The Story of the Bump on My Head

Note from Mommy -- this post is kind of gross, consider yourself warned.

I'm a bad blogger! I said in my last post I'd update you about some trips to the doctor, and now more than 2 months later I still haven't! In all honesty, I wrote this in September, but Mommy had to add pictures to the post for me, and she never got around to it. Bad Mommy! Go to time out!

Anyhow, here's the story. If you've been following my blog, you may remember when I went for my first doctor's appointment in May 2007 last year. I had a little bump on my head, and the doctor said it was an ingrown hair and pulled this long wad of fur out of my head. Well the bump came back, so Mommy asked my new doctor about it and she said not to worry about it unless it changed size.

Then in August, I had an ear infection. It didn't really bother me, but Mommy said it looked yucky so we needed to go to the vet's. She also said that she didn't want me to go deaf, because while I hardly listen to her now, if I was deaf I would never listen. I didn't really care because I don't know if I have told you this before, but I LOVE THE VET'S. There are other dogs there, and cats, and the people who work there pet me and give me treats and tell me how handsome I am. That place is awesome.

Anyhow, we were there for my ear, and Mommy told the vet she thought my bump was getting bigger. The vet did a biopsy, where she put a needle into my bump. I didn't cry at all until the vet left the room. I missed her! Anyhow, she said it was a sebaceous cyst, and we shouldn't worry about it. If it got bigger, or started to hurt me, they might have to take it out, but for now it was okay. So we left the vet's, went to the park and went home. Did I mention that I get to go to the park after I go to the vet's? Even on weekdays? I never get to go to the park on weekdays. I LOVE THE VET'S.

About a month later, Daddy was playing with me, and when he touched the back of my head, I whimpered because it hurt. They also noticed that my bump was getting bigger. So Mommy called the vet and made an appointment for that evening. Mommy and Daddy went to work. When Mommy came home, my bump had grown to the size of a golf ball and my entire face was swollen. She said I looked like I had been in a fist fight! Off to the vet's we went. I was so excited to be at the vet's! I was bouncing all over the place. My favorite tech was working behind the front desk and I jumped up on the counter and she gave me kisses. Mommy told me to at least try to act like there was something wrong with me so the vet wouldn't think she was crazy.

So we saw the vet, and she said that my swollen face and the bump were totally unrelated. I probably got stung by a bug, which made my face swell, and somehow my bump had gotten infected. She gave me an antibiotic for the bump and an antihistamine for the swelling. Then we went to the park! It was fun!

The next morning, I scratched my head because it itched. Daddy examined my bump and said that there was a little blood coming out of it. Mommy called the vet and they said to keep watching it, if it kept oozing to call back later. Mommy decided to take the day off of work to keep me company. She wouldn't let me scratch my head, but it really itched. Finally, she turned her back on me and I started to scratch. Mommy turned around, yelled "No!" and all of a sudden my paw was all sticky and my head felt a little better. The sticky stuff on my paw was all over the room. Mommy shut the door so I couldn't leave the room and got a washcloth to get the sticky stuff off my head and paws. I tried to lick it. I wanted to know what it tasted like. Mommy called the vet and they said I could come over right away. I was thrilled, I got to go to the vet's again! We went and the doctor shaved my head and squeezed the sticky stuff out of my head and shot some steroids into my bump. It didn't hurt at all. Then we went to the park AGAIN. BEST. WEEK. EVER.

Then on Saturday, Mommy noticed my head was still swollen. The vet had said that it shouldn't be swollen anymore. Mommy was cleaning the part of my head where the sticky stuff had come out and more sticky stuff started oozing out! The vet was closed, so Mommy pressed on it to try to get as much stuff out as she could. She said it was gross. It didn't hurt, so I didn't mind. Then as she was cleaning out the gunk, a big clump of fur came out! Mommy almost threw up, but I thought it was cool! Turns out I did have an ingrown hair and it had been growing and growing for a year and that's what caused the sebaceous cyst.

So, after that, the swelling went down. My head healed fast because I was a good boy and didn't scratch it. My fur grew back so I'm no longer bald. Mommy says that she can feel the ingrown hair coming back, but it's not so bad. Doctor says if it gets infected again, I might have to have surgery so it never comes back again. But for now, we'll wait it out to see what happens.

In all, I thought this whole ordeal was very exciting and fun. I got lots of attention, got to go to the vet's a bunch of times, got to go to the park a bunch of times...it was great. Mommy says it was not fun and she was very worried...but I'm all better now and she and the vet aren't worried any more.

My first doctor's visit

Today I had a doctor's appointment. When mom came home from work we got in the car and drove to the vet's. I was wild in the car, moving from the back seat, to the front seat, to the back seat...Mom says it was lucky the vet is only 5 minutes away from our house.

Once we got to the vet they made me get on a scale. I weigh 69 pounds! After that, we sat in the waiting room. There were a lot of cats at the vet's, but I didn't bother any of them. They were all in crates, and I wasn't, so I just laughed at them because I was free and they weren't.

Then we went into another room and doctor came in. He was very nice. He said he had a golden retriever just like me. Mom says it's good that he has golden retrievers because then he'll understand me. Doctor said he couldn't understand why my original parents would give away a great dog like me. Mom was right, doctor does get me!

Doctor looked in my mouth, in my ears and up my nose, felt my tummy and listened to my heart. He said I was perfectly normal. Then he gave me three shots. The first two were in my scruff and they didn't hurt, the last was in my bum and that hurt a little.

Mom asked doctor about a bump I've had on my head since before I moved to Pittsburgh. She said some people thought it was a tick, and it had gotten bigger in the last week and a half. Doctor squeezed it and pulled out a big clump of fur. He said it was an ingrown piece of fur. It was over an inch long! And it was thick! Mom said it was gross. I tried to eat it. Mom said that was even grosser.

Then doctor took me into a different room away from mommy, and they gave me another shot. This one really hurt! Mom said they put a microchip under my skin so if I ever get lost, mom and dad would be able to find me. Which is good because I don't want to lose mom and dad, but still...ouchies.

Doctor says I don't have to come back for another year. I'm glad, because even though doctor was nice to me, the shots hurt!