Lola is 9 days post-op and healing well. She’s not her usual perky, sassy self (unless she has a treat- as you can see), but she’s on the mend. I can tell she doesn’t feel well, but I think it is mostly boredom and the meds at this point and less the pain from surgery.
We got the news on Monday afternoon from our oncologist that Lola’s prognosis is 6 months. This is not enough time. The full report from the amputation biopsy revealed a high-grade-2 mast cell tumor with aggressive tendencies that had invaded the lymph node in her leg near the tumor. Our oncologist says this means that the cancer WILL spread to her internal organs. 6 months of chemo treatments will only postpone this inevitability for 6 additional months with no chance of full remission. So, at best, we can hope for 1 year with chemo (1/2 of which spent doing chemo). At worst, we have less than 6 months with no chemo. To us, the choice was extremely-stupidly hard to say out loud, but it was clear: it was time to stop. Chemo will not save her life. It won’t make her life any better. It won’t make her happier. It won’t even offer the hope of remission. All it will do is maybe give us 6 additional months of worry and monitoring and vet appts with our girl. Lola doesn’t have the same sense of time as we do and we can make every day of these next 6 months the best day ever for her.
I can’t imagine what it will be like when the time comes. My friends and family have started delicately suggesting that I think about getting a puppy soon. “”It will be the only way to heal your heart and you can pour all of your emotions and energy into her! You are a great doggie-mom! You need a puppy – not an older dog, not right now after this.”” But I can’t even imagine loving another dog, puppy or older rescue dog, as much as I love Lola. And for right now anyway, she deserves all of my love and attention until the very end.