A very special Christmas

Tia came home on Christmas Eve!  What  a WONDERFUL Christmas present.  She was obviously happy to be home, and so were we.  Her radiation treatments are finished and now we wait while she heals.  I was very excited to see that her tumor is smaller, even just 4 days after I had last seen her.  The fur around her tumor site has started to thin and the skin underneath is quite pink, like a bad sunburn.  Her tongue is very red too, which makes it painful for her to eat.  It doesn't stop her though!  We are feeding her wet food diluted in lots of water, because the Honest Kitchen food has many little food particles that cannot be ground down any smaller, and get stuck in the hole in the back of her mouth.  After her meals we have to use a special oral rinse, to help clean things out.  It is not easy to direct the squirt to the right place, and Tia hates it.  The vet told us that the next week or two would be messy, and she wasn't kidding!!  Tia will also continue to drool a thick saliva until things start to heal.  We've put a doggie shirt on her to try and keep her clean.  Otherwise her rough gets all gross.  She's a real trooper, and is handling things well, but during the healing process we are not supposed to let her rub her face on or in anything.  Tia has always LOVED the snow.  She loves to throw herself in it and make "Sheltie Angels", and she also loves to stick her face in it.  (This was before her radiation treatment!)  Now we have to be sure she doesn't rub, until the tumor site has healed.  She continues to take Prednisone, Baytril and Tramadol, and we return to NEVOG for a re-check on Monday afternoon.  Good thing we are nearing the end of the year, when vacation time starts from scratch.  I am all out of time for 2009!

We are so grateful to the NEVOG staff for the wonderful care they gave Tia during the 14 days she spent with them over the past 3 weeks.  If any of you ever find yourselves in need of a canine (or feline) oncologist I highly recommend them.