Thankful for Happy Moments

I would normally use the word "shocking" to jokingly describe the static discharge generated by our training products. But a few weeks ago, "shocking" or more precisely, "in shock," more closely described my state of being when I was told Andee had lymphoma.

Andee was his normal self on June 3rd when I left for work. My husband arrived home first and called me to say he thought there was something wrong with Andee. 

I raced home (inconveniently pulled over for going 60 in a 50mph on the way), to find Andee in great distress. Instead of his normal loud and obnoxious greeting, he didn't make a sound. His ears were back and his tail was down. I instinctively felt the lymph nodes in his neck. They were swollen.We Googled the address for the Mount Vernon animal hospital and left.

What's normal for Andee (a bonafide foodie) is to willingly plow through any doorway (because there MIGHT be food somewhere inside) but for the first time in his life, he was terrified to go through a door...the front door of the animal hospital. He was so anxious, I was afraid he'd run down the street if I didn't have a firm grip on his leash. Andee would not move away from the car. I was at a complete loss. Fortunately, a staff person saw me struggling with my 90-pound boy and came to my rescue. Together we eventually managed to get him inside.

Once in the exam room, Andee promptly hid under the sink. Then he tried squeezing under a chair. It was disturbing to watch. After the doctor examined him, she explained it was probably one of two things: a rare infection (unlikely) or cancer (likely). She said they'd take blood and biopsies and I'd know the next day. I told her I didn't believe it could be cancer. He was perfectly healthy.

When my vet called the next afternoon, she said all nine biopsies confirmed lymphoma. That's when I went into shock. She also said there's no telling how much time he has left. Days, weeks, or months if we're lucky (I'm feeling lucky). She said the cancer will eventually make it difficult for him to breath and will impact all his organs, so we'll need to decide when to euthanize him.

For treatment we opted for Prednisone over chemo. And thankfully, Andee's doing quite well. Each time I hear him bark or howl, see his tail wag, or hear him get up to follow me into the kitchen for a hopeful snack, I'm happy. With any luck, there are many more happy moments to come.