With Heavy Hearts

It is with a heavy heart that I deliver this news to our blog followers…One week ago today, our beloved Angel passed away. She was at home and we very much believe that it was peaceful. Angel can now truly be our Angel and watch over us from Heaven.
Angel’s sudden passing was just six days after her tumor removal; she had no complications, and everyone (including her doctors, whom we visited four days after her surgery) was amazed with her recovery progress.
We have now learned that her tumor was a high-grade Neurofibrosarcoma, which is a cancer that affects the tissue surrounding the nerves. The mention of it being high-grade leads us to believe that it began to spread through her body very quickly. We are currently awaiting autopsy results from the University of Minnesota…we hope this will shed some light as to what happened and hopefully help us cope with the passing of our beautiful girl.
A friend told me, “Our dogs don’t need to live as long as we do…because they don’t need to learn to love like we do.”
This is a picture of Angel in 2005…but it is one of my favorites.

We love you girl…you will NEVER be forgotten!

Success!

I am so happy to be able to deliver good news today...and the outlook is very optimistic!
Surgery was a success. It lasted approximately 2.5 hours and Angel's blood pressure and heart rate were stable during the entire time and there were no complications. They were able to remove the tumor and close her up without removing any ribs. A lot of muscle, tissue, and skin were removed and there is a lot of tension right now…the incision is approximately 14 inches long (from the top of her back down to her tummy). We will need to be very cautious so that the incision does not break open.
Angel came home last night around 8pm. She was very groggy as the anesthetics take quite some time to wear off. I slept on the couch and then by her side…she did very well. This morning I could tell she was more alert and is improving. I hope we are able to keep the pain under control and that the recovery is seamless (no pun intended)! Owen and Jade were both excited to see Angel. Owen greeted Angel with his typical “Hiiiiiii”…she wagged her tail. He also pointed at her incision and said “Owww”. Jade wanted to sniff Angel a ton…but we limited their interaction and will continue to do so for a couple days.
Thank you for all your kind words during this challenging time. In about a week we hope to know more about the tumor.
Love, Angie

Angel - Our Golden Retriever

Family & Friends -
I wanted to write a quick note to let you know that Angel has been scheduled for surgery. She will be having her tumor removed this Thursday, April 8th. This tumor has gone from the size of a quarter to larger than a softball in somewhere from 3-4 weeks.

We are told there is 1cm of tissue between the mass and her ribs…depending on how the tissue appears during surgery they may or may not have to remove ribs. So very scary!

Our veterinarian tells us that this will likely be one of two things:
1. Hemangiosarcoma - not good at all, but we pray the tumor on her side is the only site and the surgery will remove it. If it is the only site, our girl will go back to happy and healthy.
2. Chronic Inflammation - caused by an unknown source...we most likely would never find out the initial cause of this tumor...but removal of it will stop its growth.

I will send an update on Thursday to let you know how surgery went. It will take an additional 5-7 days for the histopathology to come back...at that time we will know what this tumor is/was.
Angel is not just our dog...she is a daughter, a sister, and a friend.
Thank you for your prayers.
Love,
Angie

Easter 2010

What a wonderful day we had for Easter! The sun was shining, the company was great, and the food was delicious! We spend the late morning/early afternoon with Jake's family and the late afternoon/early evening with Angie's family. After the first meal we were ready to burst at the seams...but of course we couldn't resist our "2nd course."

I was able to capture some cute pictures over the weekend that I will need to publish soon. Until then....take care!