Today has been an interesting day, not particularly good, but this evening had to be one of the strangest evenings I have ever spent. It all started at about 6:45 p.m. when Merc called to say that he was going to be later than he thought. When I asked why he explained that one of the fish had gotten stuck in one of the fake pieces of driftwood that decorate the office fish tank.

I immediately started searching for any help I could find on the internet, which was very little. Basically, it said try taking the object out of the water so the fish would panic and possibly free itself. After about half an hour, I called back to see if there was any progress and he said that he had tried everything he could think of, including trying to pull it out himself, all to no avail. He was ready to give up and leave the little guy to work it out on his own. So I decided to go down and see if I had any brilliant ideas.

I packed up Scarlett and we headed out to the office. When I got there, Merc said that Manda was coming too. Good, three heads are better than 2. I tried everything I could think of: seeing if I could dislodge him with a thin stick, gently pulling on his tail, swaying the piece of driftwood in the water...nothing. Manda showed up and we all tried again...nothing. After nearly 2 and a half hours of trying to free Willy, we were about out of ideas.

Merc gave it one last effort and tried to break the driftwood. He was finally able to break off one of the legs. This gave us new hope, so Manda and I trekked down to the cars to get pliers. When we returned Merc carefully chipped away at the piece of aquarium decor until the little guy was able to wriggle free. Manda and I gasped. Yay! He was free! A little banged up, but we think he is going to make it.

What a strange evening. Go check out what Merc and Manders have to say about it.

Labels: aquarium, Fish, rescue, stuck

Well, I just heard from the Dr. and he says that the pathology report on the biopsy says that they did get all of the tumor, and it appeared to be of a low grade. There was no evidence of spread to the lymphnode that they removed. The report also says that it was more likely a nerve sheath tumor, which is less aggressive than they were thinking it was, so chances of recurrence are unlikely. No further treatment is recommended at this time. We still have to watch, but all in all this should be a cure.

Oh my gosh! I am so thrilled to hear this news. Thanks to everyone for your support and prayers, and thanks to the good Lord for watching out for my little pup.

Labels: cancer, cure, diagnosis, pathology, Scarlett

Scarlett is doing very well. The sedatives are working wonders for our sleep...yay! She is walking pretty well even though we are really limiting her time out of the cage to just potty breaks outside. She really wants to be out of the cage, so we are taking her out to cuddle for a bit. Chris also took the cage out on the porch for a while yesterday so that she could get some sunshine. So far so good. :)

Labels: post op, recovery, Scarlett, Surgery

I have to take a moment to recognize mothers. The events of this past week have made me see mothers in a new light. They deserve more than a day of accolades, they deserve a lifetime of thanks.

So to my mother, a million thanks. You are the best. Thanks for all the days and nights of care you gave me, I wouldn't be here without your love.

Labels: Love, Mom, Mother's Day

Scarlett is doing much better. She so badly just wants to act like her old self. So have been having to restrict her. She has never been good at being calm when it is important. On the night of Post Op day 3, I awoke to her climbing onto the couch with me. Since we can't have her climbing onto anything. We put a little t-shirt on her to cover her stitched and put her into the crate for the rest of the night.

Hubby joined me sleeping near her and we both tried to keep an eye on her. Not well enough I guess. When we awoke in the morning she had chewed through the shirt and licked the stitches. No damage, just licking, thankfully. So we put on the e-collar and she has been wearing it ever since. She hates it, but she needs to leave those stitches alone.

Chris bought a cage yesterday so that we could confine her better (she doesn't fit in the crate with her collar). But late last night her incision started oozing a bloody fluid. I called a local animal urgent care and they said that it was alright since it wasn't a lot of fluid.

We were still pretty freaked out so we took shifts watching her all night. I have to say that mothers everywhere have my utmost respect. It was one of the most miserable nights I have ever experienced. Between Chris and I we got about 6 hours of sleep. Until about 2:00 a.m. we couldn't get her to lay still. Then I got the notion that she might be cold and my brilliant husband set up a small space heater and she was MUCH happier.

This morning I called her vet (open on Saturday, yay!) and told them what happened and that we wanted to bring her in just to make sure that everything looked okay. The vet said that the incision looked great and that a little leaking is normal. So good! I also asked if we could get a sedative to keep her calm at night, which the prompty prescribed (double yay!).

When we got home, feeling rather ill from the lack of sleep, I made us a nice big breakfast and then we all napped for about 3 hours. Tonight we will be hitting those sedatives. Wish us luck!

Labels: post op, recovery, Scarlett, Surgery

Scarlett is no longer yelping, which either means that the pain has subsided or that she is no longer frightened by it. Beginning yesterday afternoon when hubby came home for lunch and she wagged her tail she has been getting her spunk back in rather large portions.

By the time Manda showed up at around 7pm, she was climbing out of her bed and all wiggly-happy to see her. She has been very excited about food, which is good, but now she has decided that she doesn't like her medicine. She is taking Metacam (anti-inflammatory), Tramadol (pain control) and Clavamox (antibiotic). The pain meds are supposed to make her drowsy, but at about 1:00am she climbed from her bed up onto the couch with me. We decided to put a t-shirt on her to protect the stitches and then put her in her crate to sleep since we were both too tired to stay up with her all night. We both slept nearby, but she still managed to get halfway out of the shirt to lick her incision. So far, it looks okay...no leaking or opening. We've decided to keep the e-collar on her for safety though. Chris is going to go look for cages later today. We just can't have her hurting herself. She needs to heal.

Other than that her personality is back, albeit a little subdued.

Labels: meds, recovery, Scarlett, Surgery

Well, the pup is doing better. She mostly just lays still looking dazed. But I was finally able to get her to go outside. She walked a few little steps and then started hopping along quickly and I tried to stop her. Then I saw why she was hopping. A much larger dog from the neighborhood (one who is NEVER on a leash) had showed up. Being in her compromised state she ran after it, presumably to protect herself. The larger dog was a little freaked out and just sort of turned around in circles. I grabbed at Scarlett and finally picked her up. The owner of the dog didn't seem interested in the fact that his dog not being on a leash really freaked out my infirmed pup. All in all she is alright. No visible effects. I think I was probably more shaken up than her. We'll be going outside as a family from now on.

Labels: recovery, Scarlett, Surgery

Scarlett was very sore last night, but we managed to convince her to lay still. It was quite the blessing to have her not yelp all night. I, however, didn't get any sleep anyway because whenever she stirred, I woke up to see if she was okay. A little whimpering, but no major trauma during the night.

This morning though, we tried to get her up and she yelped like crazy. I think her meds had worn off. She is just resting now, perfectly happy to be still.

Labels: recovery, Scarlett, Surgery

Well, Scarlett's surgery went well according to the doctor. We'll all be hoping that he removed enough tissue around the tumor, so it won't grow back, but we won't know anything until the labs are back and even then...who knows. He also had to remove 2 teeth he said were infected. I should be brushing her teeth daily?? I never knew that. Oh, and he also found and removed the nearest lymphnode (which looked normal to him). They will test it to see if the cancer has spread.

He wanted me to leave Scarlett overnight, and I agreed to until he mentioned that there wouldn't be any personnel there to watch her. I just couldn't stomach that, so I changed my mind. When we arrived he asked again if I would leave her, and I said I really didn't want to. She is VERY sore and yelps anytime she moves. It's going to be a long night, but I am glad to have her home. She seems much more calm than she was in the kennel.

THANKS FOR EVERYONE'S SUPPORT!

Labels: cancer, Scarlett, Surgery, tumor

We dropped Scarlett off for her surgery this morning. It was so hard to leave her. Her surgery will likely be this afternoon. Hopefully, I will hear from the doctor soon afterward, but we will still have to wait for the pathology report.

Thanks to everyone that has wished her well. I appreiciate your concern.

I will post more when I know.

Labels: cancer, Scarlett, Surgery, tumor

We've had some bad news in the past few weeks. Scarlett has been diagnosed with cancer.

I found a small lump near her front leg on her chest. So I took her to the local vet to get it checked out. When the doctor felt it he could tell it was solid and probably not a cyst. His suspicions were confirmed when took a needle biopsy. We got the results back from the pathologist and it was classified as a "probable sarcoma". The vet called me with the results and was sure to explain that they recommended removal because there were signs that it was likely a malignant tumor.

So I reached out to my friends in Southern California and asked for vet recommendations, since I didn't have a vet that I really trusted. I have to say that I got quite a few helpful emails and I really appreciate everyone's concern. Ultimately, after talking to 5 or 6 vets, I settled on Laguna Hills Animal Hospital.

I met with Dr. Sultzer, who examined Scarlett and reviewed the pathology report. He laid out several options and explained that if it were a more aggressive cancer, our best chance would be to remove it surgically being sure to take enough tissue that no cancerous cells remained. He gave me the option of doing a biopsy to determine the type of cancer we are dealing with, so I agreed. He was very kind to suggest all the options making sure I knew the financial ramifications as well. I was not choosing the cheap route. I wanted to be sure.

When I asked if there was anything else we could do to see if the cancer had already spread, he suggested an X-Ray, which came back clean.

We had the biopsy and the results were not good. It is a fibrosarcoma, which is locally agressive. I did some research online that basically said if you can get it all with surgery, it probably won't come back. However, this type of tumor has little roots that grow into the surrounding tissue, and if you leave some of the root, it will probably come back.

She is set for surgery on Wednesday. They gave me the option of calling in a specialized surgeon, but there was no guarentee either way. And I like Dr. Sultzer, I hope he can take it all. After the surgery they will do a full biopsy and inspect the margins of the tissue, to see if there are cancer cells around the edges, then we'll know.

Of course, there are still more options: more surgery, radiation, chemotherapy (yes, they have it for dogs too). I will keep you all posted.

Labels: cancer, dog, Scarlett, tumor, vet