Okay, so… I’ve decided to start this blog and chronical Samdog’s next adventure. We have so many people who love us who don’t live close and we want them to know what is happening. It might be hard to catch us for a while as we sort all of this out, so please know that I plan to try my hardest to keep this up to date, probably for my own catharsis…
Today we learned that the mass on Sam’s right humorus is not valley fever. Our primary vet thinks it is bone cancer. We don’t know what kind, we don’t know how advanced, we don’t know how bad, we don’t know our options, we don’t know anything except our seemingly healthy happy dog has a limp and they are telling us the treatment for that is amputation.
We don’t know what we are going to do. Our first visit with an oncologist is tomorrow morning and we should learn more about our options. The idea of taking off Sam’s leg is terrifying, but if we can isolate the cancer before it spreads into his lungs – game on.
This website, tripawds.com, has been a godsend this weekend. I didn’t know how many dogs and their owners face the same choice we are facing. The community of people who have set up this space for support, optimism, brutal reality and “we’ve been there” advice is amazing and I am so grateful to all of the people here.
One of the best bits of advice is to be more “dog”. Worrying over every future detail doesn’t help, and I’m missing time with Sam. I need to practice his zen. Be here now.
The other bit is a little harder. I need to practice my game face. I can’t go into this fight afraid, or Sam will too and that is unaccepatable.
So game on. move forward… we will let you know what we learn tomorrow with the oncologist.
