like I said earlier this week, things look good by Friday :)

Sorry about my little soap opera of a week.  People have been SO nice.  If you have not read up till now, on the weekend my father was about to turn 80 but collapsed and was sent to the hospital for awhile.  He is out now but very ill...HOWEVER, it is possibly just complications of a new medication (um, aren't those s'posed to HELP you, not KILL YOU????) and his doctor probably straightened him out Thursday and he can rest at home... but then I also had a boatload of work to complete and other dogs and cats to care for AND there was the thing with his 80th birthday party and out of town guests PLUS unrelated to that were some visiting cousins AND... Penny my little beagle. It was all just a cascade of CRAP in the space of one or 2 days.....

Here is Penny's story so far, because really, she has fans DYING to know how she is right? AND AS YOU WILL see below, she has received get Well cards...

A disclaimer: I SWEAR my dog never smoked ...not even cigars or chewing tobacco!

A few days ago our vet did Penny's yearly.  She was like UH OH.  Our vet had Penny's same age beagle cousin.  Identical looking, and it is likely that many of the beagles in this county are related (Cornell University Vet School raises beagles for... research...they all look the same....their offspring, rejects, retired subjects are all adopted out to good homes and...well, you get the idea).
So, our vet's own beagle developed a mouth tumor last winter which seemed ordinary enough BUT turned out to be cancer and the dog died soon thereafter! And our vet saw THE SAME tumor mass in Penny's mouth and jaw.
SO, we got the emergency appt. with Cornell Veterinary Hospital dental surgeons.  They took blood Wednesday and found a lot of problems in her mouth and scheduled one surgery and possibly a second surgery.  The large mass to be removed and biopsied and other stuff. They took blood, and she was back for surgery all day Thursday.
So, Thursday she is gone all day and we sit down with the doctor at 6pm: The biopsy comes back in 2 weeks and they do not know if it will show cancer, hopefully not. Her blood shows that her organs are healthy which is a good sign.  They believe they removed the whole tumor AND... what is probably the troublemaker (drumroll please)
She had an extra tooth.  The extra tooth was loose, became diseased, the tooth next to it also became diseased AND it is possible that like one domino falling after another, caused the tumor.  So, two teeth removed, a mass removed and being tested, and she is home with a bag of medicine.
Friday, today, she hops off the bed bright and early saying "whaddya say we go outside, then jump on the cat like usual, and have an omelette for breakfast???" which I gave her :)