Before the Rest of the Story...

When MarkyBear was in the hospital last September, it was discovered that he has some kind of mass in one of the lobes of his liver. He was supposed to have gone back and had it 'looked' at again, but before that happened, I had to make two trips to western NY State, then we had company come down from NY for a week, so, of neccesity, poor ol' MarkyBear had to 'hang in there'. He was doing so well, acting like a puppy, running around the yard and playing with SparkyBear that I didn't call right away to make the appointment. But a week after all the hubbub with traveling and company passed, our boy ended up in doggie intensive care again. Thanks to Dr. Catherine Garon and her diligent staff at Riverlands Animal Hospital in LaPlace, LA, he pulled through. But... Dr. Catherine Garon, (about whom we like to say, is calling in the "Big Guns") did another ct scan this week and discovered what she calls a 'suspicious lesion' on his pancreas and one of his adrenal glands. She said the mass is still in his liver, but hasn't grown, and that the lesion and mass are unrelated. When I asked her if she suspected cancer, she said, "no", so that's good news. She does recommend an "abdominal exploratory".

Until that is scheduled, he is home now, and we are trying to keep him as pain free as possible. We appreciate everyone's kind comments and concern via emails, etc., not to mention your prayers which are very much coveted! We will keep you updated.

AND, if you happen to live in the area, we highly endorse this veterinarian hospital. Their webpage: http://www.riverlandsanimalhospital.com/index.html