Shifu's No Good, Very Bad Day

We’re having a “heat wave” here which means that we’ve had 4 days of temperatures in the  high 80s (even a 90 or two) which is just a normal week in Florida, I know, but here in the land of no air conditioning, it’s getting a little stuffy inside most homes and businesses. We’ve definitely broken out the fan at home. We only have one and it mostly sits unused in the garage all year but it’s a lifesaver when the weather is like this. It’s supposed to cool off starting tomorrow and be back to 60s by the weekend. 

We had the tumor on Shifu’s ear removed surgically today. We removed the first one last June (and learned it was a form of cancer) and we all hoped it wouldn’t re-grow but it did and this week we decided to go ahead and remove it again. Because of his heart condition, we worry anytime he has to go under anesthesia, but he came through the operation just fine. It was an outpatient procedure so he went in in the morning and out the same afternoon. He’s home now and kind of miserable because his ear feels funny but he doesn’t seem to be in pain. He is very vocal about how miserable he is, however. He tries to lay one way and it doesn't feel right so he grumbles and changes position and that isn't good either so there's more grumbling. It would be funny if it weren't so hard to watch him be so uncomfortable. We have to keep him from shaking his head for the next few days and from scratching the ear for the next 2 weeks until we go back to get the stitches out. His misery isn't keeping him from eating and being interested in food tonight. I think not getting any breakfast this morning (no food after 8pm last night) bothered him just as much as the actual operation. It bothered us a little last night because it meant we couldn't snack...yes, we're those bad dog parents that share with our baby. In our defense, he is the perfect weight. The fact that we're not is entirely beside the point.

We could do chemo and prednisone to try to keep the tumor from re-growing but those have such awful side effects that we are reluctant to put him through that. The doctor tried very hard to remove every single bit of the tumor this time so we’ll just watch and see. I just know that I'm very, very happy to have my little boy home. It's been a long week, worrying about the operation and getting ready for a major work event on Sunday, I think I see a really long nap and maybe a little retail therapy in my future. There's a Simply Shabby Chic basket at Target that's calling my name.