Waiting

We just got the call that Mack has gone into surgery...

It's been a few days since the last post and mostly because thankfully in between all the other things in life, there hasn't been anything of significance going on with the Diggie Dog.  He is his usual self, sleeping well, eating fine, and relatively happy for the most part. We were the ones waiting and counting down the days till the appointment at the University on Monday the 11th.

That was one long day.  We were up before daylight, got the little girl her breakfast, packed up Mack for the drive and left at 7:00AM for the drive up there.  It was a gorgeous morning with mist and fog hanging low on the fields and Mack was so tired, he slept most of the way, quiet and snuggled in his blanket.  In fact he didn't even leap out of bed when I got out of bed because he was sound asleep. Too early for the little guy.  We arrived almost an hour earlier than our appointment but better early than late.  We were ready for the bathroom, something to eat and as it turned out there just happened to be an Einstein's Bagels right there in the building, so that took care of the rumbling stomachs.  Funnily enough when he had his biopsy procedure, I ended up eating and waiting at an Einstein's Bagel restaurant until he as ready to go home.  Kind of comforting to see that as an omen that all would be ok.

Their system is pretty much state of the art, so we checked in and the liaison came out to let us know they knew about us, that we'd be called soon and to relax and wait in their waiting area. This was a huge, atrium like area with two kinds of chairs, one with a table and one without and they were placed in rows along side of palm trees and tall glass ceilings and of course tile all over the place. Three flat screen televisions were placed along different walls and we sat near a guy who was just sitting there with no pet, just waiting on someone and eventually he came over to pet Mack who graciously let him pat him on the head.  He told us he was a graduate of the Univ. vet. program and he asked about Mack.  He was encouraging, just said this was the place to be.  The liaison was a cute, tiny little girl with very short black hair and was just adorable and I liked her the minute I met her. She told us she was our case manager and liaison and she would be the one to contact if we had any questions. She took us to a room then and told us what to expect and had us sign paperwork, etc. We waited just a little while and another vet. came in. Of course with any teaching hospital, you aren't going to always see the main veterinarian right away and this was our student vet. who would be with us for the entire time.  He again explained most of what we could expect from the teaching hospital and then asked us pointed questions about Mack, took our information and then said he'd be reviewing the films, looking at the x-rays, and calling the other vet. for the rest of the information.  All the time letting us know the time and how much more time we needed to wait. True to their word, they were spot on with the timing.  After they got it all together and had reviewed what they needed to, then the main vet. came in and we finally met the vet. that I'd been emailing.  We again liked him right away, just like the liaison and just like the student veterinarian, all great people.  They took Mack to the CAT scan and told us it wouldn't be for a while, so we decided to leave and I called a dear friend of mine to let her know we were in town.  The sweet thing dropped what she was doing and came to get us and drove us all over the town, took us to her home, then said let's get lunch and dropped us back at the hospital. What a great way to spend the waiting hours and by the time we came back, they were ready to talk with us.  Of course by now it's closer to four and we have a two hour drive yet, but once we got the news and had the results of the CAT scan, there was nothing more to do but decide what to do based on what the doctor said.
And so he is in surgery as I write this.
Simply put, the tumor wasn't going to get any smaller and the only way to give him a chance was to remove it.  It was his only option.  We both looked at each other, asked him when it could be done, found out the schedule the doctor had and agreed to have him do the surgery the next day.  It was that fast.  Both of us felt in our hearts at the exact moment that this was the way to go. No ifs or buts, this was it.  So we wait now to hear from the student veterinarian Rick when Mack is in recovery.  Another waiting game, another tense few hours, another few days of anxiety about his care and well being, then we can take him home. He will be there till Friday or Saturday and we will be there to hug and kiss him and bring him home to us. Recovery is approximately four weeks, then we'll see how well he does with eating and the stitches, and just the overall time it takes for him to get back to normal.  It may not cure him, more than likely we bought him more time, but we have to believe, because we both came to it at the same time, that this was the answer we needed.  Come on Diggie Dog~