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Sick Puppy


Lots of people have asked how Solomon is doing, so I thought I'd post the news.

Solomon has a mast cell tumor - a type of cancer really common in dogs. It releases histamines, which was how I found out, because he was scratching and biting at it. This particular tumor is way up on his thigh (the meaty part of his drumstick if he were a chicken) and hard to remove because it is large and there's not a lot of margin around it.

I thought long and hard about whether or not to do surgery or any other type of treatment. I had to think about the fact that he is about to be 10 years old (although a very young 10), what I am willing to put him through, and the cost. It was a very hard decision and I am sure people will disagree with me on both sides, but my plan is to do the surgery, once. I can't afford to have it done more and I don't want to put him through a lot of surgeries. I also won't do chemo or radiation - partly for money and partly because I don't want to put him through that. The surgeon said another option was to amputate his leg but again, I don't want to do that - due to money and suffering on the part of the dog. I'm sure he'd recover fine but I don't want to put him through the surgery and, again, I can't afford it.

Some of you know how very special this dog is to me. He's been the one constant in ten years and is a wonderful, wonderful dog who has a talent for making people very happy, even people who aren't dog people. It sounds super cheesy but the dog has really truly been a gift from God.

I have had some really good experiences through this last week. Random people waiting in the vet's office have promised to pray for Solomon. People have asked me if they can help with his vet bills. If that's something you want to do - the answer is yes! But I wouldn't ask anyone to do that. However, if you would like to hire me for Spanish lessons, tutoring, editing, or knitting, now would be a great time to do so.

If you pray, please pray that the medication will shrink the the tumor and make it easier to be removed, that surgeon will get it all and it won't come back, and that Solomon will recover quickly and completely.

Thank you all!

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