surgery today

Early this morning, Sal and I met with Buddy's surgeon. Around 12 noon today, he will be prepped for surgery to remove the nasty cancer tumor from his lung, as well as a portion of his lung.

The surgeon was fairly optimistic, although cautioned of course that it's not until the surgery is underway that he'll know the full extent of the tumor. And as the surgeon entered the room, Buddy went over to greet him, wagging his tail a little bit. What a sweetheart! Buddy loves people. And he seemed more energetic and curious this morning than he has in several days, which we were so glad to see. He hasn't been eating, and has lost about 3 pounds, which concerns us all as he goes into surgery, but time is critical now to get the tumor removed.

So, after lots of hugs and kisses, a surgical nurse took him to get a fluids I.V.

We won't be able to visit Buddy today or tonight. I was really disappointed, but the surgeon said that he'll be on strong pain medication, oxygen, etc. and will need some initial undisturbed recovery time in the ICU. So, we can't have our first visit until tomorrow (Fri). The surgeon predicts that Buddy will need to be in the hospital for 3 to 5 days after the surgery.

We can't wait to have you home again, Buddy, to love and pamper you! We're thinking of you every minute ... you're our friend. Our pal. Our Buddy.