Vegas's Tumor

About a month ago my dad noticed a bump on Vegas's leg. We watched it for about a week and it didn't go away so we had the vet come check it out. She aspirated it and saw that it was a mast cell tumor. We scheduled surgery for after the new year to remove it. It's hard to see in this picture but it's the little bump right in the curve of her arm:

We use Mobile Laser Vet, Dr. Sagris and love her. She is one of the few certified in laser surgery and also does the surgery right in your driveway in her "van." We were able to be there the whole time! Tyson came out with us at first to see what was going on. He kept a close eye on his sister the whole time. 

She removed the tumor and the surrounding area to make sure she got it all.

Sewing her up! The nice thing about laser surgery is that most of the time she doesn't even have to use outer stitches, just glue. Unfortunately since this was so large and in the curve of her arm she did have to do a few outer stitches on Vegas this time. 

We brought Vegas inside to wake up from the meds. Tyson kept checking on her.

Bug eyes coming off the meds

Not a good picture but her incision:

She finally "woke up" and was trying to get up and moving but didn't make it much further than the bed

Who needs a cone when your awesome grandma fashions you a "sleeve" to keep you from getting at your stitches? 

Everyone resting after a long day:

She was still kind of pitiful all evening and very glad to see her daddy when he got home

She whined a bit throughout the night as she was still getting all of the meds out. She finally "fell asleep" for good at about 7am... then Tyson decided it was time to get up and play at 8!

He kept her close at all times... someone loves that sister

When we had to go back to work on Monday we left them at home. We have to crate Tyson and let her just lay around all day. Her only real restriction is that she can't run and fully extend that arm, so that it doesn't tug on her wound, so that means no playing with her younger brother. When I got home Monday afternoon the 4 large safety pins that were holding her sleeve on to her thunder shirt were on the floor (open!) along with the sleeve! I about had a heart attack. Actually 3 were on the floor and luckily the 4th was on the couch. Apparently she wanted to get to that incision. It has probably started to heal and itch. I have no idea how she managed to get them off and not hurt herself. So there went that idea... 

To grandmas house she went for the next couple of days while we had to work. My mom has been so awesome and helpful through all of this. She spent the better part of her day trying to create new ways to cover her wound. The "sleeve" was created from kids pajama pants so she tried on the shirt that came with it... and it fit! 

Unfortunately later that day she caught her trying to lick the shirt on top of her incision. To be safe she put on a cone that she had at home... that did not go over very well. I had a soft cone and that went over a bit better. So now she wears the shirt and the cone to cover her arm. 

She doesn't seem to mind it!

Then she went out and got her shirt dirty, of course, so mom sent me a few messages, "playing dress up" with Vegas to create extra shirts since she has to wear this for 2 weeks. 

I think they have all enjoyed their time together. I don't know what we would do without such helpful parents to take care of my babies while we work. 

Hoping to help clean dinner plates

We had to have the tumor sent off to pathology to see just how bad it is. On a grade I - III (III is the worst) grading scale it is a II. On a low/high scale it is "low". Of course I would have rather heard that it is a grade I but at least it isn't a III. The good news is that Dr. Sagris "got it all," as the margins were clear. There is some potential for it to metastasize, but we hope that it doesn't, of course. We basically need to keep a close eye on her so I guess she will be getting a lot more love and petting to keep checking for any more lumps, and if we do find anything we will basically go through this process again.  We love our sweet girl so much and want her to live a long and happy life.