Quick! These pages open in separate tabs, so click over to A Tail of Two Cardis and Kol’s Notes to enter to win some nomalicious treats from Jones Natural Chews! On to post surgery …
As many of you know, Flash had a gigantic tumor removed yesterday. Every time I tell this story, the tumor grows in the story. The truth of it is, the tumor really was enormous. I’m a bad dog mommy and down played it in the original telling. What dog mommy lets her baby grow a tumor? A dog mommy who’s dealing with human children and other life crises and doesn’t talk about those, either, that’s who.
Whatever, I’m telling you right now, the tumor was the size of a small cantaloupe when it was removed. A week earlier, when the doctor looked at it, it was the size of a softball. It was growing rapidly, is part of my point. Initially I thought it was a tick.
I did not take a photo of the tumor. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I don’t regret that decision. If you’re eating right now, you don’t regret it, either. You’re welcome.
And good heavens! It stunk. Part of the routine in my house the last week, prior to surgery, was laying out horse blankets anywhere Flash rested, picking them up when he got up, throwing them straight into the wash. I did a LOT of hot water laundry this last week. And a lot of mopping. And spraying of OdoBan on carpets prior to vacuuming. It’s been gross.
I also did a lot of sitting around, like I’m doing post surgery. I didn’t want Flash to move a lot, so nothing would rupture. He tends to follow me everywhere, like a shadow, so I sat still all the time. I’m doing that now so he doesn’t walk around and open the stitches.
Part of the post surgery challenge, initially, was keeping Chewy away from Flash. Chewy, sweet little active Affenpinscher that he is, loves Flash and wants to play. He was especially glad to have the old man home after surgery and was jumping up in his face. Bad dog. *sigh*
So here’s the skinny: All of Flash’s blood work came back great. He’s healthy for a senior mutt. They cut the tumor in half – which they tell me they always do – and it was disgusting, but they were surprised at how little blood flow was getting to the tumor in relation to its size and nastiness. That meant that removing it wasn’t as labor intensive as they expected it to be. And the x-ray showed no lumps or metastasizing inside, no spreading to the lungs or anything else. It was just the tumor.
Post surgery, they gave me the remaining antibiotics and some pain pills, with instructions to give them every twelve hours. He’s not to be running, climbing stairs or jumping on or off the furniture. No baths. All this for seven days. They said to expect constipation as a result of the anesthesia, which he’s already frustrated by, poor dear. And he’s back to eating and drinking normally already.
Shoot, he heard my voice in the waiting room when I picked him up yesterday and started barking for me. He’s my sweetie pie.
Thank you, all of you, for your kind words and thoughts, for your prayers and crossed paws. It was a stressful time, thinking I might lose my baby dog of my heart. They’ve sent the lump off to be tested for cancer, so I guess there’s still that, but I’m not worried about it. Flash is home and recovering. I expect to do the same.
Until I write again …
Flea
