Shattering News

#1 here. Last night, there was something  about Tommy that had me deeply worried. Not one single obvious thing but a collection of small things that made by blood run cold in my veins. This morning, we set out at 7:30 in the dark, rain and wind to get to the vet's  for opening time. I did not want to wait and call, and perhaps be told there were no slots until later.

The vet saw him, palpated him all over, and did a blood test. When the blood test results came in, all normal except for a slightly reduced red blood cell count, indicating anemia, she decided to do an utlra-sound. She already had her suspicons and they were confirmed. Tommy has a fast-growing angio-sarcoma, also known as hemangiosarcoma, in his spleen. The prognosis is appalling. Although surgery is an option, the survival rate beyond a few weeks is virtually non-existent and the surgery itself imposes a heavy burden on already weakened dogs.

According to Dr. C, whom I trust absolutely, Tommy probably only has a few days left. He got a hefty shot of cortisone, and I have more pills to give him from tomorrow. The idea is to make him as comfortable as possible for this short period. Even though it is Christmas, Dr. C has told me to call her tomorrow morning for a progress report, to see if the cortisone is helping, and she has given me her private cellphone number, if and when, things get to the point of no return.

Here is a shot of him this morning as we waited for the blood test results.

 

Our blogging will be intermittent and, for now, will only be about Tommy.