YOU NEED TO READ THIS.

in FURIOUSLY HAPPY

So.  The vet at A&M called with Dottie’s test results.  You’ll want to read this.

Her CT scan showed that weird thickening of the bladder but nothing that looked like a mass or lesion and there was no sign of cancer in her bones or lymph nodes other doggie pieces.

The cystoscopy showed a bladder that looked pretty dang healthy.  They did a biopsy of the places that were thickening and they came back negative for cancer.

So what does that mean?  It either means that either the cancer is so early that it’s tiny and that means that we have more time with her…or that the initial cancer test that is almost never wrong was wrong and that she doesn’t have cancer at all.

Either way?  WHOOP!

They’re going to meet with the people who invented the first test this week to get a better idea of whether to keep treating her for cancer or not.

I don’t know about you but I needed some good news this week and I’m certainly counting this as a win.  CAN I GET AN AMEN?

THESE PIPES ARE CLEEEEEAN!

 

444 thoughts on “YOU NEED TO READ THIS.”

Read comments below or add one.

  21. AMEN! Hallelujah! and all those things!
    So happy for Dottie and all the family! 💜

  23. Amen! I needed that news almost as much as you did. That’s so great. Just Really happy for you all.

  28. Amen! So happy for you and Dottie and your family. And us, because we are all rooting for you

  31. Very happy for you, Dottie, and the fam. I had to put my beloved cat of 11 years to sleep this morning, so I needed some good news.

  32. Hallefuckinlujah! What a good way to start the week. Love to you and your family (pets too!)

  33. That is great news!!!! This made my day! Our fur babies are so precious! 😊❤️

  34. OH MY BUDDHA I’m so stoked to hear this news!!!!! Yay Dottie!!!! Yay Jenny!!! I’m so happy for you all!! Happy tears all over the place!!!

  35. Aww! Sweet Dorothy Barker! My pup basically had a mastectomy in April. Her little tumor was cancerous. I have her on doggie cbd oil now and what felt like another little teeny tumor has vanished! Highly recommend cbd for pups!

  39. Oh, thank goodness!!! Losing a part of your family (even the ones with four legs and fur – or maybe especially those?) is always wrenching. So glad this particular hurt is delayed indefinitely!

  41. This is such wonderful news whichever way it is, Jenny! I really needed a win today and I’ll take this one for sure!

  42. It’s times like this when I don’t mind that annoying LEGO song getting stuck in my head… “Everything Is Awesome!”!!!!

  55. Did you pray to James Garfield? ‘Cause you just got a miracle, baby! So happy for the Lawson clan.

  57. This is amazing news! I hope it’s a case of the test was just completely wrong.

  58. Just when you were holding your breath, you can finally let out a sigh of relief. Woohoo!

  63. YAY! BACON FOR EVERYONE! (and margaritas, obvs). I’m so happy for you!

  64. Amazing news! Hooray for you and hooray for lots more Dorothy Barker stories. Now play your ringtone so she can sing the song of her people! 🙂

  65. Amen! Also, I love the fact that they put all of her sweet names on the X-ray. No chances of mistakes here!

  67. As i sit here with tears in my eyes – too many reasons to count today – this is something that made me smile:) Courageous Dot and her sidekick Jenny have saved the day once more!

  70. Fantastic news!! So glad to have good news on a Monday!
    ❤️🐾❤️🐾

  71. After a really terrible month, this is such great news. I’m so happy for you, Dottie and the rest of your family. ❤️

  75. Doing a happy dance around my studio!! It’s ridiculous and too big for my small space and I may have knocked a few things over (oopsie🤪), but I’m so happy for all of you and I love a good (and needed) pick me up!

  81. WONDERFUL NEWS, either way!!! Sending love to you all. Your poor hearts have been through the wringer! I hope that it was a false positive and Dorothy Barker has many more dog years left.

  82. So, if this is very early stage (I hope there’s absolutely zero cancer cells, but walk with me)… what does your vet say about CBD oil for dogs? Just wondering. I’m a cancer survivor, so I certainly hope Dottie doesn’t have to deal with that crapola.

  93. YAY!!!! Best news I’ve heard in quite some time! I’m so, so happy to hear it! She still gets all the cuddles and bed-jumps though, right? 🙂

  94. Yay!! That is pretty damn good news! I’m so happy for you guys.
    Jenn

  95. YES!!!! This is the best news! GO DOTTIE! Thank you for this wonderful news! ❤️

  96. YAY, yay, YAY!!! That is the very best news of the day and I am so HAPPY for Dottie and her family! XOXOXO

  106. 🙏 AMEN !!! I am so happy for you all. Now you can finally take a good deep breath and celebrate. I’m so happy for your good news.

  108. Something happy…thank you for sharing! We all needed a little hope today!

  109. Great news Jenny. Now it’s a matter of watching and waiting and hoping the malignant cells never appear in Dottie’s bladder (or anywhere else).

  114. I so to remember that you have to be religious to give an “amen”, so I won’t do that as it wouldn’t mean anything, but the general sentiment is all there. That’s amazing news. It appears that boopsies give good results….

  127. YES! YAY!!!!! I am very happy for both of you, please give Dorothy some extra snuggles for me.

  133. Awesome news for Dorothy Barker “Dottie” Lawson and her family! (Seeing her name spelled out on the CT scan made me smile. :-))

  137. Yay-hooray! I DID need to read that! Tell her “arf” from me. <3

  139. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! I am so happy to hear this that I am crying happy tears! Please give Dorothy Barker a hug from me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  141. What a rollercoaster ride of emotions for all of you to go through. I hope for the best of news once they docs can figure out what is going on.

  150. Honey, you can get an amen AND a ‘Wahoo!!’ I had a cat who was failing and I took her to my vet clinic; the vet who saw her remembered an obscure lecture he had attended when he was A&M, asked me to hang out, and called the professor. Amazingly, the man was there, remembered the lecture and told my vet what to do. We did (for a lot of $$, but damn, I loved this cat), and it resulted in three more years with her… so my respect for Texas A&M knows no bounds! Nobody makes Aggie jokes around me- even though we’re up here in CT.

  152. I’m happy for you and I don’t mean to alarm you, but I’m pretty sure there’s a squid growing in your dog. I mean, I’m not a radiologist, so it could be an alien that looks like a squid, but I’m pretty sure it’s not good to have either kind of squid growing in your dog. 😉 Congratulations on a healthy doggo!

  153. Extrordinanairily fantastic news! Congrats on the reason to celebrate hugely!

  154. AMEN! WHAT GREAT NEWS!

    I’m so happy to hear something good. Sorry for yelling. 😊

  155. Fukkin’A-MEN!!!! I hope you don’t mind I’m gratuitously enjoying your good news, because I really needed a pick-up today. Dorothy Barker FTW!!!

  157. This was the best news for a moody Monday—amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your life with us—it helps so much! Much love to all of you!

  162. Amen and AMEN! You’re still going to let her jump on the bed and sing to “Ringtone”, right??
    Fantastic news!!!

  163. Aw, so happy for you guys! Dottie is a very good girl and she deserves the most time possible on this big blue marble.

  172. Awesome, so good to hear she’s not as unwell as was thought and is hopefully completely well. I’m so glad for you all, you get more time, more fun and joy and more appreciation of just how incredibly precious life is.

  176. Woo Hoooooooo! Great news!! So happy for all of you and for that sweet girl!!

  184. Yipeeee.. However I am concerned about that test… I certainly hope the 1st vet didn’t get the lab results mixed up and there is some other little doggie going untreated. Sorry but it just popped into my head and I have to take action on those thoughts. I’ve learned this through the years. Happy high fives for Dottie and you!!

  185. BLTs, margaritas, and multitudes of amens of Joy! More blessings upon all of you!

  190. This is amazing news that I most definitely needed. ❤️❤️❤️

  191. Oh, I am so happy about this. Dottie’s cancer diagnosis broke my heart. Now, I’m almost sick with relief. Give her a hug for me.

  195. AMEN!!! What excellent news. You are right, we could sure use some.

    Hugs,

    Cyndi in Seattle

  197. AMEN indeed! Also, I like that the scan says “Lawson, Dorothy Barker ‘Dottie’.”

  206. Oh that’s wonderful news! All fingers remain crossed for her and you all xx

  208. Super good for you for being persistent and getting more information. Here is one possible explanation. She had cancer when she took the test. We, (your peeps) all started sending her healthy happy energy and so her body just decided to get on top of those cancer cells and get rid of them. It could happen. 🙂

  211. Hip hip HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😁😁😁

    Jenny!!! Yippppeee!!!! So very very very happy about this latest development! Pretty please keep us updated about the results of this latest meeting! I could see sweet little Dottie being the false positive unicorn that breaks the test. 👍👍
    Going to keep praying for the little precious one! So happy for you and the whole family!!!

  213. R’amen! That is the very best news of the day. Way to pre-emptively kick cancer’s butt Dottie!! ❤😆

  214. R’amen! That’s the best news all day. Way to pre-emptively kick cancer’s butt, Dottie!

  215. AMEN!!!! Wonderful news!! Dottie is such a beautiful, sweet fur baby. Hope you have many more years with her.

  220. Amen

    My good news: 3 weeks ago I got a hip replacement. Today I drove to the grocery. Can walk a little without cane. I’m sending Dottie Reiki healing. Miracle healing for me. Here it comes dog 🐕

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

  225. You can get a whole TON of Amens as well as some Hallelujahs and a couple of Thank you Flying Spaghetti Monsters just in case! That is WONDERFUL news!!!

  226. FUCK YES!!!

    Maybe you should call this Schrodinger’s cancer..because it is either cancer or it’s not but it’s probably both at the same time.

  228. AMEN AND HALLELUJAH!!!!!!! Fingers crossed that Dottie is that rare time that the 1st test was wrong, but either way that’s wonderful news!

  236. HALLE-FREAKING-LUJAH. Any time there’s good news, particularly about an animal, I’m a happy camper. Give her a treat or many treats from me.

  239. HALLELUJAH!!!
    I’m overjoyed for you, if there really is such a thing. It’s easy to forget that sometimes tests are wrong. Doing a happy dance for you all.

  240. Amen and Hallelujah! Thanks for sharing the Awesome news. Now go love that little lady LOTS!

  246. So happy for you and your family. We all need some good news this week!!!!

  260. I’m crying over a dog I never met and I feel like these are the most important tears of the week

  262. So, so happy for you and for Dottie! This is cause for serious celebration.

  263. I can’t tell you how much I needed good news today. This is awesome!!

  270. I confess-I prayed for your puppy.

    And this news right here made me tear up. Yes it’s wonderful amazing news! I needed it today 🙂

  282. Dottie for the win!!!! So great to read this with everything else going on in the world. Hugs to Dottie!!!

  283. This made me so happy for that I am now crying. On the bus. Come on, Dottie!!!!!!❤❤❤❤❤

  290. AAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNN, Jenny!

    (We lost our doggie last month (on my bday), so I”m glad your story is working out much better.)

  292. I just listened to a This America Life podcast where no one told the grandma (this is set in China) that she has stage 4 lung cancer and three months to live …. and she was still alive three or four years later … maybe you’re doing q great job washing out sorrow with joy. Either way, I’m so happy you get more time with your baby!

  294. I’m thrilled for you, your family, and Dottie!!! Has to be such a relief. Celebrate!

  295. Heck, yes, AMEN!! Thanks for this great news! A nice start to the week. Hugs to Dorothy B. and you all.

  296. My old girl had a thickening of the bladder wall, which was found when they did an ultrasound during a UTI. Was told it was most likely cancer. Some bad cells were found. My vet said she still wasn’t sure. She pushed off a biopsy & asked me to trust her. She was right. Infection was so severe it was showing up on the ultrasound. I’m hoping it’s something as easily treatable for you! ❤

  297. My old girl had a thickening of the bladder wall, which was found when they did an ultrasound during a UTI. Was told it was most likely cancer. Some bad cells were found. My vet said she still wasn’t sure. She pushed off a biopsy & asked me to trust her. She was right. Infection was so severe it was showing up on the ultrasound. I’m hoping it’s something as easily treatable for you! ❤

  302. That is wonderful news! Thanks for sharing something happy with us, though we’re here for the not-happy, too.

  305. I was going to reply to the last entry, but I was so stricken with vicarious pet grief that I couldn’t. Now I can…I’m so, so happy for you and your wonderful family.

  307. Amen!!! Celebrate this wonderful, wonderful news. Dottie can jump on allll the beds 🙂

  312. totally worth the mega scroll down the comments to express a resounding amen and thanks be to Dottie’s creator for inexplicable healing. Love moves moutains.

  317. Amen! Hallelujah! Thank you for sharing this, Jenny. Positive vibes, only!

  320. My grandfather from Topeka once told me that medicine is not a settled science. He also told me it was not rocket science. And, also the one about rolling stones. Amen to you.

  323. Saying a million Amens for you all!! Awesome news!! I will continue to send the good vibes your way! Yay, Dottie!!!

  327. AMEN!!!! 🙂 This a good thing. A very, very good thing. Still sending you guys lots of love because right now I’m spreading that shit around like glitter. So I guess I’m sending you glitter love, but in a completely appropriate way. This was so needed, Jenny, and tonight I’m crying good tears for the first time in 3 days.

  331. AMEN AND AMEN AND HALLELUYAH SISTER! This is AMAZING news and I’m so very very happy for you and your family! Who says miracles don’t happen any more!!! YAY!! I’M DANCING LIKE A MONKEY** !!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

    ** From INVADER ZIM

  332. I’m so very happy for you and Dottie! Last week our senior dog developed a fast-growing tumour on her eye. She already had a small tumour there, but it was so slow-growing as to be of no concern. The sudden rapid growth was worrying though – if it continued she would certainly have eye damage and infections, possibly leading to major surgery. A preemptive operation was indicated, which would be no big deal for a younger dog. The problem: you need anesthesia for surgery, and the risks of anesthesia increase as dogs get older. For a senior dog, there’s a good chance of simply not waking up. On our vet’s recommendation, we took her home under observation in the hopes that the growth would stop. It didn’t, and even worse, it started to bleed. Profusely. We called the vet on saturdy, who told us to keep it disinfected (having special-needs animals means we have an extensive collection of veterinary medicines on hand) and give it until Monday – and to come in if things got worse in the meantime. The bloodflow slowed by Saturday evening, so we waited. Sunday was full of treats and snuggles, because we knew there was a good chance Monday would bring surgery that she might not survive.

  334. Monday morning came. There were tears.Hugs, but no treats, because we couldn’t risk any food in her stomach if she needed surgery. A long slow walk, just her and me, in the cemetery that she loves to explore. And finally, a visit to our lovely vet. She gave Eva scritches and looked her eye. “It looks great”, she proclaimed, “I was worried that it would look much worse than it does.” So what happened? Instead of witnessing rapid growth in a tumour, what we saw was a blood-blister that had formed atop the smaller bump. Probably because Eva, in her inherent clumsiness, had knocked into something face-first. What we took for a massive blood-flow was just the blister emptying. Our disinfection efforts kept infection away, and now she just has a cool scar that all the chicks will love. She’s still very old, and we will lose her someday, but today is not that day.

  335. Monday morning came. There were tears.Hugs, but no treats, because we couldn’t risk any food in her stomach if she needed surgery. A long slow walk, just her and me, in the cemetery that she loves to explore. And finally, a visit to our lovely vet. She gave Eva scritches and looked her eye. “It looks great”, she proclaimed, “I was worried that it would look much worse than it does.” So what happened? Instead of witnessing rapid growth in a tumour, what we saw was a blood-blister that had formed atop the smaller bump. Probably because Eva, in her inherent clumsiness, had knocked into something face-first. What we took for a massive blood-flow was just the blister emptying. Our disinfection efforts kept infection away, and now she just has a cool scar that all the chicks will love. She’s still very old, and we will lose her someday, but today is not that day.

  340. Wish I looked as dainty and elegant as Dorothy’s insides do in scanners and MRI.Love Dottie, love you, Jenny.

  341. Best news ever. Actually the best news would be that the test that is almost never wrong, is wrong, I am so happy for you. No one wants their precious baby sick and hurting.

  343. AMEN!!! So glad you took Dottie for another opinion!!
    You must be a pretty happy dog mom right now❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

  350. Oh yay! This makes me furiously happy!! Funny , my counselor and I were talking about Dottie and her results and my husband was completely confused! I love being able to talk to my counselor about you and how helpful your books and this blog are. They help so, so much!

    Melissa

  358. Great news. Sounds like you had an incredible team of veterinarians! ‘Bless you all.

  360. Very happy for you and your baby Dottie. A&M has an amazing veterinary school. Headed there on Sunday to drop off my baby(not my puppy, my daughter Taylor) for her senior year. Did you know that one of the vet buildings is suppose to be haunted!!!! Just a little FYI. LOL

  365. So glad for the good news.
    I love how her entire given name is printed on her x-ray, just to make sure they don’t get her mixed up with a different “Dottie”.
    Give that good girl extra treats and belly rubs!

  376. I don’t know if this has been asked before, but what is the false-positive rate of the test? It may be very good at diagnosing cancer but every test will have a certain number of positive diagnosis that are actually not cancer.

  377. Can you have the initial test redone? I once had a screening come back that gave me some very distressing medical news. It was a test, like Dottie’s, that has a very low false positive rate too. After a million other tests were done that contradicted the first bad news test, they repeated the first test. Twice. It was negative both times. Turns out the first one was a lab error. Might be worth having a repeat test done on Dottie too

  379. This good news comes at the perfect time! I’m so happy!! I’m hoping that the test was wrong and that she gets an easy peasy fix and all is well!!

    Also, absolutely LOVE that her full name is on her X-Rays!! It’s too cute to handle!!

  383. Fantastic news! Some assays are very very good but can still give not good results due to the person running them, the temp in the lab, the lab fairies being grumpy on a particular day. So glad things are looking up for Dot and the family <3

  385. Hot diggety dog!!!!!
    Dorothy Barker is the Chuck Norris of dogs. She defeats cancer before it is cancer!
    Way cool. And I am so happy for her and her humans.😁

  386. This might be what happens when all the nice peoples think nice thoughts at you… Or it could just be you are awesome and so’s Dottie and y’all deserve this… Or maybe it’s just dumb luck. Regardless take it and run and thank your lucky stars. Hooray for happy news!

  387. That’s great! One thing to keep in mind about medical tests that is not always clear, is that a 98% accurate test often doesn’t mean that 98% of the patients tested are accurately diagnosed. The critical thing is to make sure that everybody who does have the condition is correctly diagnosed, even if that means that you get a boatload of false positives. (Because the consequences of being incorrectly diagnosed “negative” is that someone doesn’t get necessary treatment, and the consequence of being incorrectly diagnosed “positive” is emotional trauma and having to have additional tests, but not life-threatening.) So a 98% accurate test means that 98% of patients that actually have cancer get diagnosed with cancer, but it could be the case that 10% or 25% or 40% of patients that don’t have cancer test with a false positive. So if they did a second test and didn’t find anything, that’s great news, and makes it that much more likely that the first test was a false positive, and the fact that the first test has a high accuracy rate doesn’t automatically mean that it doesn’t have a high false positive rate. Anyway, I’ll be thinking of you all and hoping for the best!

  392. CT tech here. The thickened bladder wall can sometimes indicate infection, although in this case no stranding is present, so that’s probably not the case. Probably just a benign growth of some sort, like a papilloma?

    Everyone hates a know-it-all, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to use my professional expertise on something other than a human.

    Also, the gray and black areas directly above the bladder are poo and air. Lots of poo. Get that doggy an enema :p.

  394. This is fab-fippin-tastic!!! I just knew she had much much more time on this Earth with you and your family!! Love, love, love!!! 🥰🐶

  399. Yes, Amen, Jenny! Everyone loves Dottie so much. She is the dog of dogs (and I’m really a cat person!)

  402. AMEN AND AMEN AND WOOF AND AMEN!!! (Also, omg Schrödenger’s cancer. Best. Internet Diagnosis. Ever. 50% of the time. Maybe.)

  404. Hi, genetics is a dodgy business. Is it possible Dottie’s braf positive is beccancer meds can be very toxic.what about some pain meds and watchful waiting?ause of benign hyperplasia? Seems entirely possible. Hang in there.

  408. And let’s hope that it’s an AMEN to future health issues for her, too! So, YAY to all of you, for hanging in there! Here’s to a longer and happy life for Dottie.

  410. Sorry. My text got screwed up. I’m thinking Dottie’s braf positive results are from noncancerous hyperplasia. That’s good. And amen.

  411. Yeah Dottie!!
    Now you and the cats will have ample time to finish your memoirs.!!

  412. Amen and Hallelujah!

    Jenny, that’s wonderful news. It wouldn’t surprise me if Dottie found a way to scare off the cancer cells before getting the new images. She’ll bury us all.

    Ruth

  414. Miracle dog! I hope it’s just some random bit of testing that is usually conclusive until it meets an anomaly…

  424. So glad to hear the good news about Dottie. Blessings to you about your family’s travails/

  429. Pretty sure the original test was just wrong. That is way more common than you’d think.

    Basically, the test needs to be more sensitive than the cancer is rare. If your test is 99% accurate, then you’ll get one positive result in a hundred tests even when there is no cancer. And if that cancer only happens 0.1% of the time, then you’ll have ten times as many false positives as real detections.

    So, yeah. I think you can be pretty confident that your dog will remain healthy for a little while at least 🙂 I’m happy for you!

  431. So happy for you and your family! Prayers that the first test was totally wrong.

  432. I am so happy to hear this about Dorothy Barker! And I’m so happy for your family! This would be such a terrible, heartbreaking loss and now she has way more time! I’m, so, so happy! Thanks for sharing. – Dawn aka Opticheart

  433. I feel your pain/relief. My pup just had a liver biopsy for what has now been ruled as 99% likely NOT cancer. At one point, you’re thankful because “Yay, no cancer.” And then you’re like, “Well, why the heck did I just put my dog through all of that?” Glad your Dottie is okay, and I hope the vets are right this time 🙂

  437. After all the stinking bad news I have had this week, I can’t tell you how happy I am for you and yours…It’s a relief to know that there are happy things going on out there….

  441. I’m so tired of cancer being all up in everyones business, literally. This is great news!

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