Jan 30: Slack off for a week and you forget so much

So last week I noticed Arri had BB's growing again.  We are pretty sure they are benign cysts but have never been able to get a definitive answer.  I found 5 of them on him.  They are just under the skin and feel like BB pellets.   One day, the one on his collar bone/shoulder started growing.  Within 3 days, it was larger than a peanut M&M and looked like a monster pimple.  It clearly irritated Arri to touch it so I left it alone and kind of forgot about it for a day.  I went to check a day or so later and it was completely gone.  I could not find any sign of it.

A few days before his chemo treatment, I noticed one on his belly was growing.  I wanted to take him to the vet but decided there wasn't any point.  Arri is already getting chemo so there is not much else to do.  This one also started to hurt him when touched.  When I dropped the boy off for chemo, I pointed it out.  While he was there, the Dr did a needle aspiration.  From what he saw, he believed it was a sarcoma.  He thought the one that disappeared may also have been a sarcoma but the chemo attacked it and won.  Now that he has a fresh dose of Carboplatin, maybe the one on his belly will go away also.

Tonight I was petting Arri and it is driving me nuts.  I found 5 more BB pellets growing.  He was being a goof, sitting next to me on the sofa, wiggling and wanting me to scratch him.  I scratched on ear and then moved the the other.  Just as I was rubbing, Arri started flipping his head and pawing at his nose. At that point I felt a huge lump.  Huge being relative.  At the base of his ear, just below the entrance to the ear canal is a swollen BB about the size of a shelled almond.  It had dried blood on the end - Arri has been scratching when I wasn't looking.  I tried to get a good look but it clearly pained him.  I will try to ignore this one for a few days and see what happens.

He now has BB's on his legs, chest, belly, neck ribs, back, ear and tonight I found one starting on the top of his head.  What am I going to do with this boy.  He is like a cancer petri dish.


The other thing was that I got a copy of Arri's x-rays from Jan 2 - before he went to MSU.  I can say it is fascinating now only because Arri has recovered and is doing so well.  It was terrifying 3 weeks ago.  This x-ray was taken after over 100cc's of fluid were removed from Arri's chest.  All the white in the lower right corner - not supposed to be white. In the first x-ray, the black blob in the middle was not visible.

Overall, post Chemo treatment #2 has been good.  A little under the weather but I did not have to make meatloaf.  A little baby food gravy on his kibble and he was happy.  He still takes daily trips to the park and wants to play in the evenings.  It is almost 8:45.  I imagine he will come tell me it is bedtime soon.