Tending the Wounded

As we get older, there are milestones we come to in our journey through life. This week I came to another one when I had to accompany my Lovely Bride to the dermalogist's office for something called a "Mohs" micrographic procedure to remove a cancer from her face. One of the inherent problems with being blonde, fair of complexion and living in a sun-drenched environment such as Texas, is that skin cancers become a matter of when...not if. She has always had a multitude of adorable and highly interesting freckles, but this was just a spot at the corner of her eye next to her nose which her glasses kept irritating. The process entailed cutting away the visible tumor and examining the edges, or margins, of the mass to see if there was any cancer there. If there was, the knife came back out, more tissue was cut away, and the microscopic examination conducted again. This ensures all the cancer is removed along with the minimum amount of healthy tissue. Once the margins are found to be free of cancer cells, it is just a matter of stitching the patients face back together. One problem with this procedure is the time involved...for the LB it was a little under five hours, and I aged a lot more than that as I waited and held her hand. Two days later, other than some bruising and an itchy incision, there aren't many obvious signs she had anything done.

She decided to stay home from work Friday to rest and recuperate a little. While home, she passed the time by taking some photos of some of her house critters, including one chronically whiny cat named Oliver. Oliver has been with us since birth, and has had an interesting existence which once included a trip to a feline orthopedist for hip surgery after an ill-timed encounter with an over-enthusiastic Labrador puppy.

Saturday, Oliver didn't appear until late in the afternoon. He acted pretty embarrassed, and was sporting a very swollen and bruised nose. Didn't seem to be in much pain, but the question on our minds was what did he get tangled up with? All I can think of is maybe he got himself kicked or stepped on by a cow while roaming through one of the neighboring pastures. What else could give a cat a bloody nose while doing little other damage? Anyone have any ideas, please send them along.

These pictures of Oliver were taken Friday and Saturday afternoons.