Official diagnosis

So my mom took me to the specialist yesterday to remove the stitches in my ear and to learn more about the details of the results of my biopsy. My official diagnosis is "chronic granulomatous and necrotizing dermatitis with epidermal ulceration and serocellular crusting." Wow! Isn't that a mouthful!! The specialist translated it to my mom (and to me)! Essentially, she said some of my cells are dying. As they looked the various layers of my skin/tissue (or dermis) she said it showed first inflammation, then hemorrhaging then eventually dying. They weren't able to see any cancer cells or any living organisms other than secondary bacterial infection. She said she has seen granulomatous but has never seen it isolated to the ears or a particular area. She admitted this is the first time she has seen anything like this. So the the not so good news is that they still don't really know what's causing the bumps on my ear. The doctor did say she thinks that there's something going on with my immune system. The plan for now is to keep me on this one of kind antibiotics to see if it helps. I'll be on it for 2 more weeks. If that doesn't help then she wants to try another antibiotic. And if that doesn't work then we need to discuss some other possible next steps, including steroids (which mom isn't too thrilled about!).

For now, it doesn't bother me and I don't mind my cute little cauliflower ears :) The kids I work with don't mind it either. Yesterday while volunteering at The Lab with this great group of 3 kids, I got lots of hugs. I showed them that I now know how to "high five" which they really liked! This one kid said I smelled good and that my coat was so shiny! [Many thanks to Pampered Pooch Playground and auntie Jenny for letting me come in for Spa Day on Sunday]. A couple of the kids also got to carry my pal Sharpie .... me??? i'm a little too big for them to carry!

And don't forget! If you want to learn more about what it takes to become a Pet Partner team so you can join Sharpie and myself in the volunteer work we do in the community, sign up for the informational session this coming Saturday, 1/30 from 1 - 2 PM. For more info you can check out the Pet Haven blog.