Deja vu

I had noticed a lump on Pippa's left chest over her ribs and decided that it was time to get it investigated. The lump had been there since Easter and although Pippa wasn't bothered by it, I thought it was slowly increasing in size. A visit to the vet on Thursday revealed that surgery was necessary to remove the 'suspicious' lump. Thus it was a feeling of deja vu as we dropped Pippa off to the vet on Friday.

Nearly 7 years ago, our 10 year old border collie Meg went in for the same surgery. The lump on the front of her chest was removed however Meg never recovered from the anesthetic and passed away on the operating table. An autopsy later showed an enlarged liver presumably from cancer which was unable to cope with the anesthetic drugs.

So Friday for us was a nerve racking day. We found out at 3.30pm that surgery went well, Pippa was slowly waking up and we could collect her at 5.30pm. All day I was debating whether to send the specimen off to be analysed so we knew what we were up against not that it would really change the treatment plan.

I am happy to say that this story does have a happy ending. We spoke to the vet who said the surgery had gone well. The lump was unusual but not suspicious. It appeared to be an abscess presumably from a grass seed although the said grass seed couldn't be found. Minutes later an excited Pippa came out to greet us. She has a large shaved patch, a few stitches from the operation and is a little sore but generally back to her normal self. Today she was running around the backyard barking at birds as well as standing at the front window assessing the comings and goings along the street. Looks like Pippa still has a few good years in her yet.