Adios Tumor

The day finally came to remove Kat’s tumor on Thursday. We were all so ready. The oncologist wanted us to let the radiation continue working before removal, but it was getting disgusting. Kat’s skin over the tumor was ulcerated, so we could see the tumor and, worse yet, smell it. It smelled terrible. The oncologist assured us that the smell was dead cancer cells but that didn’t make it any easier to smell for over a month. All of the carpet in our house has been covered with towels and blankets to keep any oozing off. Things have just generally been unpleasant, so we were happy when surgery day rolled around!

Gus went to boarding on Wednesday evening and David, Kat, and I hit the road bright and early Thursday morning to head to the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center.

Kat’s surgeon is perfect for us as he went to vet school at A&M and did his small animal surgical residency at OSU, so he has both of our alma maters covered!

We met with the surgeon and he discussed his plan for the surgery. His biggest concern was that after he removed the tumor, Kat might not have enough skin left for him to close the incision site. He said he wouldn’t know how much skin he could save until after he saw how the tumor started coming out. Since we’ve been dealing with essentially an open wound for two months, we agreed that we would probably not be any worse off if he wasn’t able to close the site all the way so we would proceed.

David and I left Kat at the surgical center and got some lunch and went to the movies, though we were both quite distracted. About 3/4 through the movie, the surgeon called and David left the theater to talk to him. The surgeon said things went as well as it could have possible gone and he was able to stitch Kat’s skin together. We were so relieved! That night we had a celebratory dinner and then crashed as we were tired from getting up early and worrying.

Friday morning, we picked Kat up. Before we saw her, one of the vets went over her medicines and bandage care. We thought her bandage would just be some gauze and vet wrap but then she arrived with essentially a cast.

At least the bandage is in her signature color! She slept all the way home and all evening. She barely noticed when Gus got home and David had a hard time getting her to wake up to move from the living room to the bedroom when it was time for bed. I was a little worried about how she was so out of it.

This morning, Kat seemed much more like her normal self. I think she is still tired, but she is much more alert and just being Kat. David helped her get on the couch and she rested with him. I’m so glad we are on the road to recovery. I’ve spent all day washing the towels and blankets so we can have our house back to normal!