Arnie Scruggs—Back to Being Arnie!

Arnie, a precocious 7.5-year-old Shih Tzu, came to our Internal Medicine service with puzzling symptoms. Baths seemed to cause Arnie pain. He didn’t want to go up and down stairs either. On top of that, bowel movements seemed painful. Numerous tests, blood work, and exams didn’t explain Arnie’s baffling signs. We started Arnie on pain medications, and though they helped, they couldn’t explain why he hurt in the first place. A CT scan of Arnie’s back and limbs revealed masses affecting various bones including his ribs, legs, and spine. We performed a needle biopsy on the rib mass and diagnosed Arnie as having multiple myeloma. This aggressive cancer of plasma cells can originate in the bone and affect many organs. We started Arnie on pamidronate, a medication used to stop bone destruction and associated pain. Within days, Arnie became less painful and more like his old self. He began chemotherapy for his cancer and has rebounded. Now, Arnie is back to his normal, active self. More than a year from diagnosis, Arnie continues his pamidronate therapy and chemotherapy without problems.

No More Pain for Arnie	One of Arnie’s masses.