A Molly Update

Well, today has been a long day. Yesterday I took Molly to A&M (again) where they did another evaluation and I met with the surgeon. They set her up for a cat scan this morning with surgery to follow if everything should somehow be clear. At about 10:00 they came out and said that the scan was clear, that they felt like there was enough clearance between the tumor and her trachea (sp?) and airway, so they were taking her to surgery. They had told me that it would take about 1 1/2 hours. It took 3 1/2 hours, and I was beginning to panic. They felt very good about it--removed the tumor (about the size of a very large lemon) and one lobe of her lungs (Dogs have 5 lobes, so she won't miss it too much.). After it was all over, I realized that everyone had been gently trying to tell me since day 1 not to get my hopes up--that lung cancer is not very curable. (I just refused to face reality until it was reality.) Now they really believe she is going to be ok. She has surprised everyone at every step of the way. I am really thanking God tonight for my little puppy. I think God cares about sparrows and puppy dogs. When I told the surgeon yesterday that I called her the dog with nine lives, he asked me if she had already used up the first eight. I assured him that she had not, just two or three with blood diseases, etc. He said in that case he felt better about proceeding. :)

They won't know what kind of tumor for a couple of days. I went back about 4:00 and they took me into intensive care to see her--still quite sedated. She is in an oxygen chamber right now. She opened one eye to see me, but went back to sleep, covered with a pink blanket. Dr. Claiborn (see below) told me she is going to have a big scar. Since they prefer I don't get her too excited with visits, I came back to Austin and will fly home tomorrow so I can be in Midland for Mitch and Connor's big football game in Grande Stadium. They will call me with daily updates on her condition. They think Molly can go home on Monday. They may have to follow up with chemotherapy depending on the results of the biopsy. (Dad asked if that meant she would lose her hair. Hmm.)

One of the neatest blessings was that even in a strange city in a stressful and strange situation, church family is ready to step in. Some friends of Wade and Judy (and Holly and Alan)--Ann and (Dr.) Larry Claiborn--were wonderful. He is a professor at the A&M vet school, and he met me in the parking lot yesterday as I was arriving and checked up on me all through the day today. While Molly was in surgery, he took me for a tour of the large animal clinic which was quite impressive. About lunch time Ann stopped by with the most delicious Mango Smoothie which absolutely hit the spot. This afternoon when I was about to panic, he stopped by and went back to see what was going on. He came back to tell me that they were closing her up and she was just fine. They kept inviting me to stay with them, and we have an invitation to their care group on Sunday night. What a blessing they were; God's provision for family is amazing. I will never forget their kindness. I was absolutely humbled by their generous caring and time shared with me--a stranger in Christ.
I am just feeling so blessed tonight.

I still love hearing from all of you on the blog. Keep posting. I love you all. Mom

P.S. Today is Reagan's birthday, and Tuesday was Alex' birthday. I am so thankful for both of them. What blessings they are to my heart! It is hard for me to believe how fast they are growing up--6 and 9 years old. Wow!