Molly Update

Back to Letterboxing
 

6/10/06
Molly died today. We are absolutely heart broken. We loved her so much!!

6/7/06
We love Molly so much that it's hard for us to say that little can be done for her. We had a very long telephone call with Dr. Lisa Barber from Tufts Veterinary University Monday evening. She had Molly's medical records and went over everything with us but because Molly's cancer has spread so much and so quickly, there is little that can be done. They do have several clinical trials going on but Molly's chance of surviving any of the treatments would be very slim. She also spoke of chemotherapy treatments but it rarely works on the type of cancer Molly has. Molly would be very sick from the drugs and would need to stay at Tufts while under going treatment for monitoring and we would not be able to stay with her. Dr. Barber was quite honest with us on how the treatments would affect her and her chances would not be good. We couldn't bear to have her without us when she is so sick. We are going to keep Molly home with us where she will be loved and we will keep her as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. In the past week, we have seen a rapid decline in her that it's just heart breaking for us.

5/30/06
From the delay in posting a follow-up about Molly's chest x-ray, you probably already know that the news was not good. We see the vet tomorrow evening and hopefully, there will be a recommendation from Tufts for treatment. Molly is not doing well.

5/20/06
We had a rather upsetting phone call from our vet last night. I'm sure it was just as hard for him to make the call as it was for us to receive it. He received the biopsy results back from the lab and they are positive for malignant melanoma. The doctor spent quite a long time on the phone with us discussing what our options might be. Since 3 different spots are now positive for melanoma, he is going to do a chest x-ray on Monday to make sure it has not spread into her lungs. We pray that the news will be good. He is then going to consult with Tufts to see what their recommendations might be and we'll see what our treatment options, if any, might be. We just want Molly to be able to continue to lead a happy life. Even though she is shaved on both sides with stitches, she is still her normal and happy self and you would never even suspect something was wrong.

Today we did some letterboxing and one of our stops was along the Connecticut River in Hadlyme. It was difficult to keep Molly from the water but we couldn't take any chances of her going in the water and getting her stitches infected. Still, she enjoyed going out and of course, had to get her feet wet by walking in every puddle she could find. Most of the boxes we did today were "drive-bys" as we need to be careful with her stitches. The stitches are scheduled to be removed on 5/31.

5/16/06
Molly and I have been busy letterboxing and checking on our current boxes. In the past month, we've found over 50 new boxes and Molly has enjoyed going to every one. This picture was taken on 5/6/06 at one of the boxes in Colchester, CT. The picture was taken with a cell phone so it's not the best quality and Molly was pretty tired. However, today Molly is again in surgery. We found a lump under her chest near her right leg and brought her to the Vet on Friday. The vet thought it might be a cyst and inserted a needle but nothing came out. He didn't want to wait until his normal surgery day to remove the lump and arranged for us to bring her in this morning. However, on the weekend we found another lump and called the vet again. We brought her in this morning and the vet is going to remove both lumps. It's more nerve racking on us than Molly because she loves the vet and starts wagging her tail as soon as she hears his voice. The vets office called this afternoon that Molly is doing fine after surgery and we are going to pick her up at 4:30 this afternoon. They are going to send the lumps out to be biopsied so again, we need to wait and see what the results will be.

4-9-06
Since our last update on 3-25, Molly has continued to improve. Stitches have been removed and she no longer has any bandages or protection for her foot. We’ve been out on several short hikes and have started some longer ones. We did Donutz716 Easter Egg Hunt series of letterboxes in East Hampton on April 7th and The Tolland Junior Women 40th anniversary hike boxes today. She did just fine. It looks like she is going to be able to get around just like normal without her toe. She will be still be visiting the vet every so often to get her lymph nodes checked. When we had her toe amputated there was a better than 50 percent chance that the amputation got all the cancer but there still is a chance that there could be more. What we do now is keep an eye on her and bring her for regular check ups. Right now, it looks like she will be right back to normal and we will be hunting down those letterboxes.

3/25/06
We went on our first letterboxing adventure since her surgery. Our In Search Of Nessie letterbox in Mansfield has been out of order and sitting in our home waiting to be returned. On 3-25-06 we went out and replaced it.  I had her foot wrapped up in a sock because of the stitches but she behaved normally, just as though nothing was wrong. She had a great time and the box is now back in service.

3/24/06
Molly went back to the vet on 3/23/06. The vet is pleased with how her foot is healing and completely removed the bandage and also removed the stitches from her nose. However, we now need to make sure she doesn't lick her foot all the time which will be quite a challenge! She will wear her "cone hat" when we're not at home and we'll keep her foot covered by a sock when she goes out. Molly will go back in about a week to have the stitches removed from her foot and for another recheck. The vet would like to check on Molly about a month after that as he wants to check her lymph nodes on a regular basis. Molly doesn't mind going to the vet; in fact, she loves going. She can't wait to get inside to see everyone! She'll probably miss going to the vet every few days.

After her visit to the vet, we took her on a very short walk at Mansfield Hollow which she thoroughly enjoyed. This was her first walk in over a month. She seems like her old self and her missing a toe doesn't seem to bother her at all. With her good recovery, it looks like we'll be back out on the trails but only for short hikes for the time being. Molly can't wait!

3/21/06:
Molly had the surgery on 3/7/06 to have her toe amputated and the vet sent her toe out to be biopsied. Since that time, we have been back to the vet numerous times to have the bandage changed and to have the vet check on how her foot is healing. Our last visit on 3/17/06 brought the news that the biopsy was back and it was a malignant tumor. The vet thinks that since we acted so quickly and had the toe amputated, her chances of recovery are good. The vet is going to do some research and we go back to the vet again on Thursday, 3/23/06, for another bandage change and check. For those wondering, those are stitches on Molly's nose. The vet removed a small growth when she was under.

3/3/06:
As reported on the LbNA talk list by Chuck:
We haven't been doing any hiking for the past few weeks and I'm not sure when we will be out and about again. Molly has a major problem with a toe on her left paw. When we were out letterboxing the nail on her toe broke off the long way and it cut into her foot. We've been back and forth to the vet for three weeks and it just kept getting worse.  There's a bad infection and the possibility of cancer. On Tuesday she'll be having the toe amputated. The vet thinks that she should be ok in a few weeks but if something goes wrong or it takes longer, that's why we're not out boxing. Molly and I are a team and if she can't go, I don't go. So, if you're wondering where we are, we're home and I'm watching a lot of movies with Molly lying beside me. If everything works out, we'll be back again as soon as she's able.