Unstitched! Today’s photo shows Rudi looking “pale and interesting” after the removal of his stitches. He’s been very good for ten days, putting up with the irritation of the bucket on his head with amazing good nature. A bonus from his nights alone in the living room was to be able to sleep on the sofa! As we’d had a snow shower before going to the vet, we decided not to take the car. We enjoyed the half-hour walk, as the skies were now blue, with the sunlight making the fresh-laid snow sparkle, but when we arrived at the surgery there was a slight embarrassment of eight very wet and muddy feet and legs! The vet graciously allowed us in to the inner sanctum, where I consoled myself with the thought that this was only watery mud and not a repeat of the scene when we collected Lady, our red setter, from the vet many years ago. She had been suffering from a damaged tail, which refused to heal, so a couple of inches had been removed. She bounded out to see us with her usual exuberance, her tail whipping from side to side with its bandage on the end. Within seconds, the tiled walls of the room looked like an excerpt from Alfred Hitchcocks’ film “Psycho” and Lady had been hustled back into the back room for re-dressing! It was all to no avail anyway, as it still wouldn’t heal, and eventually the tail was reduced to spaniel length, which was quite pretty once the fur had grown over the stump. Rudi’s stitches were removed with no problems, but we were a little shaken to learn that the lump was, in fact, a sinister one. I had been so convinced that it was the result of a dig from rusty barbed wire, or the head of a tick left behind, but in fact it was a cancerous growth. The vet is confident that it’s all been completely removed and sees no reason at all for us to worry about a recurrence. However, it does give a chill reminder of mortality. A year ago today we held my Mum’s 95th birthday party. It seems so much longer than that. I picture her sitting in her wheelchair amidst the family, smiling and laughing as she enjoyed being amongst those who meant the world to her. I’m so glad to have this happy memory of an occasion only a few weeks before she died. Would that everyone could round their long lives off so rewardingly. |