Back to Banfield

Last night I finally got to sleep in my real bed.  My mommy and daddy are still worried about my sister licking my stitches, so tonight me and my daddy were going to sleep on the couch while my mommy and sister slept in the bed.  I tolerated it for a little bit, but after a couple of hours, I was not having it. I went to the bedroom door and scratched and scratched and scratched for my mommy to let me in.  She must have been sleeping hard, because no one came to let me in.  I am not one to give up easily though, so I scratched for 40 minutes, while my daddy tried to coax me into going back to sleep with him.  Well, as usual, I got my way, and my daddy eventually got up to open the door for me. He was pretty frustrated since he had to work in the morning, and he told my mommy that we were going to bed with them.  I got into bed with my mommy and it was so nice.  I went down to my favorite spot, under the covers and between my mom's legs (she sleeps all sprawled out on the bed), but I had trouble getting comfortable with my cone on.  I finally got comfy and had the greatest sleep. 

The next day, it was time to go back to Banfield for my follow-up appointment.  All the ladies at Banfield love me, but I still get so scared when I go there.  When I saw where my mommy was driving me to I started shaking.  My mommy told me it was okay, but I just always get poked and prodded everytime I go there.  We walked into the door, and I got so scared, I pooped on the floor.  Luckily no one was around though, so my mommy was able to walk to the next aisle to get some stuff to clean it up before anyone stepped in it.  When I got to the Banfield desk, the receptionist immediately knew who I was.  She said "Is this Oliver?  I just love him.  He is just such a pretty dog.  He has the most beautiful eyes - he just looks at me and I want to give him whatever he wants."  Yeahhhhh buddy, I am a ladies man!

We went into an exam room, and saw my regular vet, Dr. W.  She was happy to see me, but was sad at all that has been discovered these past few days.  She told my mommy that she never saw this coming, and that she hasn't seen this kind of lymphoma in a dog my age before.  She asked my mommy if she was up-to-date on my diagnosis and understood how I would fare.  My mommy repeated to her what she had been told: I have large-grade lymphoma, which in English means I have aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system, a body system that is part of the immune system.  They talked again about how my age is a negative factor (it means my immune system is really not doing so hot), but my mommy said that we are going to try and beat the odds.  I think we can.  I may have all the cards stacked against me right now, but this cancer is underestimating my stubbornness and my parents' determination.   I know they are not going to give up on me without giving one hell of a fight, and I am not giving up either.

After my mommy and Dr. W talked, she checked me out again.  My heart and breathing was normal, as was my temperature.  She gave me a rectal exam (not my favorite part) to see how swollen my anal lymph nodes were, since last week they were pretty big.  She was surprised to find that they were only 1/3 of the size they were last week.  Ah ha, I'll show you cancer!  It was nice to hear this good news, since the last week has been all bad news.  Dr. W also said that I seemed in much better spirits and looked really great. 
My mommy said that I have been doing really well, except for not wanting to take my pain medicine.  Dr. W gave her a pack of pill pockets to try, saying that they work well for most dogs.  I guess we will see.

That night at dinner, mommy got to test out these pill pockets.  My pain pills are pretty small, so my mommy had to shove the pill into the treat to try and get it to stay in there.  She called me and my sister up to get a treat, and we came running.  My mommy gave each of us a liver treat first (yum!), which is her way of trying to trick me into taking my medicine in the next treat.  She gave us a second treat, only this time, mine was the pill pocket treat with my pain medicine inside. It smelled good, so I put the whole thing in my mouth...then immediately spit it back out.  I ate part of the treat that wasn't contaminated by the pain medicine, but I was not about to touch that pill!  My mommy and daddy laughed, because I can sniff a pill out of anything.  My daddy tricked me later though - he cut the pill up into quarters and stuck it in my beloved liver treats.  That sneaky daddy!