This is Mary’s story (we share the same name by coincidence):
Well this has been a hard week! It started with a limp. After a trip to the vet we were off to a specialist. After some better x-rays there it was! A tumor in her left front leg next to her shoulder. 11 years without any major problems and this Cancer thing hits us out of the blue. What is osteosarcoma? What are the options? What’s best for her? How are we gonna afford it? It was so much to think about! Cancer spreads… how fast… How much time do we have to come up with a game plan. We spent hours researching and getting as much information as we could in the short amount of time. It was obvious the leg had to be removed… Oh my God, I can’t believe we have to take her leg. She’s not a puppy any more. In fact she is a SENIOR! How is she gonna cope at 11 years old with a handicap? Are we strong enough to do this… Then we realized, she’s always been strong for us when we needed it. We are gonna do the same for her! After the emotional warfare was over It was time to prepare. Our home is all hardwood and tile, so we had to put down carpet runners to keep her from slipping while she’s trying to figure it out. We had steep stairs to the back yard, we need a ramp ( thank God my husband is in construction ). Signs for the front that say “ patient resting do not Knock” ( she gets really fired up when someone knocks ). O.K. how are we gonna pay for this?… Thankfully we were able to get financing through our vet!
Then came the hardest part, taking her in on Tuesday Aug 30th, 2011. Man was that hard! Waiting for the call that everything went well and she was in recovery was excruciating ( I called anyways the receptionist was lovely and never complained or got irritated ). And then finally the call, everything went well she was in recovery and looking good. Thank you God! Not having her home made it feel empty! But luckily she got to come home the next day. We had heard stories about the dogs up the day after surgery, getting the hang of it right away, but there was no way our senior girl could bounce back that quickly… Could she?
When we went to pick her up she couldn’t wait to get out of there! A little wobbly but not falling down she was QUICK!!!! And STRONG!!! She ran to the truck! When we got home she navigated the house with ease! She was up and down her ramp no problem! She even hit the front stairs without missing a step!
Today is day three Thursday September 1st 2011 and her spirit and ambition is amazing! We could all learn something from these Beautiful animals!
We will be back soon with another update!
God Bless you all!
Mary and Family