I am very happy to report that sweet Oliver has had his major surgeries and is doing well.   Each procedure was very complicated and entailed a very skilled surgeon that knew how to adapt to all of the unknowns coming from the tumors.   Poor Oliver's lips were a mess from the tumors bursting and then still growing.   Once the tumors were removed, Dr. Nanfelt then had to do very creative plastic surgery to put his lips back together.   The results were amazing and will enable Oliver to use his mouth to eat and drink without any issues.  

Oliver's eyes were terribly infected when he arrived.  They are flushed daily, and Antibiotic Treatment has begun.    He already looks like a new dog.   I guess you could say that dear Oliver had a face lift so to speak.

The other major hurdle was removing the enormous lymph node that was connected to the mouth tumors.   Oliver looked like he had swallowed a bowling ball when he first arrived.  He now looks more normal with swelling around the area of the neck where the lymph node was removed.  That should go down over the next week.

The third procedure was removing the massive bladder stone that was causing him to be so uncomfortable.   Oliver did not have the ability to hold his urine for any length of time because the stone was putting constant pressure on his bladder.   He is doing much better this morning without the stone taking up all of the room in his bladder.

The preliminary biopsy results have come in, and it appears Oliver has Oral Melanoma which is a form of cancer.   The cancer had already spread to the large lymph node that was removed.   Once Oliver is feeling better, he will see the Oncologist to determine if Chemotherapy would be appropriate for him.    We have already spoken to several Oncologists, and they each think he would benefit from Chemo to stop the cancer from going any further and to do our best to prevent more tumors from developing.   His final biopsy report will help us determine the best course of action for him.

As you can see from the picture, dear Oliver is finally getting comfortable walking on grass.  I am not sure what his issues were with it in the beginning, but he seems to be enjoying his new Life with the Hospital Staff during his recovery.    Learning to trust has been a big issue for Oliver since we first took him into our program.  The good news is that he is very food motivated and will do just about anything for a tasty treat.

Oliver has already gained four pounds since he has been in the hospital.   He is so thin that he does not even look like a Rottweiler, but he is.   Over the next two months, he should be able to regain a lot of his weight back or at least begin to look like a big beautiful Rottie.  Oliver will be getting lots of TLC during the next couple of months while he is being treated.   He has come so far in the last week that we are very hopeful we can slow down his cancer and give him lots of time to heal and love Life.   His bills will be on-going for the next couple of months.  Any Donation is greatly appreciated to help us pay his Medical Bills as they come in.

Thanks for caring and making his Journey to Heal and find Love, possible.  We greatly appreciate your Love and Support.