Hey all... I have another Izzi update for you... She's had a few slower days lately and we sensed something was wrong. About a month ago we did some X-rays to check her legs and make sure all was well because she wasn't wanting to move much. After those came back clear we decided maybe her back is hurting. Muscle relaxers and tramadol seemed to help some. She got around very well some days and then would go way down hill other days. Nothing was making sense. After worrying and becoming more concerned over the past couple weeks I decided to make her another appointment to look into this a little further. However we didn't make it to the appointment because last night it became an urgent situation. She was in serious distress and we decided to head to the emergency vet. They pushed and pulled on all her legs and her back and got no response. Once they got to her stomach we got a little bit of a response but still nothing major. Izzi is always so stoic so it's very hard to tell exactly what's wrong. Since the stomach was the only area that seemed to get a reaction we decided on abdominal X-rays. We quickly knew exactly what was wrong. She had an enormous tumor pressing on all of her organs but the X-ray couldn't quite show where the tumor was originating from. So we came home and cuddled for the night and tried to keep her comfortable. This morning we went back for an ultrasound which revealed the tumor was attached to her spleen. There was no indication of any other tumors anywhere in her chest or elsewhere so the vet recommended immediate surgery to remove her spleen along with the tumor. Everything has happened so fast and it's all kind of a blur right now to be honest. I received a call about an hour ago letting me know she did well through the surgery. They got everything out and it looks like all her other organs are in good shape. The tumor was about the size of a softball. It had ruptured and was trying to hemorage but her body was doing a great job of keeping it contained. The vet said it was pretty amazing, which we have seen amazing things from this girl all along so that's really no surprise! She's staying in ICU tonight and tomorrow night with hopes of coming home Wednesday. I can't wait to go visit her tomorrow and give her so many kisses. I really hope she feels so much better now that this nasty thing is out of her body. As we all know, there's a very high risk of the cancer showing up somewhere else sooner than later but for now I'm hoping we'll have plenty more good days with her. Hope you all are well and I'll post updates when I can. 

Guess who is about to celebrate her 11th birthday this weekend?! And her 2 year ampu-versary! Sometimes I really can't believe it. Thinking back to 2 years ago, I had no idea we would make it this far. I don't even have words for how thankful and happy I am to be celebrating another birthday with a healthy Izzi. She really is a miracle dog. Stay tuned for birthday hat photos lol