Xander Has a Mass

Dr. Sox from the Veterinary Emergency + Referral Center (VERC) called me today; the initial ultrasound showed a mass on Xander's small intestine. They did a needle biopsy later in the day to determine whether it is a lymphoma or a mast cell tumor. The sample was sent to a California lab this evening, results should be back by the end of tomorrow. After we get the results, we will review treatment options & the prognosis for each. The Roommate Who Is Learning to Give Xander His Meds and I went to visit him before dinner, but he was still out of it. We went back for the late visiting hours that start at 9 pm and Xander was doing better.

Xander at 5:30 pm.

Xander at 9:30 p,.

There were 2 nice watercolors in Room 3 where we visited Xander. It had really well done use of negative space.

The entire painting.

Close-up showing the use of the negative spaces.

Before we went to see Xander, we stopped at Coldfyyre, which is just a 1 minute walk from VERC. The Roommate Who Is Learning to Give Xander His Meds got a scoop of Ala Wai Mud Pie and Big Island Chocolate Truffle and I got a scoop of Big Island Chocolate Truffle. He got a pint of Pali Rocky Road for The Potential Most Favorite Roommate. We put the pint in a cooler with lots of ice packs since The Potential Most Favorite Roommate was meeting us after work at VERC.

List of ice cream flavors.

Ice cream cake.

And they had more than just ice cream and ice cream cakes. They also had lunch type food as well as pastries.



I got the call from Dr. Sox while I was on my morning walk at Maunalani Park while Dad was in the Namaste session; I have little more than an hour of free time when he is there. I was glad I was on the walk, I discovered the park has a play structure with recycled rubber surface under it that is great for walking. I must have walked around it a dozen times during the phone call with Dr. Sox and the follow-up call with Kai.

Play structure with recycled rubber surface.

The field I walk around.

The tennis and basketball courts.

As I was leaving I saw a bunch of LBBs; but this time I was close enough to see a bunch of detail. I recognized 3 of the birds immediately: Saffron Finches, 2 males & a female. There was 1 other species in the mixed flock that was going through the short grass. The other birds were smaller and had orange splotches around their eyes; they were Common Waxbills. On the way in I also saw the flock of Java Sparrows. There was also a Red-crested or Brazilian Cardinal.

Two male Saffron Finches (Sicalis flaveola).

Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild).

Red-crested or Brazilian Cardinal (Paroaria coronata).

Dad likes the Namaste sessions, I think because he can sleep through them. He had no problem with being there today. I helped Kathryn by watching Dad & the other residents while she went to get more of them that requested the session.


Dad was already up and seated for breakfast in the 2nd floor dining room when I arrived; he wouldn't eat the solids, just the liquid supplements. We went to the Castle Living Room to watch the morning news, then Dad sat through the group exercises. I did more exercising than Dad! He sat in the 2nd floor dining room for lunch, but only drank the Boost supplements. This time he swallowed the dronabinol (Marinol). I need to find out how long the dronabinol takes to start working.