Day 12 through 16 of Cherishing Our Moments

This past week marked 2 weeks since we were told Chloe has cancer and only has a short time left. Work weeks always take away from our time with Chloe, Chanel and Emilio but we have to make a living. It was a week of finding out that many others have been through this same thing with dogs that they loved and so many of them were recent. I never really knew that cancer was so widespread with dogs. I guess it is like everything else in that, until you are affected with this, you don’t realize it is so common. I have been told a lot of stories on what to expect and how others have handled their situation. It has been a huge support to have others give me advise or just a better understanding of their experience and how they went through such an uneasy time. Many have a hard time talking about it even it happened a while ago. I have heard of those that felt like they had waited too long to make a decision on ending their dog’s life and those who decided not to wait until more symptoms or pain occurred and made a decision on a day and stuck with it. This is the hardest thing for me to deal with because I haven’t had to make this type of decision before. I have been giving it a lot of thought this past week. I know i am not going to allow any pain to go on very long at all. But I also know that I am enjoying my time with Chloe and, while there are no visible symptoms, she is most likely getting worse. Just thinking about this has been a stress all week.

From Monday to Friday we really just enjoyed the things that Chloe does every day. Her begging for our dinner. The pushiness of letting us know it is walk time at 6:30 every night. The way she yawns and the noise she makes while doing it. Her pickiness about what is in her food and raising her nose if it isn’t to her liking. How she comes to the door when we get home with her tail wagging. Watching her trying to play with Chanel when she is feeling chippy. When she stops in her tracks on walks because she wants to go the other way. And, best of all, loving the time we have had giving her praise and loving just for being Chloe. While we haven’t been able to be here every second, we have been cherishing every moment we have with her. Thursday marked two weeks since we got the news about Chloe.  It also was another week of being with my dog. And that was great.