The Recovery of Rom, Part 2

As you know, we've been waiting for the pathology results from Rommel's spleenectomy. All of the literature says that most dogs with such a contorted, enlarged, rupturing and blood-filled spleen would have a very aggressive form of cancer. So we have been anxious since his surgery on Friday. In addition to waiting for Rommel's results, we have been dealing with Tropical Storm Fay. School has been cancelled locally for two days and Aidan missed his first day of Preschool today. It's just been a messy couple of days.

But the phone rang yesterday morning with the results and we're happy to report that Rommel is all clear and cancer-free! No one knows why his spleen decided to go supernova, but at least we know we can focus on his recovery now and move past the drama of almost losing him. He is such an odd dog and even though he can be high-maintenance at times, he is a member of our family.

He's been wearing the e-collar more than his anti-lick shirt lately because he has recently discovered the IV wound on his leg. He can lick it red raw in about 2 minutes. So we're not sure what's worse - wearing an e-collar or wearing a tshirt with a crotch-guard made of fleece and a large tube sock over one leg.

Our little Siamese cat, Darwin, just discovered Rommel's lampshade the other night. The cats normally give Rommel a wide berth because he does like to chase them from time to time. They never walk right up to him just in case he gets a wild hair and decides to chase them. Darwin took one look at Rommel with the lampshade on his head the other night and had to investigate. Luckily Rommel was too tired to chase him - and he gets stuck on every piece of furniture in the house when he walks, so it would have been a feeble chase anyway.

No news on the garden. It's too windy and blowy and wet to check out our little deathpatch of vegetables. Once the storm moves away and the tornado watches are lifted, we'll assess the damage - like it could really get any worse.