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 Chapter 1 ~ November 2003
This isn't good. The tumor is back. Pinche's regular vet, Dr. Long suggests I take him to the Animal Specialty Group in Glendale. I know the center well -- about five years ago they helped me with my dog Pepito who also had cancer. I make an appointment to see the same specialist, Dr. Ayl.
To Pinche, this is just another car trip and visit to a place where they have bowls of water on the floor and nice ladies who give you milk bones. He sits in the once quiet lobby and talks...to everyone. His speaking consists of a variety of yelps, barks, moans and groans -- these are good "groans" mind you, not the painful kind. In less than five minutes he has upset every dog in the waiting room, spilt water on the floor and ate 4 milk bones. Life is good.....if you're Pinche-Perro. Dr. Ayl was the patient and caring doctor I remembered him to be. Since this is a recurrence, he explained that I need to get an MRI done -- so that the surgeons can see how far down the tumor is and if it's attached to any other body parts. He mentioned words like 'metastasized, melanoma, carcinoma', etc...the words you know you understand but don't really want to. X-rays are done and this first visit is over. Grand total for today: $315.67 A few milk-bones later and after peeing on all of the doctor's trees, we were on our way home. Pinche is hanging out the window and the wind's blowing those dog hairs all over. Life is good.
Michael Jackson is in trouble. And so am I. After being arrested in Santa Barbara, the King of Pop flew back to Sin City. I mean, what better way to show the world that you are just a normal guy who's being framed, than to take people, police and press on a three-hour car ride thru Vegas. So what does the gloved one have to do with the furry one? Not much except that Pinche's MRI is tomorrow and being the big breaking news story that this is, I am leaving to Vegas today. Thank goodness for Pinche's buddy Dan-Dan who has graciously volunteered to make the two hour car trip from the Valley to Orange County at 8 o'clock on a Friday morning. I can hear Pinche now.
While I am off chasing Michael, Pinche and his buddy are parked on the 5-South. For Pinche, any day that there's a car ride is a good day. I'm told he was a big hit on the freeway / parking lot. Dan-Dan says he saw people waving at the dog. No word on if Pinche waved back. (and my friend Fauniel thought she was strange because she smiled at dogs) Doctors at the Advanced Veterinary Medical Imaging center in Tustin say that an MRI won't cut it. Pinche needs a Cat-Scan. (there's a joke about a dog and a cat-scan, isn't there?) The procedure takes all day because they had to sedate him. Dan-Dan returns to Tustin in the afternoon to make what turns into a three-hour trip back home. Three hours from Tustin to the SF Valley. Even Pinche got tired of hanging out the window and the whole concept of car rides. The bill for all of this reads like something from Cedars-Sinai Hospital. IV, catheter, male adapter plug (that sounds like something they sell at Circuit City), anesthetic, Radiology, etc, etc, etc... Grand total for today: $826.50 Christmas has just been canceled.
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