Murphy's diagnosis- thanks for your prayers
Our meeting with Dr. Robinson went very well. I am glad we decided to get the second opinion.
He gave Murphy a pretty thorough examination, especially in her ears and he immediately saw the tumor and said he understood why the other vet would want to take it out. It is quite large and was immediately visible to Scott and me as well. What Dr. Robinson is suggesting goes a step beyond what the other vet suggested as far as surgery. Dr. Robinson believes that in order to be sure he gets the whole thing, and prevent her numerous ear infections and reoccurence of the tumor, he wants to do what is called a Unilateral Ear Canal Resection, which in layman's terms means to not only cut out the tumor, but to reroute her ear canal and by doing that be able to have a better chance at removing the whole thing. It really sounds more complicated than it is. He drew a picture and explained it to us.
We have decided to have him perform the surgery and he will be Murphy's vet from now on. It was no offense to the other vet who caught the tumor and made the right call. It does have to do with our faith in Dr. Robinson since I have been dealing with him for so long, the fact that he goes above and beyond (as he demonstrated in wanting to take her surgery a step further), plus the fact that we also save some money too because he always has been very fair on his billing practices with me (I do not mean that to sound like we're being cheap. It is not a money issue at all, but obviously when the vet wants to help you out that way, it makes you feel good). The main thing is that trust factor.
He can't tell us if it is cancer, but once he is able to ascertain how big the tumor is and examine it, he will make a decision whether or not he believes the histopathology report needs to be done on it. I imagine he will do this, regardless, or we will have him do it. He definitely feels that Murphy has a lot of good years ahead of her and said that if he didn't, he wouldn't suggest putting her through the surgery, and he believes that her frequent ear infections will stop as a result of her ear canal being able to get more air. She will be able to come home the same day as the surgery as long as we can keep her quiet. I truly don't think we'll have a problem doing that.
I am calling to schedule the surgery tomorrow morning. I imagine it will be done on Wednesday of this week if he can fit her in. The receptionist was so busy when we left that I told her I would call back in the morning to schedule.
So, there's the scoop. I think we both feel better about everything, having that second opinion, and being able to see for ourselves exactly what they are talking about. I'll keep you posted! Your continued support and prayers are appreciated. You are all the greatest!
Logan
She is out of surgery!!! :)
I just hung up with Mark, Dr. Robinson's assistant. First of all, she is out of surgery and is starting to wake up now. :) The surgery went well and Mark said that the tumor was far larger than what could be seen from the outside. He said that it was a good thing that we chose the option of resectioning the ear canal because there is no way that the whole tumor could have been removed otherwise. Apparently it was quite large, but Dr. R. feels he got it all. He is going to send the tumor off to be tested so we can know exactly what it is, and while he was in there, he saw some infection way down in the canal that concerned him, so he took a swab and is sending it off to identify it by culture, so he can know how to treat that. Obviously, I'm trying to remember everything he said and am probably doing a lousy job of it. She did well enough under the anesthesia that he did a dental cleaning on her too! She will have "pearly whites".
Mark says she looks like a war veteran because they have her head bandaged. He said that should elicit lots of sympathy. You had better believe it will!!!
I can pick her up after 5 pm today. He just wants to make sure she has had time to wake up sufficiently. I am so relieved that this is overwith and our girl made it through!! I, of course, am still concerned about the results of the biopsy, but we will deal with that as it comes. Our girl is coming home!!!! :) :)
