{tobi love}

Tobi has been struggling lately. His movements have become clumbsy. He falls on our hardwood floors. He can't make it up or down stairs anymore. But while he is physically struggling he is still our same sweet loving boy and doesn't seem to be in pain. We took him back to our vet a few weeks ago to be checked out and they sent us back to the neurologist that Tobi saw several years ago when he had his spinal stroke. When the neurologist saw him he was 99% sure that Tobi had a tumor on his spine in the neck region and that this is what was impacting his coordination. Last Thursday Tobi had an MRI to confirm the doctors suspicions.

We dropped him off at the vet in the morning and he underwent a series of tests throughout the day and then in the late afternoon they transported him to Childrens Hospital for an MRI - yes, they perform pet MRI's at Children's Hospital after hours. Crazy, who knew?! What I didn't realize is how late it would be by the time we got the call to come pick Tobi up. That evening when Randall came home from work without Tobi (he usually picks him up from Puppy Camp on his way home) Kenzie was distraught. She kept walking to the back door holding Tobi's stuffed bone crying "Tooobbbi, Tooobbi!" It was heartbreaking. I knew that the girls love their four-legged brother, but I didn't realize just how deep that bond already is until I witnessed Kenzie missing her Tobi boy. Both girls love their brother but Kenzie seems especially attached to him at the moment - she showers him with spontaneous hugs and kisses throughout the day :)

That night I was able to reassure her that Tobi was just at the doctor's and that he would be home in the morning when she woke up. But it brought tears to my eyes as I thought about the results of his MRI and what the prognosis would be. How would we be able to explain that to our girls?

Thankfully we got very good news on Friday. The doctor called to say that he himself was hugely surprised to see that Tobi does not actually have a tumor at all. Instead he has a ruptured disc between his 5th and 6th vertebrate. This means he will have to have spinal surgery ... not ideal ... but his long term prognosis is much more positive.

What a relief! The girls showered their Tobi boy with lots of love this weekend to celebrate!