a health update on my dog: he had a tumor

My dog Joey is my baby. I kind of relate him to Daisy in that they just are/were/forever will be my absolute babies and soul pups. I mean, look at that face, do ya blame me??

At the beginning of January, I noticed Joey had a bump growing on the left side of his head, just below the ear. It was pink and round and bigger than a cyst, so I decided to bring him into the vet to get it checked out.

At the vet, they aspirated the bump and the vet said “oh, that’s harder than I thought it would be.” And didn’t get much fluid out of it. The fluid that she did manage to secrete had notions of cystic fluid but nothing else too concerning. Nonetheless, she said to keep an eye on it and if it kept growing or changed, to bring him back in and we could have it removed.

A few weeks later, his bump had grown. It had definitely become bigger and it looked angrier at how red it had become. I took pictures so here’s what he was looking like:

I noticed the growth when I was home sick from work, sick as a dog myself (I can probably make another post about that), so I called the vet and they could get us in that afternoon. So we went in and they looked at the growth. And then we decided to have it removed.

Now, Joey has a heart disease. He has cardiac valvular degeneration, which makes anesthesia a risk for him. The vets are very aware of this and at his last echocardiogram, he got the all-clear to monitor every couple of years and was considered low risk for anesthesia complications. So, we have that at least, but still nerve-wracking with his heart condition.

Anyway, we scheduled the removal for before Valentine’s Day so that I would be home with him for President’s Day and be able to watch him as he had to wear a cone for a week.

Then, a week before his scheduled removal, the mass split. He had been groomed that weekend (trying to tidy him up for the surgery) and although I told them about his mass, I think they nicked it. (Truthfully the mass was pretty big and I’m sure hard to navigate around.) I noticed he had a scab on the mass when he had come home from the groomer but figured it was small and would heal.

A few days later, I came home from work and grabbed my suitcase to head to the airport for my sister’s bridal shower out of state. I was saying my goodbyes to the dogs and noticed Joey’s bump had completely split. Insert images here and warning, they’re gross:

It looked raw and open and terrible timing as I was leaving for the weekend. So I called the vet, sent over images, and frantically tried to figure out what to do with Joey and if I should even leave and travel for the weekend. I ultimately decided to go but began crying as I left Joey. It brought back memories of me leaving Daisy as the vet tech ran her inside and I didn’t get to say goodbye. The act of leaving my baby in their time of health crisis and need was very triggering.

I called the vet again as we were on the way to the airport and I gave them my husband’s number to call back as I was about to be on an airplane. After I got to the airport and sat in the terminal about to board the plane, my husband called and said he had spoken to the vet. She had said to put neosporin on it and that it was good we were getting it removed in a few days.

As I was away for the weekend, my husband sent me constant updates about Joey. And still, it was hard to be away during that time.

That Wednesday, February 12, I brought Joey into the vet for the surgery.

There’s my boy preparing for the removal ^

We had agreed that the vet would decide when she was working on him if he’d need local or general anesthesia, keeping in mind his heart condition. So I dropped him off and waited the rest of the day for an update.

Finally around lunch, I got in contact with the vet who said Joey had done just great. They only needed local anesthesia and got the whole thing removed. I could pick him up after work. So I did. The vet tech explained care instructions and how he was to wear a cone for a week to protect the incision and healing.

That boy was very happy to get the cone off 10 days later!

Finally, the vet called me this week with the biopsy results from the mass.

And: it was a tumor.

Benign, thankfully.

But it was a tumor that grows out of the hair follicle. She said they got the whole thing removed and it shouldn’t grow back. But, it was good we removed it especially considering how it was growing.

So that’s the update. Joey had a tumor. We had it removed and it was benign but still, a lot going on here.

Our sweet Joseph. This is what it is to be a pet parent: you notice these things and care for our beloved babies as they come up.

I’m glad we got you the best care sweet Joey Kay.

🤍