Day 1681

Once again, life has gotten in the way, and I've missed the official MargeBlog anniversary of January 21.

2008

When I first created this blog, I had owned Marge for only 207 days.  I had known her for only a week longer than that.  Though I had developed some sense of her personality, I still had so much to learn about her.

2009

I didn't know how resilient she would be. Her (quite frankly) shitty upbringing did not predict the dog she would become.  She is social in a very specific way... she isn't over the top about it, but once she loves you, she loves you.  Unless she is playing with her friends, running agility, or impatiently waiting for dinner, I find that she seems to carry a certain aura about her.. of calmness, of loyalty.

2010

And yes, I maintain that she does, in fact, have a sense of humor.

2011

Marge will turn six this year.  Though still a young dog, a few gray hairs adorn her chin.  She will not be here forever. I try to savor every minute with her, since she is a gift that I intend on appreciating as fully as possible.  After all of this time, I still can't take my eyes off of her (and my boyfriend can attest to that!).

2012

Here's to life, love, MargeDog, and the future!

2013

The Devil Within (My 4-Inch Cyst)

I am possessed.

I have a mass in my abdominal cavity the size of a grapefruit.

"Lucifer," as I have been not-so-affectionately calling this beast, was discovered on an ultrasound less than two weeks ago.  I had some acute pain in December and, although the pain never resurfaced, I wanted to get things checked out before I went back to school.

And it's a good thing I did.

After the ultrasound came a whirlwind of doctor visits that landed me in record-breaking time at my grandmother's surgeon. He, although probably over-qualified as a top-notch gynecological oncologist to address what I have, graciously agreed to see me and will be removing the mass on Friday.

Surgery?  SURGERY? Ensue panic.  I've only had surgery once, and it was to remove a superficial-but-large mole from my back.  I've had general anesthesia, but I've never been through the whole true surgical process and I am scared silly.

It is most likely a very large ovarian cyst.  There is no current worry about it being anything more serious than that.  However, it is so large that the ultrasound could not detect exactly where it is coming from.  Rather than put me through more testing, which may or may not be conclusive, the surgeon is going to figure out what it is while he's in there (via a diagnostic laparosopy). The surgeon is ridiculously confident that it can, in fact, be removed laparoscopically and that I will be able to go home the same day.  I like his attitude and hope that he is right.

Really glad that he took me - I only want the best.  I know THREE women who had their reproductive organs taken out by him, which makes me feel better, since 1) they lived to tell about it and 2) this is hopefully just a stinkin' cyst.

Though I didn't have pain all along, I now have bouts of dull pain that comes and goes, a slightly swollen belly, and tons of general discomfort (some of it real, some of it psychosomatic, I'm sure).  I'm living in sweatpants. I haven't worn jeans in a week.

I cannot WAIT for this to be over.

It has messed up school (since you have to bend and twist and do all kinds of physical work in Physical Therapy school), riding (I'm not allowed to ride until something like a month after it's gone), and agility (I'm not allowed to run, either).

It's a huge bummer.

Anyway, I just thought I should post about this.  I'd much rather be posting about the Fearful Dog Seminar that I taught, but I reckon I'll have lots of time for that while I recover.

Just spare a good thought my way around 9:30 on Friday morning, when I'll be rolling in to the OR for my exorcism.