Good News = Happy Mom

First, before the good news, Blogger and Yahoo are not playing nicely lately and my comments to your posts are getting messed up. It looks like they're getting posted to your blogs but the notices are getting lost in space. I get lots of notices that the emails are not going thru. I'm experimenting to see if I can correct the issue but I'm not really sure what the problem is, so just check back on your posts and my comments are hopefully waiting there.

Now for the good news. My hand is doing well and I can move all my fingers except the thumb. I can wiggle the thumb a little but it's pretty stiff. The stitches will come out on Tuesday. Then I'll have some exercises to get it loosened up and I can't wait till it's moving again and I can start using it normally.

Last Wednesday we took Fudge to visit Dr B. He was due for his senior exam and his Lyme and Lepto vaccines. It makes me sad to think that Fudgie is now a senior dog and I was feeling gloomy walking into the exam room. Dr B started checking him out and my mood improved. He said his weight is perfect even though he'd gained almost two pounds since his last visit.

 His ears looked clean and his eyes don't show any sings of cloudiness or cataracts. His teeth looked good except for one tooth that needs a little extra attention when we brush. Fudge had blood drawn and had his injections without even flinching.

I mentioned that he sometimes drags his foot when he's tired so the doctor  checked his strength and balance by making him stand on his front legs, then his back legs, then the left legs and then the right legs. He said he has good strength and placement. The weakness is from his stroke so we'll keep an eye on his leg and treat it if it becomes worse. He got lots of attention at home and some treats for being such a good boy.

On Thursday Rob was trimming Norma Jean when he noticed a bump on her shoulder. I took a look at it and immediately called the vet for an appointment. It was raised and red and angry looking, all the signs of a mast cell tumor.

Friday morning we were at the clinic bright and early. Dr B looked at the growth and said it could be a mast cell tumor and needed to come off. He also was concerned about a small bump on her chest. I expected him to set up a date for surgery but instead he said he'd do surgery immediately and walked off with her.

In the afternoon when we went back to pick her up, he came in smiling. He handed me Fudge's lab report. It was perfect, not a single blood level out of line. Then he said that he had aspirated the bump on Norma Jean's chest and found only fat cells, so he left it alone. The angry one on her shoulder was a benign fibroma and he had removed it completely. He said because it was ulcerated that it would never heal on it's own and needed to be removed. Norma Jean is recovering nicely.

So, a somewhat frightening week turned into a good news week.