Writing this post seems very daunting. When I needed to write most, was when I couldn’t quite see things clearly. Now that I feel like we are on a wide open road, our journey seems so long ago. But, really, it’s not. So, I think I’ll take our story a little at a time.
Dolly partially tore her ACL in August right before her 13th birthday. I’ve been dreading her old age for years now, but her senior symptoms were never really an obstacle until that day. She always acted younger than our youngest pup, Dakota, who is now 10. I thought that diagnosis was DEVASTATING. Dolly loves her walks, loves to play fetch, and loves to follow us ALL OVER THE HOUSE. We recently moved into a home with a basement and second story. Our realtor let us bring the dogs over to test them on the stairs before we made an offer. Our furbabies have always slept in our bedroom. But, with a torn ACL, we took turns sleeping on the couch with her.
As for walks, I was already feeling immensely guilty about the lousy walks we gave our dogs this summer. The entire spring and summer flew by with us neglecting to give our girls the attention they really deserved. Now, I was staring the possibility of no more walks with her ever again right in the face. We had decided that she was too old to put through an ACL surgery.
To try to expedite any chance at healing, we visited a vet that practices eastern and western medicine. She’s absolutely wonderful. She did acupuncture and laser therapy on our Dolly Llama and gave me a lot of advice to help her heal. Still, we had a couple setbacks that broke my heart. I felt like they were my fault because she would trot off into a run or sneak up the stairs.
Once we spread out our treatments to every two weeks, I started to get optimistic. Then, she slipped on a vacuum cleaner attachment one day. She cried so loud that I can still hear it ringing in my ears to this day. We saw our vet a week later.
I usually have this sense about things, but this time I was completely blind-sided. I prepared myself for every yearly check-up and blood draw because I knew things can stay hidden. But, we had been going to the vet two to four times a month for three months! In as little as two weeks, Dolly’s knee swelled up to the size of a golf ball.
Dr. Baker didn’t even ask my permission to x-ray her. She just told me it was happening. So, I waited for a confirmed total tear.
I got a cancer diagnosis.
Your story resonates with me and likely will be for many. That moment the floor drops out from under you…
You do feel like you should have known. How could my dog have cancer and I didn’t know? But the truth is, most of us don’t or think we are dealing with something more common. But very glad that you now see that wide open road again!