THIS is a feline brain surgery survivor, who is now tumour free.
When we got Diesel's diagnosis, we thought "That's it. We only have a few more weeks left with our furry friend."
But it turns out, Diesel's meningioma was in an accessible location, and that many cats do well after this type of surgery. Given Diesel's age, though, and prior health conditions, he only had a 50-60% chance of surviving the operation, and given the expense, this was by no means an easy decision for us.
But we watched him carefully for a while, and even though it was obvious he was very ill, it was also obvious that Diesel wasn't quite ready to quit this mortal coil. He was initiating play. He was interested in us and the world around him. We couldn't ask him if he wanted to stay, and he couldn't tell us in words, but he told us in other ways.
And as my vet said: it all comes down to what you will regret the least.
So on Tuesday, Diesel went in for surgery, and I spent that whole day looking at my phone as if it was a snake ready to strike.
So far, Diesel has been living up to our instincts about him: he was eating solid food the morning after the surgery. He's up and about and when I picked him up at the hospital today, he managed to scamper onto a chair before the nurse and I could think to prevent him from hurting himself. He hasn't been complication free, but so far, everything's manageable. The tumour was benign, so there's no metastasis to worry about. He's not out of the woods yet, and has a long period of rest and recuperation ahead of him.
But Diesel is home now. And I am his very happy (and broke) person.
A great big thank you goes out to Dr. Mike Higgins and all the nurses at Canada West Veterinary. They are awesome.
