Gone to the dogs

[Lange]

This cancer thing won't let go of my family. As I've posted I'm stage IV adrenal cancer. Now my English Bulldog has been diagnosed with a type of melanoma that attacks the bones. He's already had one operation to remove part of his rear foot, but at this moment he is in surgery to remove his whole left hind quarter . The Vet said this aggressive approach should stop it for an extended period of time. He,s already 5 and bullies don't live much past ten on average, but my dogs have always been long lived. We love them like children. At present I have one chocolate. Lab, an old girl of about 12 and a set of English Setter twin boys 4 years old. They were my bird dogs before I got sick. Now they are a little on the heavy side and taken to long knaps in the sun. They still get a run in once in awhile. Then there is my loving English bulldog Winston Tank Churchill II or as we call him "Winnie" If you want a dog that wants nothing more than to be with you and have you love him he's your man. He doesn't mind well, very obstinate ,can't swim( with out his life vest) and claims all dog toys as his own. When he's sick of them then the other dogs can play with them too. But he is the ultimate companion,especially if you like sleeping for about 20 out of 24 hours a day. The vet said he'll be fine with only three legs considering bullies carry 80% of their weight on their front end. It's not that, it's just this cancer that we all have is the devil itself,unrelenting, brutal. How do you answer your teenage daughter when she comes to you in tears wondering why? And when is it all going to stop. My little perfect family of four, plus pets, has turned into a never ending battle against cancer. Ok I'm vented now, Lange

[purpleangels]

Hey Lange! I hope your furry friend will be okay..... I just wanted to share that my husband had a really rare cancer....epithelioid Haemangeoendothelioma .....he battles for five years with loads of pain but lost his struggle in February last year. Then in October last year my dog had a lump on his hind leg. The vet removed it and showed me the pathology report. There were words in it like epithelial and haemangeo and thelioma. I said to the vet that my husband had recently died of a similar cancer. To which the vet replied...they have done studies on animals who get the same or similar cancers as their owners. Now this may seem unremarkable as owners/ animals live in the same area/ drink the same water etc...... But my husbands cancer was so rare and had no known reason 'just dumb bad luck' according to his surgeon....that this is a pretty significant occurrence in my opinion...... Who really knows what connection animals and humans really end up with? Good luck to you! PA XXX

[Lange]

Winnie is home and doing well. The vets said he came through like a champ. I know he's on a pain patch but you can already tell he's going to be better off. He's moving well an can still wag his tail. Dogs are amazing. It did my heart good to see the little guy come through. See he had to be tough, we made the choice for him, we chose for him to fight, how as humans, who have a choice,do anything else but fight. I'm the first to admit I'm tired. But we all must keep fighting. I'm sick of being sick, and like I said we have a choice, but the alternative is unacceptable. Lange