As I’m sure most of you are aware, Ramona, Kevin, Luke, and Nelia all have updated wishlists. Christina and Chris have not been good about updating wishlists.
But Chris was a good boy and he made a wishlist that can now be seen on this very website! Look to the right side and you’ll see it there, waiting for your viewing pleasure.
I know you must all be thinking i am obsessed with this light show. 🙂 But keeping an eye out for the new and improved version means i keep running across interesting things. This article is mostly the same old thing, except that they interviewed the neighbor across the street who said, “We called it the psycho house. It was just weird random flashes. Then, he told us about the radio station and it was great.” It makes me smile to think of watching the house across the street flashing like that with no discernable pattern or reason. They must have thought he was crazy.
an interesting note on the light show… see Carson Dec 8. I keep checking that site for the new and improved video.
Weight Watchers I used the link button. 🙂 Got another star. I am not sure how much i lost because they forgot to write it in my book, but it was at least 2 pounds because i needed 2 for the star.
a shame, but the lights are closed for the season.
PlanetChristmas.mywowbb.com
First, thanks to all for your concern. It is very appreciated.
The biopsy results came in today. I think I’ll be able to write about them; I’ve gone rather numb.
It is still possible that it is a fibrous sarcoma, which is what the vet had prepared me for. However, the lab results and, in retrospect, the physical presentation, point to the worse diagnosis of a hemangiosarcoma (subcutaneous). Here is a website, if you are interested:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_hemangiosarcoma.html
And here is the summary.
The vet was hopeful that it could have been a liposarcoma, cancer in fat cells, as those are very localized and don’t metastasize or recur. That was very unlikely before, and pretty much scratched off the list after the surgery. At that point, we were hoping for a fibrous sarcoma, cancer of muscle cells. Those are very localized and don’t metastasize, though recurrence is common. This still might be what it is.
It is more likely, though, that this is a hemangio sarcoma, cancer of the blood vessels. It doesn’t metastasize, it just exists anywhere that there are blood vessels. This one seems to have manifested in the minor vasculature, but in dogs particularly it does move in to the organs, particularly the spleen and heart. That is, in a small word, bad.
Basically, if it grows back immediately we’ll figure it’s a hemangiosarcoma. There’s no other real clear diagnostic test. We could also run chest x-rays; if we see small tumors growing all over elsewhere it’s probably a hemangiosarcoma.
I’m opting for the x-rays as soon as Grail is recovered from the surgery; probably some time in January. I’d rather know.
Hemangiosarcomas don’t respond particularly well to radiation or chemo. If it does recur, which is likely if that is what this is, the clearest next option would be to do another surgery, but pull even more of the surrounding tissues. This would have to be done by a specialist, as they would probably have to remove or at least resculpt parts of the lower intestine, and it is probable that they would remove the leg (not that they’d have to remove the leg, but they’d be removing so much of the abdominal musculature that the leg would no longer function).
The vet delicately tried to tell me that there are no effective treatments for hemangiosarcomas. Median life expectancy after agressive surgery, which is what we just did, is about 6 months. Treatments may or may not do anything to prolong that.
And if I did radiation, which might help the cancer, the location – right near the kidneys – is problematic. One of those, ‘the good news is he won’t die of cancer’ kind of situations.
So. That’s where I am.
I am now, mercifully, numb. Whenever I think about it – in a real, non-clinical way – I fall to pieces. Loud, hysterical, sobbing pieces.
This is very hard.
Carrie called me this morning to tell me that the man who made that amazing light display was going to be on the Today Show… but Carrie is one hour behind me so by the time she called it was too late for me to catch it. It did get me to looking, though. I found this, and thought you would be interested:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/arts/xmaslights.asp
Chris and Christina, I don’t know if i ever sent you a link to download the lights (I am sure you have found your own by now) but there is a link at this address and the light man is going to put a higher resolution film online soon.
If you have any Wisconsin State Quarters, you should look at them carefully. Some of them have been minted incorrectly and they are valuable to the right collector.
Click Here for images and a description of the error.
I’m thinking of looking through my quarters looking for one; maybe I can get lucky like one guy I know and sell it on e-bay for 130 dollars.
Not too bad considering the holiday and the fact that i was not as self controled as i should/could have been – 2 more pounds off.
Ramona called to update me and asked me to post for her; she is tired. Grailing’s surgery was this morning and he came home this evening. Grailing would tell you that he is miserable and his body is not right at all (I heard a couple of cat wails in the background) but he came thru the surgery well. The biopsy report will be back on Tuesday, and then we will know for sure how serious this is.