Phew...

Good news. Jack had no fluid on the left side of his chest and not enough to tap on the right side. Our Vet called me with the good news and then said he had heard from the vet in Texas and he wanted to meet with me to discuss the communication from her. My heart sank because I thought maybe she was not going to do the surgery. Well, she's quite a lady.

1. The surgeon on this rotation at AMTU wouldn't let her do the surgery. The option would be to wait until the next rotation (sometime in June) and risk that,  that surgeon would also decline although she knows the next surgeon and thinks she has a better chance. She listed three other possible options.

2. She trained a surgeon who is at UGA (not as a specialist in this particular surgery), but whether UGA would permit her to oversee the surgery is questionable. If she could attend the surgery whether in person or by video conference I would consider it. Again, I would pay expenses, but our vet said the school might not go for it.

3. The vet from Texas does a clinic once a month in Houston at a facility similar to the one I'm going to and she would be willing to do the surgery there.

4. She is willing to fly here to Atlanta and do the surgery at our vet's facility if the surgeons agree. Of course, I would pay her expenses for being here and the costs associated with surgery and recovery. This is my 1st choice if it can happen. If it can, aside from making Jack well, I hope it can help other dogs and cats in the area with the same condition/disease in the future.

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So, Option 4 and Option 3 are the ones our vet and I felt would be the best, with number 2 as an ace in the hole and possibly number 1 as a last resort. 

So, today is a good day. Our doctor says Jack is in optimum health. I'm so thankful I found him. He's not only good to me, but he really likes Jack. The best news of all is that Jack is not filling up as fast as was expected and remains remarkably asymptomatic. He has a dog there, now, who isn't as lucky. He had 2 litres tapped, yesterday, and was back again, today, and had filled up with another 2 litres. He isn't breathing well and his heart is suffering so his prognosis is not good. Poor pup-makes me sad and I don't even know him. 

Susan and I have to feel we've done everything we could possibly do for Jack. We felt the same about our sweet Lizzie, but in the end we couldn't let her suffer and had to let her go.

I was so excited (and hungry) that I forgot about PetSmart. Oh, well, maybe when Susan gets home. I pulled into the driveway and took some pictures. What I thought were going to be great shots weren't; evidently I had pushed the manual focus button by mistake. Once I realized it, Jack was antsy to get in to eat so was avoiding the camera as you can see.