Is it the middle of September already?

Stella's doing well. She's eating, drinking, pooping, peeing. She still is moving a little gingerly and I have to keep her from licking her scar, but she's good. I give her a pain pill once a day and an antibiotic twice a day. She really doesn't seem to be in pain, so she may not need the pain meds tomorrow. I hope and pray she will be fine going forward.

Thursday I have my long-delayed appointment with my medical oncologist. I have an MRI scheduled for early December and I should have my yearly PET scan in October. I'll ask him about that.

I was worried about leaving Stella since I'll be gone for 2 or 3 hours, but my sister-in-law Linda will come over and hang out with her. THANK YOU!

Now the wait

Back home with Stella. She has a big, ugly scar with lots of stitches. He removed 3 other growths near the one bad one. Hopefully they are just fatty tumors. Histopathology report should be back by Friday. Now we just have to wait. I'm not very good at that. :(

Out of surgery

Stella's out of surgery. She did well. She was going to be ready to go home at 2:00, but I want to speak with Dr. Bailey, so they told me to come at 3:30. He removed 5 growths. I don't know if he thought they were all mast cells or not, which is why I want to talk to him.

Trusting

I dropped Stella off at the vet's this morning and spoke to the doctor briefly. They will call me when she's out of surgery. They probably won't release her till the end of the day. I'm a nervous wreck, but trying to trust God. Sigh.

Waiting for rain, sweet Vinnie and Stella stuff

A lot of rain is in the forecast today. I hope it starts soon so I have an excuse to crawl into bed and read a book. C'mon rain!

Picked up Stella Thursday afternoon. My vet says a bump we have been watching for awhile looks very much like a mast cell tumor under the microscope. Another one looks suspicious but is inconclusive. The other ones look like normal cells. Mast cell tumors are a very common type of skin cancer in dogs. Usually, surgical removal is the only treatment needed. They tend to continue to pop up so the ongoing treatment is to remove them if and when they do. He believes the cells are a grade 1, which would be great, since that has the best prognosis. We won't know for sure until it's removed and pathology takes a look. I'm very worried, but yesterday the vet called me with the results of the bile acid test and although it was elevated after the test, he consulted with a specialist who said she considers the level to be in a safe range. One of the things my vet was concerned with was the possibility the liver was involved with the skin cancer. The specialist assured him it is highly unlikely this is the case. She advised him to remove the mast cells, see what grade they are and retest the liver enzyme in 6 months. I am feeling a little bit better about it all. Stella has surgery Tuesday. Please keep her in your prayers!

Today is a sad day. Joe's family's Italian Greyhound passed away around 1:00 a.m. this morning. He just turned 14 last week and his health had been failing for quite some time. He spent the last 2 weeks sleeping a lot and not eating or drinking much. The dogs and I saw him Thursday and yesterday. He was a sweetie and Stella and Bella have known him since they were born and they loved him. We will all miss him. :)

Blue

Time flies. I can't believe it's September 9th already. I also can't believe I haven't posted here since August 26th.

I've been kind of blue lately. Not exactly sure why, but I just am. I've been busy with Inspiretees. I like working on the site. I'm learning a lot about managing a website. I'm thankful for the opportunity.

Stella goes to the vet tomorrow for a bile acid test. One of her liver enzymes is elevated. She has to fast for 12 hours. A real challenge with her appetite. The doc will draw blood then feed her something high fat, and several hours later, draw blood again. She is also developing a lot of little bumps under her skin. So between these two things I'm nervous. My little pumpkin.

P.S. I just realized something. Today is 09-09-09. Weird.

Two years and counting

In the midst of all that happened this summer, I almost missed a milestone. My breast cancer surgery was July 2007 so I have passed the 2 year mark. Had a mammogram earlier this month, all clear. Saw my radiation oncologist who told me since I see my medical oncologist and surgeon regularly, there is no need to see him going forward unless I'm having issues related to radiation treatment. I see my medical oncologist next week and my surgeon the week after. Sometimes I feel as if it's been many years since diagnosis and treatment. Needless to say, I am grateful.

My friend Joyce accompanied me to South Florida this past weekend. We visited with my cousins and Aunt Jean and Uncle Sam. I also finally got to meet Grace, my cousin Kimberly's baby. What a cutie. She has quite an intensity about her. Very observant. And very cute.

Monday I had my appointment with the Italian Consulate in Coral Gables. I submitted my translated and certified long form birth certificate. In a few months I'll receive my certificate of Italian citizenship and can then apply for an Italian passport. Funny, since I don't even have an American one! And who knows when or if I'll ever make it to Italy. At least I'll be prepared.

Marissa heads to Spain for a year soon. She'll be in Toledo teaching English. She's pretty excited about the whole thing. When she comes back she wants to look into grad school, maybe Penn State. My youngest niece started her first year at University of South Florida in Tampa, the same school that Joe, Angela and Marissa attended. She actually had enough credits to enter as a sophomore. Our little girl is growing up! :(