| | All good news for a change: Athena came through her second surgery with flying colors. This growth was completely benign fatty tissue. The staff at the veterinary hospital were very impressed with how well the previous surgery site has healed. She's home resting now. | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment   |
| Athena got her stitches out this evening and the vet is very happy with her progress.
I got a little more data on the cancer. I totally failed to get the name. (It started with "a" and when on for several syllables.) The vet says this cancer is "locally aggressive" which means it grows and spreads in one area, but doesn't hitch a ride on the blood system and spread to other parts of the body. The vet also said that the biosy indicated that the edges of the sample were cancer-free that is a promising sign that the might have gotten it all. However, I will have to watch the area to make sure it doesn't come back.
They want me to call in a couple weeks to schedule an appointment to get the tumor on Athena's underside removed. That one they think is just a fatty tumor which should be benign, but it is large and they don't want it getting too big to deal with.
So... so far, so good. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | athena | | Current Music: | "Earth Magic Girls" - Boogie Knights | | Current Location: | home | | Subject: | Update on Athena | | Time: | 05:00 pm | | Current Mood: | cautiously optimistic |
|
| | Just got off the phone with the vet where Athena has an appointment Wednesday evening to get the stitches removed. The results of the biopsy were in and the news is mixed. What they removed was malignant -- a low grade cancer that doesn't tend to spread. The good news is that they think they got it all, but we'll have to check in a couple months. Which is fine, since I need to take her back in a couple months to get the other growth removed. When I hear anything more, I'll let you know. At the moment, Athena is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and has claimed the prime spot under the computer table. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
|  Athena is home. The surgery was successful, but took longer than anticipated and they didn't want to keep a "geriatric" dog -- Athena is 12 and a half -- under anesthesia any longer than necessary. So, they only removed the cyst on her back. The possible fatty tumor on her "flank" will have to wait until she's healed from this one.
They've taken biopsies and sent them off for analysis and in 10-14 days I'll have to take Athena in to get the -- FREAKIN' HUGE! -- sutures removed. In the meantime, she's on antibiotics and pain killers starting tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, I'm just happy to have her home and cyst-free.
Here's Frankenthena...
| | comments: 10 comments or Leave a comment |
| Athena today has been energetic and acting normal. You'd never know that there was anything wrong with her. I'm hoping she stays that way at least until I can get her in to have the abscessed cyst removed which I'll do when I get the results on the biopsy sample.
Meantime, thank you for the good thoughts and concerns. I'll try to keep you all posted. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
boogiebabe_smap's journal![[mood icon]](http://pics.livejournal.com/boogiebabe_smap/pic/0001zc4e){kind=small}
ecstatic