Holly’s pathology came back yesterday and it was clean! We are pawsitively excited by this news! We are still not sure about chemo – our vet sounds somewhat on the fence about it, too. We’ll talk to him about it when she gets her stitches removed next week. I think he’s hesitating because he looked back at old x-rays and thinks she’s had the cancer for almost 2 years, so if it was going to spread it probably would have already spread and moved past microscopic disease. Between the x-rays and bloodwork looking good, and now the pathology report coming back looking great it’s hard to know what to do. I don’t know if they checked her lymph nodes – my husband forgot to ask about that when they called yesterday. Anyway, any thoughts anyone would care to share on chemo vs. no chemo will be appreciated, as always.
So to celebrate, Holly and I took a nice walk in the new snow we have here in Chicago. We walked about 4 blocks – the furthest we’ve been since her surgery. And she did great! I had read in many posts on others’ blogs that it’s easier for them to go faster, so I totally let her set the pace. And she gave me a pretty good workout – she was moving quickly! Her new pink coat helped keep her warm, especially where she was shaved for the surgery. And her tail was up at full mast for the entire walk, which is always a good sign. Now she’s taking a nap. Well, she was – the mailman just came. She never fails to run to the door and bark when he shows up!
She’s still not eating very well, and has been off the antibiotic almost 2 days. Our vet said it can sometimes take a few days for the antibiotic to work it’s way through the system so hopefully she’ll get her appetite back soon. In the meantime she’s been eating small amounts of rice and ground beef with broth, or canned dog food. She absolutely turns her head away at her kibble. If she doesn’t start eating again soon the vet said he’d switch her pain medications to see if that helps. She’s been on deramaxx and tramadol almost non-stop for the last 2 months without any trouble, but they may have finally gotten to her tummy. Anyway, in all other regards she is doing well – just an upset tummy. I’m hoping the fresh air and walk may help stimulate her appetite.