Home again, home again, jiggety jig. 10 hours and $347 later, all we know is Dixie doesn't have any sign of mast cell tumors in her lungs, bloodstream, or lymph nodes, the big scary mass next to the adrenal gland is indicative of Cushing's disease, and more tests are required to make more educated guesses as to what the status is. If it is malignant, the tumor is pumping out way more steroids than Dixie needs, and it contraindicates the normal treatment for eradication of mast cell tumors which is doses of steroids. If it's not malignant, it's still a problem because it shouldn't be there, and it's clearly been bleeding. Either way, the doctors recommend surgery. Cost: $1000-$1200 for the surgery alone. Byebye, trip to Chile. And it's a very difficult surgery, being so close to the aorta, plus there can definitely be complications afterwards until she stabilizes. Byebye, simple decisions. We'll get the next tests done locally, at least, and then talk to the nice people at the VMTH again.
While Dixie was having her tests done we had two hours to kill so we wandered over to the quaint college town of Davis. It's cute as a bug. Much droll naming of squares, lots of turn of the century buildings, quite a collection of artisans and coffee shops, and free parking. We ate at a Mexican restaurant because whenever I am stressed to the max I want hot, spicy food involving refried beans and cheese. It was a decent little place except for the musical selection which serenaded us with a disco version of the Macarena, and that perennial Mexican favorite Havah Nagila. Afterwards, we escaped to Capital Crimes to browse for mysteries, and walked around Main Street. We drove back to the UC Davis vet school past Fraternity Row and a gaggle of returning college students looking impossibly fresh faced and cheerful. There's nothing like an aggie school for that Norman Rockwell look.
After collecting Dixie, we all went for a walk around the grounds. I had been much taken with our pamphlet describing the division of sizes for the Veterinary Training school. We had our appointment at the Small Animal Hospital ("domesticated pets and wildlife including monkeys"). The Large Animals were defined as horses, llamas, and food animals like cows and swine. I was determined to see some llamas, unlikely as that sounded in the greenbelt of Yolo County, because it mentioned them. And by jiminy, we found 'em! Half a dozen were grazing in a corral next to some horses. Two of them came over to eye Dixie warily. They ignored us. I don't know why the vet school keeps llamas but I was greatly amused.
Now everyone's sacked out after an exhausting day. It was a cold day, and nightfall hasn't helped. I'm going to have a bath and stop thinking about everything. Despite the worrisome news I feel okay. It wasn't a bad little outing even if spending hours in a hospital of any sort is kind of a downer. I met a whole bunch of dogs there, and petted quite a few of them. The fields were full of Canada geese. We took a break in Danville which was kind of quaint and old-timey although I think it was developed in the 70's. The sunset was breathtaking, all flashy purples and golds and crimson streamers. There were many sightings of cows which always cheers me up.
I just like cows, okay? Even better than llamas.
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