Happy Days are Here Again!

Abby's stitches have been removed, and Abby has been given the okay to return to her regularly scheduled zoomie/bouncy activities!  Thank you all for not telling her she is K-C-I-S (she can't spell backwards yet) - she doesn't have a clue, and no one here is telling her.  Mom says Abby will likely start chemotherapy in about 10 days or so - they haven't heard back on the liver/spleen results, so that will impact the level to which Abby will (or won't) glow in the dark.  But us doggies are known to handle chemo pretty well, so with luck, the summer will be filled with tennis balls and frisbees and what not!

Enough words.   Check out our return to tennis ball action!  Mom wanted Abby to start off in her jacket, just to make sure the incision site didn't get dirty.  The jacket didn't slow her down one bit!

And Mom's hope that tennis balls would keep Abby from flying through the air was quickly dashed!

Yep, it's good to be back out with the tennis balls!

Later in the afternoon, after checking to make sure Abby's twisty-turny-leaping activity hadn't done anything to the incision site, Abby was good to go coat free!

Her leggies haven't lost any of their spring!

And the ear-flappage is all in working order, too!

Mom calls this Abby's 'Dance like no one is watching' move!  Heheh!

Abby's catching skills are as sharp as ever!  Heehee!

Sisterly tennis ball time!

Abby has gone straight back to work at the Ministry of Silly Walks!

Not to worry, it wasn't the All Abby Show - although I don't blame Mom for being happy that Abby can be amused with tennis balls, and doesn't have to be doped up any more!

Are we happy about the return to tennis ball activity?  You betcha!

And it seemed to have worn a certain Hippobottomus sister of mine out!

And it made me very thirsty!

Thank you all again for all the good wishes, thoughts and prayers.  I'll make sure to keep you updated on the new about her liver and spleen, and, of course, when Abby starts her treatments to glow in the dark!  Or maybe she'll get some other nifty super power.... She can already fly, so maybe she'll get another power, like, uh, I dunno.  The Iron Man suit would be sort of cool, if it came with the soundtrack!  Heheh!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

Another Update, Complete with a Translation by Mom

Hi everybody!  Fiona here.  I just wanted to give you an update on my sister, the Hippobottomus.  On Thursday Mom took Abby down to Salt Lake to see some special vet (Dr. Liz here, it was an oncologist) and after a day of tests, a shaved belly, a bunch of needle pokes and pictures of her insides, the verdict came back: she doesn't have any odd lumps or growths in her chest or belly, which is very good.   The results from the needle pokes (spleen and liver) will come back later this week, but due to some Score With a Funny Name (the Mitotic Index, which is a measure of the likelihood the tumor will return and/or metastasize; a good score is 5 or less, Abby's is 30 - but the scale goes to 100, so it could be worse), it sounds as though Abby will be given some medication at some point that will make her glow in the dark.  (Because of the chance of regrowth/metastasis, Abby will have a course of chemotherapy that should help retard the growth/spread of the cancer cells.  It is unlikely that Abby will glow in the dark.  Although if she does, you can be sure there will be pictures!)

Yeah, blah, blah, blah.  Mom has been reading all sorts of research articles (actually, I stopped, because I didn't like their survival outcome numbers), but I can assure you that neither Abby nor I have been reading any of these articles.  In fact, I even intercepted the memo that was supposed to tell Abby she was sick, and I ate it, so she doesn't know she's sick.  I'm not going to tell her, so do me a favor, and don't you tell her, either, please?

Next Saturday, Abby will go in and have her stitches removed, and we can get back to our regularly scheduled frisbee zoomies and bitey-face action.  In the meantime, we will continue to hang around the house and look pathetic - because frisbee zoomies and bitey-face isn't much fun without my sister.

Another week?!?

Another week?!?  *sigh*

 

I suppose I must just hang out in this sunbeam.

My sister is a sunbeam hog. 

I shall stare off into space and look all dramatical.

Mom, I'm bored....

Just hanging out here....

So, one more week of snoozling and then we can get back to our usual excitement.  In the meantime....

Ho-hum.

I'll keep you posted.

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the (not yet glowing in the dark) Hippobottomus

An Update and Some Photos

Fiona here!  Thank you all for all the good wishes, thoughts and prayers for Abby.  Unfortunately the report from the pathologist wasn't great; she had a grade 3 mast cell tumor removed - which, from what Mom says, means that there is a visit to the oncologist vet in Abby's future.  Apparently a grade 3 tumor can grow quickly and can metastasize, so after a minor freakout on Mom's part, she made an appointment for Abby with the oncologist this Thursday.  I'll keep you posted.   In the meantime, Abby and I are going to continue to lobby for frisbee time (but Mom says 'no' until the stitches are out) and keep going stir crazy, because honestly, chasing tennis balls without having to protect my tennis balls from my sister isn't near as much fun.

We are, however, enjoying the couch, and the light from our skylight!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

Thanks for all the Warm Fuzzies for Abby!

Thank you all for the warm fuzzies and crossed paws for my sister Abby!  Mom took her in to the vet on Friday morning, and I will admit to being a bit confused when Mom came home in the morning without her, but she explained to me that Abby was having the surgicals.  I kept Mom occupied so she wouldn't fret about Abby.  Later in the day, Mom got a phone call that the surgicals had all gone well, and she could pick Abby up later.   I was happy to hear that news - I had been missing my big little sister.

When she got home (bundled up in a Thunder Shirt so she can't get at the stitches that are just below her sternum), Abby looked a wee bit drugged.

And a wee bit non-plussed!

We have spend much of the weekend hanging out, going on short walkies, and napping (because apparently Abby can't nap unless everyone is napping, too...)

Really, lady?  Can't you see that I've had surgicals?

Mom also spend some time 'enjoying the nature light' - whatever that means....

Thank you all again for the good wishes!  We'll keep you posted on the biopsy results!

*kissey face*

-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

We Have No Idea When We Last Updated

So if you've seen some of these pictures before, blame our distracted other-focused secretary, who is giving us all sorts of excuses, like she's had the sickies, and she's been busy at the Great Kibble Provider and working away at giving other dogs treats while taking pictures of them (in her defense, she has also been taking pictures of homeless doggies and kitties and goats and pigs and whatnot). Regardless of the veracity of Mom's excuses, we haven't updated in rather a while.

So what have we been up to, you ask?

Well, let's see.... A couple of weeks ago Mom and Dad took us to the White Barn on the way in to Park City and Mom took a bunch of pictures of us before we got to go on a decent walkie.

A rare photo of Dad!

If you are wondering why most of the pictures are of Abby, it's because she is a total camera hog; I will happily let Abby take the spotlight, but when it's time for my glamour shots, Abby totally tries to hog my time in the spotlight.   *sigh*

We've also been helping Mom in the studio.  Sort of.  Mom was playing around with something here. Who knows what - we've long since given up trying to understand what Mom does with her camera...

Wow.  A picture of me - mostly because Abby was lying down, noshing on liver treats....

She looks so innocent.  But we all know better, don't we?

This last weekend Mom decided we were getting a little woolly, and that it was time for us to get haircuts.  The haircuts may also have been prompted by Dad's discovery of a lump on Abby's chest.  Mom hustled Abby off to the vet, and was told it was a mast cell growth.  So, Abby will have surgery this Friday to remove the lump.  The haircuts were to check for additional lumps/bumps on both of us, and, apparently, to keep us cool (although our weather has been surprisingly cool and damp - I am dictating this to Mom whilst snuggling under an afghan).

So, there was nekkid frisbee action this weekend (Abby's growth hasn't slowed her down in the frisbee department, although it sounds as though she's going to be drugged for a while after her surgery, so the site of the lumpectomy (Mom says that's a real word - I don't believe her) can heal.  I'll totally let you know how well that works out!).

Mom's frisbee throwing hasn't gotten any better.

Abby is still working on her Frankenstein impersonation.

Or possibly a zombie impersonation....

Seriously; Mom's frisbee throwing needs some work...

Abby practicing for the Rapture.  Heehee!

Ah, yes, frisbee zoomies.  (By this time, I had started eating some of the longer grass on the hillside.)

Doodle Ballet!

We also took some time this weekend to observe Memorial Day and reflect on the brave men and women who gave their lives so we could enjoy the pursuit of life, liberty and frisbees.

Anyway, that's our excitement.  I'll keep you posted on Abby's surgery.

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus