Opal is out of surgery and recovering nicely from the anesthesia. The good news is that the doctor found no evidence of any problems at all -- even the spleen looked good. Because of the anemia, though, and the sonographic evidence of lesions, he removed the spleen as a precaution. After he had it out, he sectioned it, and did find a mass in there. He's sending some of the mass, as well as some of the normal tissue, to a lab for analysis. That said, he found no visible issues with the liver or other organs.
All of this is really good news -- she likely does not have cancer, and the splenic lesions may well be a benign hyperplasia. We are hopeful that the splenic lesions were the sole cause of the anemia -- we'll have to have another blood panel drawn in about a month to see if her counts are coming back up.
We just came back from a brief visit with her, and she is alert, though in some pain when she moves. She's just about done with IV fluids, and it's looking like we'll be able to bring her back aboard in about an hour, when the office closes. We'll be in the parking lot again tonight, as the doctor wants to have another look at her in the morning.
Suffice it to say, we are much relieved, especially considering how invasive and risky this type of surgery is. Thanks again to everyone who has contacted us with well-wishes -- Opal never knew she had such a fan club!
Photo by transCam
Hey vagabonds, just checking in to see where you are. Really glad to hear that Opal is doing well. I know she'll still be feisty even without a spleen. Give her a scratch in her favorite spot for me.
ReplyDeleteThinking about you. Love, Linder
I am so glad to hear that. I have been checking the blog all day for this update. I will let Bryce and Dallas know also. Prayers were answered for that pretty little gal. Cat Farnworth
ReplyDelete