Really....can we just have some peace??

So he still overall looks and acts great. You wouldn't know he has cancer. But unfortunately that isn't all that is going on. I mentioned previously that he seemed to have done something to his leg.....the vet put him on some inflammation medicine and he seemed to be doing better. We went on our camping trip this past week and he seemed to re-injure it. I took him in today to have his stitches removed and the vet thinks that he may have torn or ruptured his ACL...really can he not live out the remainder of his days doing what he loves, running and playing ball??? He is on some meds and if he improves in the next two weeks then it may have been just a tear and he will be able to run in a month or so, but only in a straight line, no more running crazy with the ball or doing figure 8's out in the front yard...our favorite evening activity. Because while a tear can get better, it will always be weak. If it is a rupture then it will not heal on its own and I can't put him thru another surgery, especially given the circumstances. So all I can do is make him as comfortable as possible and do whatever "play" we can. This is just killing me.....

Crushing News...

Unfortunately the news is not good....they removed the one growth on 2/14/11 and found another one on his left leg during surgery so they removed that one too. After he was out of surgery they found another one on his neck and in the two weeks since it has grown quite a bit :-( I've also found another very small one growing by his ear. The results came back as metastasized malignant melanoma.....the oncologist is in shock as this case isn't presenting like any she has seen before. This is very frustrating because she can't really tell me what to expect. We have an appt with her next week and I'm hoping she will be able to give me more information.

It never seems to end....

Well it has been a stressful week. Last Monday Jack was out front doing his favorite thing...chasing his ball. On the last throws of the day you could tell that he did something to his right back leg....pulled a muscle or something. I wasn't to worried about it, but it doesn't seems to have gotten better, not worse but not better. Everything worries me these days. He still acts great, running, tail wagging, etc....but my doubts are there. Then my worst fear and something I really wasn't prepared for, I was petting his stomach Thursday night and to my horror found a growth about the size of a dime...it was black and hard but still could be moved around. I was blown away as I had never read anything about malignant melanoma in dogs spreading on the outside, only the inside (the oncologist agrees that this is not normal). I took him in to his holistic vet Friday afternoon and they did a needle aspiration. It looked suspicious and aggressive, but of course they can't tell me for sure what it is. :-( He is scheduled for surgery Monday morning but I want them to check out his back legs first. I have no idea if it is even related but if something is going on with his legs/hips....then I'm not sure if I even want to put him thru another surgery. This has hit me hard as I have prepared myself for every step of this "process" as well as I could but this I was not prepared for and it just wasn't what I was expecting.

We have a vacation to the beach planned in one week and I'm so ready to just go with him and my daughter and just relax and enjoy each other's company.

One Month........

Its been one month since Jack had his surgery. He's doing great. Still loving life!! We continue with the herbs and supplements and just pray that they are helping him out! Eventually I will do a x-ray to see what's going on inside of him, but may wait another couple months. It still kills me that this happened to him, but I'm trying to stay very positive and enjoy every day with him.