Post-Op Milo

Milo came home from the hospital last night. Thanks to Lynne and Amos, Ed was able to bring him home comfortably in their station wagon a.k.a. the Macky Mobile, in honor of their passed Golden Retriever, who we are hoping is playing with our Nick up in heaven.

Milo’s leg is bandaged pretty tightly. The tumor was on his rear, right leg, on the joint around the ankle area. Doc was pretty aggressive with removing as much of the tumor as possible given that it was right on a bone/joint. She hit the site with a laser to kill any malignant cells that could have been lurking around. She was also afraid that there wouldn’t be enough skin to pull close the wound, but surprisingly, she was able to close it a lot more than she initially thought.

The entire tumor was sent into the lab for evaluation. What we are waiting to hear about is the margins of the tumor and make up of its body. That will tell us the malignancy and the aggressiveness of this tumor. Should it be a worst case scenario, Milo will face radiation and possible future surgery. The best case scenario we are all hoping for is that the entire tumor & any rogue cells were successfully removed, and that we just have to be on the lookout for any future lumps/tumors.

I’m preparing for the worst case scenario because Doc was pretty surprised, and worried, that the tumor had actually grown since Saturday when she measured it last. Not only that, it was a very, very vascular tumor for one so young, meaning that there were way more blood vessels feeding it than she would normally see.

When I prodded Doc a bit about this type of tumor and animals who have had amputations, she was silent for a few seconds before carefully saying that Milo is not a candidate for amputation. She cited his age, his breed & size, and his arthritis. But, what I focused on more was the fact that she thinks this may be bad enough that if Milo were a candidate she would amputate to save his life. A ball of ice formed high up in my belly and it has not melted since yesterday. I’m afraid it may never melt.

Last night was tough for the little bear. Even though he had some tough painkillers (Tramadol), he was very restless until about 4 a.m. this morning. We stayed with him in the living room until about 1 am, and then I sent Ed to bed. The next 3 hours were fits of falling asleep for 10-15 minutes, waking to him crying and nudging me, soothing him, giving him water, and repeating the cycle.

I’d given him some Tramadol around 8 p.m. and I was supposed to wait for every 8 hours, but I gave him more at 2 a.m. At about 2:30 I carefully helped him walk outside to pee, which smelled so medicinal. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it smelled like hospital when he peed. Must have been his little body getting rid of all the drugs he was injected with yesterday.

From 2:30 until about 4 a.m., he was ok as long as I had my hand on him, either petting him or massaging his back. If I happened to fall asleep and he felt my hand stop, he’d nudge and awaken me. But, shortly after 4 a.m. he rearranged his body and fell asleep. So did I, until Ed awakened me at 6:30. It was a drizzly, overcast morning so that made it even more difficult to get up.

We both have long days at work today, and after the night Milo had, I called over to Lynne’s. Amos was over in his Macky Mobile right away and they helped take Milo and the A-man down to their house for the day. My mind and heart are at ease knowing that my furbabies are with people who love them as much as we do.

Speaking of the A-man….for as sensitive and intuitive as Milo can be, Achilles is that much of a driven and matter-of-fact doggie. Last night, Achilles finished his dinner and came racing over to see why Milo was being hand fed chicken and rice! I could just imagine him screaming in his head, "WTF!?"

Ed chased him around the coffee table to try and keep him away from us, and to prevent him from stepping on Milo’s bandaged leg. Achilles could not be deterred. He eluded Beloved, so I had to barricade Milo in with my leg. There Achilles sat, twittering and convulsing, as if to say, “Hey! What gives Mama!? How come I don’t get handfed chicken and rice? You there, little brother! You’re not really going to eat all that are you? Cooome oooon! Save me soooome!”

After much paw-stomping and huffing, Achilles was finally able to lick up the last few kernels of rice from Milo’s bowl after he finished. It’s funny that after all that impatience for food and fussiness with his lil bro Milo, Achilles then went over and gave Milo’s head a good sniff-over, licked it, then settled down for a nap alongside. They are the funniest duo I’ve ever known.

You know, Achilles is 14 ½ years old, will be 15 this July, God willing. Milo just turned 11 years old. Ed and I were upset and we were talking about Milo’s cancer after we got the bad news, and he said what I was thinking….that after Nick, and given Achilles’ old age when we adopted him (13), we decided to adopt another dog a little bit younger (Milo), so that we wouldn’t lose a dog so quickly again.

Well, last year in April when he was ill, we were afraid Achilles wasn’t even going to make it to the holidays, and yet he is still here, bless his ever hungry tummy, motoring about the house and going to the park every chance he’s able. We didn’t think we’d have any problems with Milo for a couple of years, and yet here we were, confronting the evil beast again. I hate cancer. It makes me burn with hatred.

It just goes to show us that nothing and no one is ever guaranteed to us in this life. No guarantee on time or quality. We really just need to remember that every day, and cherish our moments with the things and the people we love. We can only pray to the God we know, or not if you choose not to, and hope for whatever best may be allowed us.

With Milo’s ordeal, I’m reminded again of the power of friendship and love in my life. In our lives. Lynne and Amos have been there with us through everything with our furbabies. Whether offering their home, their Macky Mobile, their time, their prayers, their support, their listening hearts, they are always available.

When I posted yesterday about the horror of having to drop off Milo for his surgery, the Blogistani Battalion dropped in line, rank and file, posting comments, sending emails, text messages, making phone calls, saying prayers, and keeping us in their thoughts even while going through their own busy lives. Laura posted a beautiful tribute to our Milo and even followed up with a funny ass post today. Made me laugh out loud on tired, drizzly day.

That’s not to say our family isn’t wonderful. My Lil Sis and my Baba Jahn (my dad) have been a part of this right along with us. I just feel that great, loyal, loving friends are God’s way of giving out gold stars for good behavior, like in school, you know what I mean? And for that we are ever grateful. Thanks you guys. Thanks a lot.

With that being said, it is time for my lunch to end and that I get back to work. I can’t wait to see my little Milo Bear tonight. I just got an email update from Lynne. It seems that he’s still got his adventurous spirit about him seeing as to how he wants to go out and hunt for kitty mocha nougats. Gross!