Thursday, March 5, 2009
Surgery Day
Update 6:30PM: We called and got our last check-in of the night to see how Sol was doing. They said that Sol was “zonked” out and sleeping very soundly. I can just imagine. She had a very long day and I bet the little girl is exhausted. One of the vet techs is a pug lover, so they told me Sol was getting a lot of attention. It made me feel good that there was a fellow pug lover on site! Later in the night, they are going to offer Sol food and see if she will eat it. If she eats and drinks tonight they said that it is very likely that we will be able to pick her up tomorrow. My money is on her eating. She has always had a very strong appetite. The next time we can check-in on her is at 8:00 am tomorrow morning. After I get the report, I will let you know how things went through the night. Have a good night everyone.
Update 3:30PM: Sol is out of surgery! She is alert and doing well. The surgeon was very pleased with how the surgery went and that Sol had suitable tissue left to close the incision. While she was under and they were working in her mouth, they also shortened her palette and removed her satchels. They took this precaution to prevent any complications during the recovery period as it might pose a problem since pugs are a bracycephalic breed. We are going to call around 6:00 pm to get an update to see how she is doing. After that we will call in the morning to get a report on how things went through the night. Right, now we are scheduled to pick her up at 10:45 am on Saturday. There still is a small chance that we will get to bring her home tomorrow afternoon, although she will have to have a very good night to make that a reality.
A huge thank you to everyone for all the well wishes! Hopefully, the mammary tumors are nothing to worry about. Frequently, they are not an issue, but not knowing Sol’s history could be troublesome. We believe she is spayed, which will increase the odds that the mammary tumors are nothing, but at this point we aren’t sure. She is quite a furry girl and they could not find an scar on her belly. Although, our vet said she was spayed during her initial exam. They may need to do an ultrasound to be sure that she is spayed, but at this point we are just going to wait the 24-48 hours for the pathology report. We are going to tackle one issue at a time and let the little girl recovery from this hurdle before we start testing and getting exams done on the next.
Update 1:00PM:We just got the results of the CT Scan. Things look very good. Very little of the jaw bone will need to be removed which is fantastic. The surgery plan is that they will need to remove about 2-3 cm in all directions. This is really the best news possible. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that. I would be on cloud 9 right now had it not been for a little “but” in the conversation. When they sedated her for her CT Scan they noticed a very small mammary tumor! They aspirated it and sent it off to the pathologist. When they told me that my heart sank. Just when we thought we were out of the woods. In any case, it could very easily be nothing, but I feel like we are back at square one again. I am doing my best to stay positive.
On an unrelated, but positive note, Sol was quite charming this morning. She was making friends with everyone at the office.
I will give another update as soon as Sol is out of surgery.
Well, today is the day. The day I have had such mixed emotions about for a week. Sol didn’t get to eat her breakfast this morning and she was none too happy about that, but we had spaghetti, one of her favorites, last night for dinner so she did get a nice treat the night before her big surgery. The procedure will require at least one overnight stay at the hospital, possibly two or three nights depending on how far the cancer has spread and how much of her jaw they need to remove. I am really hoping that she will get to come home Friday evening or Saturday morning. However, I am bracing myself that she might not be able to come home until Monday. They are staffed 24/7, I know for sure because I asked 5 different people, but I would just feel a lot better having her home. However, I know being at the surgery center is the best place for her.
I will do my best to keep everyone updated throughout the day. The first update with be the CT Scan results. Bad news on the CT Scan would mean that Sol doesn’t even have the surgery.
Thanks again for all the well wishes! I will keep you posted.
Sharon and Penny
03/05/2009
We are thinking of you all the time and pray that all goes well. Keep strong, for Sol’s sake. She is such an angel and so lucky to have found you.
Good luck from all of us in Grahamstown, South Africa.