Good News From the Vet

As I mentioned in my Feb. 1 blog entry, Nema had the growth removed from under her right front leg last Wednesday, Feb. 11. I took her into the vet's office that morning and made sure they were going to use local anethestic. Bernard picked her up that afternoon, and when I got home from work she had several sutures closing up the skin, and it was a little swollen, but she seemed fine.

Over Valentine's Day weekend Nema was fine, although the swelling remained. We were staying in Austin with some friends for the weekend, and they also have a dog, an Australian shepherd named Sam. We tried to keep Nema as quiet as possible, but anyone who knows Nema knows she is one active pup -- especially when other dogs are around. So we ended up giving up and taking her and Sam for an off-leash walk both Saturday and Sunday to drain her energy -- more about that in a subsequent blog entry.

On Monday, Feb. 16, I was back in Houston but had to stay home sick from work. I wanted the vet to check on the sutures as they were a little red and swollen. So Bernard took Nema to the vet, where they said she looked fine and removed the sutures. After that the swelling and redness subsided and now, three days later, the most obvious sign of the surgery is the shaved area around where the sutures were.

That wasn't the only good news from the vet though. The best news is that the test results on the growth showed it was a benign lesion. So, not cancer. I don't know why she got the lesion but I am grateful it was not malignant.

I feel bad that little Nema has had to go through these two medical issues in her short life so far. First the horrible spaying experience, and then this minor surgery on the growth. But I am happy that so far she has come through them both OK.