GOOD NEWS!!!!

We went in for the x-rays and there was a suspicious spot. Dr. Teter said they could have a radiologist read the pics for a final say on whether or not it was another tumor. She said we would know by tomorrow.

Well, turns out the radiologist is on the West coast and at about 8:45 Dr Teter called with the news. The shadow she saw was NOT a tumor!!!!!!!!!!! I was crying hysterically at this revelation. I think this is the first breath I've taken in almost a week. What this means is that we can move forward with the surgery consults and while he may be missing a tail, he'll still live for many more years and will be able to receive sweet kisses of love from me.

I have cried so many tears of fear and hate towards this ugly disease and now we have a chance at a happy ending. I know we're not done with our battle, but at least we now have the upper hand. UNLESS the surgeons say they can't do the procedure, we can look forward to happier days. Oh, if they say that they can't do it, we'll find someone who says that they can.

I would like to thank all of you for your support during this chaos. Janice, you don't even know how much I lean on you for support. Your dedication to this furbaby and your continual friendship and care has meant the world to me. I hope you know that you are loved by both Kelsey and myself more than anything. You are my rock and I am so glad to have met you and for the bond that we have had because of our fluffy white boy. I know you love him as much as I do and I take comfort in the fact that you've remained in his life all these years.

To all of our friends in the blog, THANK YOU for your prayers and warm wishes. We look forward to the many blogs that we can share with you and we will update you as this progresses until he is healthy and cancer free.

All of our love to you all,

Cody and Kelsey

Options

Well, turns out there are many options depending on the xrays today (Holly's mommy Janice is coming with me to the vets for the xrays and consultation...thank goodness for the moral support, Lord knows I need it).

In the hopes of clear x-rays, I've already scheduled two consultations with different surgeons (one of which is the doctor that Janice uses for her furbabies) and she'll be joining us for that consult tomorrow.

I've also found a local vet that uses a holistic approach in the event that the news is bad. She works on boosting immunity to help their bodies fight off the cancer and, while it doesn't cure it, it hopefully will give him more time.

I'm learning that I'm not the strong woman that I thought I was and that just one word (malignant) was enough to shut down my brain and drop me to my knees. I don't remember a lot of what was said last night with the doctor. I just remember malignant and stage 2.

We take these critters in and hope to find love and companionship. What we don't realize is that they're only on loan from God to enrich our lives. They teach us that love is truly the strongest emotion and that sloppy puppy kisses are actually not gross, but are wonderful gifts and I hope to receive more years of them from Kelsey.

I can't thank all of you enough for being here for me. I find comfort in your words and know that each of you loves your puppies (and honorary husky cat) more than anything. It is a wonderful feeling to have you in our lives and I feel blessed.

Ok, more tears are flowing, so I'm going to sign out, take a short nap with Kelsey, and prepare for the consultation at 4:30. Please God, I beg of you, let it be ok.

Cody

Not good news.

The results are in. It's called malignant nerve sheath cancer. It's stage 2 (there is 1, 2, or 3). Dr. Teter told me that it's a fairly aggressive tumor and that usually once removed, they tend to come back.

She said we have options. We can do nothing and just let him live out what time he has left or we can choose to do surgery. Before making any decisions though, we have to go in for a chest x-ray to see if it's spread already. If it has, we can't really do anything. If it hasn't we can go for a consult with the K State surgeon here in Omaha.

Either way, it's not good. She's not even sure if the tumor can safely be removed because it's so close to his spinal cord.

So, not such good news. I will know more tonight after the chest x-ray. I wanted the answer so bad, and now that it's the answer I didn't want, I would rather not have it. I'm numb and I'm scared. I just want him to be ok, but I know that his time is limited with this ugly disease so I'm going to spoil him rotten and kiss and hug him more than ever.

Cody