borne disease, etc., dr. brum scooped sullivan up for what we thought was a simple blood and urine test.
when they came back, dr. brum informed us that in addition to a cbc/gen, tick panel (again – apparently tick borne diseases often take a while to manifest), urine analysis and cytology of the right and left carpi/right and left tarsi, sully was examined by dr. nick trout, surgeon and author of “tell me where it hurts”. dr. trout and dr. brum initially thought sully could be suffering from polyarthritis and suggested he get joint taps to examine the fluid. the joint taps showed very mild immune-mediated arthritis. sully also had a series of x-rays (chest, lumbar spine, thorax, c-spine) and an ultrasound of his abdomen to look for masses and abnormalities. everything came back normal. due to the presentation of the affected limb (lameness, muscle atrophy, knuckling) it was recommended that sullivan see one of their board certified neurologists immediately. an appointment was booked with dr. avril arendse the following morning, thursday, august 16th.
the above photo shows the incredible atrophy in sullivan’s front limb. given lack us use, the muscle has deteriorated profoundly. while his right front limb is brimming over with muscle, his affected limb is simply a bone jutting out of skin.
