Prayers for our furry friend

Katie Margaret, a.ka. Margie, in early 2007

The weekend that we first met Margie was the same weekend that Steve developed Bell's palsy, which I'm convinced was the signal (unbeknownst to us at the time) that a tumor was developing in his brain stem.

Steve recovered from Bell's palsy about a month later. A month after that, we persuaded the Scottie rescue people to allow us to adopt Margie.

(Her original name was Katie Margaret, but we already had one Katie in the house. Having two Katies -- both exploring toddlers requiring multiple redirections -- didn't seem to be a good idea. So we dropped "Katie" and shortened "Margaret" to Margie.)

Steve and Margie were inseparable. When Steve was home, Margie was by his side or at his feet or in his lap. And that was before Steve was ill.

There are all kinds of factors that kept Steve alive for 18 months after diagnosis. Margie, no doubt, was one of them.

Margie and Steve in 2008

***

Our furry Margie, who we think is 10, just like Katie, hasn't been feeling 100 percent lately. She's quicker to start panting. She's less likely to pounce and leap.

So, I took her to our vet for a checkup. Turns out, after a series of tests, there's a mass growing on Margie's liver.

Oh. The tears I have cried about that mass of unknown origin. (We don't yet know if it's malignant or benign.)

On Monday morning, Margie will undergo surgery to have the mass removed. The operation has some risks, and the surgeon has warned me of the possibility that she won't survive the surgery. And if he determines that removing it could cause irreparable damage, he won't. 

Before Cooper left for our church mission/choir trip, I warned him of this possibility. The bus is scheduled to return to Texas late Monday, hours after the surgery. (Cooper leaves for a Scout adventure 36 hours after arriving home from Florida. One of my many prayers is that Cooper will be able to visit Margie at the vet hospital before he leaves for Louisiana early Wednesday.)

Katie cried nonstop for more than an hour yesterday, after I told her the details of the surgery.  

She cried more today. In between sobs, she said, "What makes this so much worse is that it reminds me of Daddy. The doctors couldn't take out his tumor, and …"

She didn't need to finish the sentence.

***

I sure would appreciate prayers for Margie and the surgeon plus our little family. 

Margie, February 2015, enjoying a rare Texas snowstorm