An update on Dart

Thanks to all of you who have left messages, emails and called to check in on me and my buddy. Here's a quick update as of June 6th.

Dart was admitted to the vet for surgery on Wednesday morning to have a Mast Cell Tumor removed.  The vet called at about 12:30 and said he was already awake and trying to stand up.  That's my stubborn boy, anxious to come home, the Doctor moved my pickup time from 5 to 3.  

The boys and I headed over to pick him up and he was so happy to see us, but obviously sad and very uncomfortable.  He has a large (and gross) incision on his belly/hip - I'll spare you those photos! 

They aggressively treat this kind of cancer to take wide margins with the hopes that there are no rogue cells left in place.  The pathology report will not be back for 10-14 days, and then we'll know more about the "grade" of the tumor and what his prognosis is.

Here's a look at his cone of shame. He is being so tolerant of it, and I'm amazed.  I figured he would have found a way to rip it to pieces by now.  The strangest thing is that usually he's a barker. He's loud, you know, like everyone else in my family.  Since Wednesday I've only heard his voice twice.  He's silent.  This morning I was packing up the boys for school and making a cup of coffee when he skulked into the kitchen looking for me.  Tip-toeing.

He's been a really good patient, sleepy (my guess largely due to the pain killers) and sweet.  Needs lots of extra love and snuggles, and that's okay with me.

The first night I slept on the floor next to his little dog bed, I didn't want him to climb the stairs and I was so sad for him.  Last night he did come up to bed, and slept in his crate.  Since he can't go out and play the way an active two year old lab would like, I moved his dog bed over to the sunny back window.  Poor guy, he's too tired to even bark at the squirrels.

His stitches should come out in about 10-14 days, and I can't wait to take him for a walk, to the beach, and just to throw a ball in the yard.  

Thank you all for all your kind notes and messages.  I'm hoping that when these two weeks are through he'll be back in business with a clean bill of health.  I'll keep you posted.