Wow.  Wally, our seven and a quarter year old fur kid who had surgery
today, had a whole lost of stuff taken out!  The huge thing we were feeling
in the lower right abdomen was a big hard mass.  It was carefully dissected
out, away from the vena cava (shiver).  It was down beneath the kidney.
There may have been something growing in a similar spot on the other side,
but it was very soft, like fat.  He had a second one- third of his pancreas
removed, including a nodule.  The right adrenal had started to grow back
and into the liver; a tiny part of the liver is normally attached to the
adrenal, and that part was removed.  The left looked small and normal but,
since he'd never regrown all his hair after the right was removed, the left
adrenal was taken out.  What else.... there were a few small ectopic
growths in tissue surrounding the intestines (I think I got the placement
right; need to clarify); those were removed and will be looked at by a
pathologist; they could have spread from the adrenal or pancreactic growths
(I don't like the sound of these).... What else.  Oh yes.  After all this
our vet Cindy felt a mass in the tummy!  So she got everything all cleaned
up and stiched back together and made a tiny incision in the stomach.  A
hairball!  About an inch and a half long and hard.
 
Poor Wally.  He was one sick baby.  He just received a transfusion, not
for major blood loss (though Cindy said everything was very vascular) but
because he went into the surgery borderline anemic.  He was also very fat
from all the pediapred for insulinoma so it was very hard to get him all
stiched together.
 
Need I say I'm a little worried about this recovery?  Even though he acted
like he hadn't even had surgery after his last major surgery last year (for
a ping-pong sized right adrenal).  So.... please send prayers and healing
thoughts.  Cindy said he's not out of the woods yet and his color didn't
look great.  Also his intestines were not moving well.  So please think a
good thought for our little trooper, Waltee boy!
 
Thank you!
 
Lynn
[Posted in FML issue 3302]