Catch Up

 Christmas 2017 has come and gone. It was a quite pleasant time with family and friends. Below is Puppy and my best friend LPC (The Pope) for her annual Christmas visit on the Hill. 

 Here is Maggie Christmas morning with the toy she dug out of her stocking. I found a lump about the size of a marble right before Thanksgiving on her left upper hip and then at Xmas it had increased in size. I thought since it did not appear to bother her we would wait until after the holidays to get it checked out. On January 2nd a needle biopsy was done and she had a Mast Cell tumor. The bio irritated it so she began to lick the area. On with cone head. I could not get it stopped bleeding so Jan 4th I took her to the vet. They kept her all day and I picked her up that afternoon. I stayed up with her all night long changing her bandage every 2 hours. The next morning I took her for surgery to remove the tumor. At 9 thirty the vet called and said it was a MASSIVE TUMOR. A small lump created a 12 inch incision. I was not prepared for that. Then the task of healing began but the bottom 3 inches of the incision the staples were coming out. The 11th I got the the news that the test had come back and she had a High Mast Tumor which was Stage 3 cancer. The 12th it was snowing to beat the bands and most everything was shut down even the vets so Puppy and I took her to the Pet Emergency Clinic across town and had the staples replaced . Then as fate was not on my side. I got a stomach virus. Luckily I was the only one effected. Within a week Prince came down with the flu and like domino first me and then Mimi got the bug.All 3 of us had had a flu shot.  I had Maggie an appointment with an oncologist but had to cancel due to having the flu. I rescheduled her for 1-31 and after talking with the doctor, I thought it best to start chemo on her. She has 7 more sessions and I am in hopes it will make the end of her life easier. If I had done nothing she would have had only 2-4 months before the aggressive cancer took my beautiful dog. I know she will not be cured but I plan to give her quality of life not quantity and the doctor agrees. 

We are like sleeping cats on the hill as we hope the rest will put all of us back in the pink. The flu really put my MIL back as she is having difficult getting about. Prince had the doctor to get her home health to help get her strength back. 
Ever the optimist Here is wishing for a better February. The Kitty Justice would be that the Ground hog did not see his shadow.