Gus's Surgery And More

During the week right before the birthday party we had noticed a rather large and hard lump on Gus's throat. We brought Gus in to the vet right away and she took a needle biopsy. That turned out to be inconclusive so we scheduled surgery for him on the Thursday after we got back from our quickie Oregon trip.

Before we brought him in we found another lump behind his elbow. I told the vet about that and she said it was more likely a "fatty tumor" but she would check it out. Gus was also going to have his teeth cleaned while he was out.

Here he is back from the vet, resting.

When I picked Gus up the vet told me the armpit lump was indeed a lipoma and no cause for concern. The problem was the neck lump. She said it worried her because she'd never really seen anything quite like it. We would find out for sure when the results came back from the lab on Monday.

Monday we got the news: Gus's lump was not cancerous. Basically it was a deep hemotoma that had become encapsulated. Here is a description from Wikipedia:

Hematomas can occur within a muscle. Some hematomas form into hard masses under the surface of the skin. This is caused by the limitation of the blood to a subcutaneous or intramuscular tissue space isolated by fascial planes. This is a key anatomical feature that prevents such injuries from causing massive blood loss. In most cases the sac of blood or hematoma eventually dissolves; however, in some cases they may continue to grow or show no change. If the sac of blood does not disappear, then it may need to be surgically removed.

So that was a big WHEW!

Also on Monday was my husband's mediation for his bus accident from about two years ago. That did not go so well. That meant a trial would start the next Monday. That also meant I would probably have to testify (as to the changes in his joie de vivre, etc).

On Tuesday morning promptly at 8am the movers came to get all the big stuff and stuff we wouldn't be needing immediately.

Flora, the pony, got her last trimming from her farrier. (She was later moved to the stables where she will be trimmed by Star's farrier if they're still there when that time comes.)

Wednesday we picked up the U-Haul truck so we could start packing our immediate needs stuff. The plan was that Wil and I would drive to Oregon on Saturday (hubby couldn't go because of meetings with the attorney), take possession of the rental, unload, spend the night at a hotel and return home on Sunday. While I was waiting for paperwork I got to talking with the U-haul guy and mentioned how I was a little stressed out because the guy that was going to buy the cow and this year's calf backed out and now I didn't have a place for the three cows. He mentioned his sister had some room and he called her. She said I could bring them over and my only requirement was that I pay for hay (no extra board fees). Hooray!

Thursday was Thanksgiving. We were packing and cleaning. I can't even remember but I think we had frozen microwave dinners.

I spent most of Friday bringing the animals to where they had to go. The bull went to my sisters'. The cows to Laura's (2 trips in the two horse trailer). The pony to the stables. The dogs and Kneadermeier to the kennels. Ollie had disappeared and we couldn't find her anywhere. I had to buy hay and bring some to my sister and some to Laura. Then the final cleaning of the now empty house. My vacuum cleaner broke at the most inopportune time so I went next door to borrow theirs.

Next door neighbor Dean and his family were at Disneyland so my husband and I spent the night at their house. We woke at four o'clock and by four thirty Wil, his friend Evan, and I were on the road to Oregon.

We hit some snow in the Lake Shasta area and again over the Siskiyou Summit but fortunately it wasn't bad enough to have to put chains on. However as we were coming down from the Siskiyou Summit the cars on the other side were all lined up putting their chains on. I guess we timed that one perfectly.

When we reached Grants Pass I thought I'd better call the rental office to see how long they stayed open. The girl said they closed at 4pm. I was a good hour away and it was already 3:20 by then. There was no way we were going to make it and I needed the key! She was so nice. She gave me her cell number and told me to call when we got to town and she'd come back to the office to give me the key.

Long story short: We got the key and got everything unloaded. We spent the night at a hotel. We turned in the U-haul the next morning and headed back to Bakersfield. The roads over the summits were clear though there was more snow on the sides. It was smooth sailing until we got past Stockton, then it was stop and go for miles and miles and miles.

I had forgotten about the holiday traffic. I remember when Clyde came home my husband hit the exact same scenario near Las Vegas. In fact it was Thanksgiving weekend four years ago. After we finally got home I figured I drove 24 hours in the last 48 hours!

Time to hit the hay. By this time my husband had moved to a hotel and that's where I drove to when I got back to town.

Oh yeah, my husband managed to snatch Ollie up the next day and took her to the kennels.

...more tomorrow!