Atticus' Story
by Atticus' Mom, Donna
10/20/04:
Atticus and I made a trip to the vet today to have him look at the lump on his nose and just give him a general good going-over to be sure his ears weren't acting up, etc. We're going to have the lump taken off on Nov. 1. It seems to be getting bigger and I don't want it messing up his vision or nasal cavities. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be an easy removal. I hope it's not too deep in the bone. Jim said just by feeling around on it, it's attached to the bone but nothing is evident in the roof of his mouth so that is a good sign. He was such a good boy for the exam. Almost went to sleep when they cut his nails!
He still can't use his tongue very well but his eyes are moving together at last. And he can blink the eye on the side that had the stroke. So we're making progress. I'd love to see him regain more use of his tongue. We have to be careful not to give him anything gooey like peanut butter because he can't lick it off the roof of his mouth like other dogs.
Atticus has such a glossy full coat now. Remember the pitiful little tail he had? No more. He has a very lush coat all over. It just glistens in the sun. Everywhere we go folks comment on what a beautiful dog he is.
He loves to go to Petsmart. The kids seem to gravitate toward him and he eats it up!
His LL Bean bed came tonight. Even has his name monogrammed on it. We're not too in love with this dog, are we? :) I'm convinced if you took a vote of the Best Rescue Dog ever, we'd have him! Scares me to death to think about something happening to him. He's bonded with everyone in the family. He adores my boyfriend the most. I think at heart he's a man's dog. He loves me but he worships Paul.
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to adopt Atticus. He is one in a million!!!!
Donna
11/09/04:
His surgery went well. The vet said that Atticus was one of the best natured dogs he'd ever seen - even with all the poking and prodding he still wagged that magnificent tail! However, he said the growth was attached to the bone and spreading. He got out everything he could but really felt like it was malignant. That threw me into near hysteria by the time I got home with Atticus. And my family wasn't much better about handling what the vet had said than I was.
Fortunately, he was wrong about the malignant part. It's just as you said when I adopted him - it's a chronic irritation that has grown by leaps and bounds. They're not sure what caused it but my money is on the insulation he was sleeping in. We were absolutely estatic when the biopsy came back and "Addy" didn't have cancer. Now it's a wait and see type thing. If it comes back, they'll remove it again and send it off for a different type of biopsy. I'm hoping whatever the irritation was is gone with the mass.
He was such a good boy about his pretty pink stitches. We didn't let the other dogs make fun of him over the sissy pink and we were amazed that he knew he couldn't bother the stitches. Every now and then we'd catch him raking his paw over his nose but as soon as we said "no", he quit. We went back tonight and had our stitches out. He was a gorgeous dog with the bump on his nose and now he's even more gorgeous with it removed.
He cracks us up when we come home. He's waiting at the door and he won't turn his back on us to walk into the living room. He wags his whole rear end and backs up, never taking his eyes off of whoever it is coming in (esp. if it's Paul!).
I'll come up with some pictures of him. Paul has a few on his computer and we'll get him to take some more. I know you probably get tired of hearing me say he's beautiful, but he is. His coat is so shiny that it even reflects in the dark.
Thanks so much for seeing the potential in this boy and to Becky for fostering him. He has brought us tons of happiness already.
I'd love to bring him by and let you see him. You won't believe it when you see him! :)
Donna
