Almost a Week

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I posted. Busy, busy.

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Reggi has another cancerous lump that will be removed soon. She's had a cough for about a week, plus several lumps so we took her to the vet Tuesday. I was 100% convinced we were going to be told some really bad, as in terminal, news. I think I was so shocked that the vet brought up chemotherapy last time (just in general terms, he wasn't recommending it now), so this was my way of preparing myself.

You know I love the bejesus out of that little dog - we all do. But I sort of felt I'd made peace with the notion that she will die before me. We've given her the best possible life she could have. She loves us and we love her. I wouldn't do anything differently (except not feed her scraps and treats when she was little - though she's lost weight recently - another reason I was worried, though we've all been exercising more.) Anyway.

I'm not sure if I mentioned our vet sent Reggi's information to Cornell University a couple of months ago, who for $50 will do up a report with recommendations, prognosis, etc. The result came back that this is really still a surgical case, meaning keep removing lumps and once we have had 10 lumps removed, then it's time to talk other options. This will be Reggi's 4th cancerous lump. Or mass cells as the vet calls them - he rarely uses the C word.

I really wanted either Steve or Simon to go with me to take Reggi on Tuesday. I figured I was so strung out at that point that I was likely to burst into tears whether it was good news or bad and I needed someone to actually listen to what the vet was saying. Steve went with me. I've been teary for a week, cried in the car on the way home from work to pick up Reggi, sobbed at home while talking to Simon about it and then teared up again in the vets office before he came into the room. (So much for making peace.) I was pretty proud of myself for keeping my shit together while the vet was with us but Steve said my eyes were pretty red. Nothing the vet hasn't seen before. I love our vet.

So yeah, I was a little over-prepared. The cough is just a cough - we're giving her Robitussin DM. Only 1 out of 4 of the current lumps is cancerous and it's tiny. While we were waiting for the vet to come in, I kept finding more lumps, which he needle biopsied. At one point he leaned into Reggi and said, "Kid, tell your mom to stop finding these lumps!"

I told Dr. Hines that I feel like a hypochondriac about Reggi. Not about myself ever, just Reggi.

Which brings me to today's offering from Urban Dictionary:

September 24: cyberchondriac

Someone who spends their time searching medical websites for diseases they convince themselves they actually have

Similiar to a hyperchondriac

'Then I went on this website and found out that I actually have diabetes AND chronic fatigue!'

'Dude...you're a cyberchondriac'

I can't remember if this was from Urban Dictionary or somewhere else, but another term I like to use is Dr. Google. As in, "Look at this weird rash. Dr. Google thinks it's poison ivy."

So anyway, Reggi's fine. I'm fine. I'm busily on track for the big show at Letchworth the 2nd weekend in October. The day job is going great - I'm getting to do the parts of my job I really enjoy. Life is good.