We’ve just returned from a lovely trip out west to see Houston, Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, and Park City. We had a great time including camping for two nights in Zion and Bryce Canyon Nation Parks, seeing Jack and Sally (Libby’s aunt and uncle in Vegas), and meeting up with Libby’s family in Park City. It is, however, wonderful to return the comfort and routine of home particularly recharged with fresh air and the outdoors. I will be putting up the photos (and videos) soon.

Libby completed her Prelim review of her doctoral research on Friday. Her committee really put her through the ringer, but her project was approved and she’s excited about getting going. They did want to nail down some of her specific goals which she’ll be working on starting this week. Congratulations to Libby!

About two weeks ago Libby noticed a lump on Lillian’s posterior and we took her in on Saturday February 11th to have it examined. Our vet felt and then aspirated the lump and was disappointed to find some granules in the sample. Unfortunately, these are characteristic of a mast cell tumor. Lily had a mast cell tumor removed a few years ago from the back of her neck. We were able to schedule her for surgery on Monday February 13th to have the tumor removed. The surgery was very sucessful and it was excised with an ample margin.

Today, we heard the results of the pathology. They confirmed that it was indeed a mast cell tumor grade 2. We’ll be taking her to an oncologist as soon as we can. From what we’ve read there are a number of tests we can do to determine the extent to which the tumor has spread. The small size of the tumor, the successful surgery, and the long time between these incidents are all good signs. Obviously we’ve been worried about her since we heard this, but we can only hope for the bset and do everything in our power to assure her speedy recovery.

Over the weekend Libby attempted to arrange two adoptions. One turned out not to get along with the other dog. The second person just wasn’t quite ready until she’d spoken with her family. While they were hear meeting the fosters, another DRNA member also picked up a fear aggressive pup, Amigo. As everyone was on their way out Amigo was cornered and bit Libby’s hand pretty badly. Today she ended up at the doctor to get some antibiotics. Tomorrow she heads out to New York to collaborate on some research.