Day One of ?

April!? That was my last post? Wow. It has been a while and a lot has happened since then. We rented out our house in Florida and moved to Scottsdale, AZ. I transferred for work and Alisha is back with a company she knows and likes working for out here. Chloe, Chanel and Emilio had a great 4 day trip from coast to coast that I can’t wait to share with you. We have been exploring the Phoenix area and have already made a long weekend dog trip to Long Beach, California. So much has changed since April and I will fill you in. But first, I have some news that isn’t so good for Chloe.

My dog Scruffs (Chloe’s nickname) is right around 14 years old. She has had a rough year but is still her normal self personality wise. In April I told you about her two strokes that happened earlier in the year and the exploratory surgery that revealed she was fine. But last week, before making our trip out to Long Beach, CA, we noticed her lip had a nickel size bump on the inside. It came up and grew pretty quick. We scheduled a vet visit for first thing Monday morning and cut our trip by a day. I could feel that her lymph node on that side was a little swollen as well. Dr. Glover did some swipes and sent them off for testing. We got the news Tuesday that the bump in her mouth was cancerous and we scheduled surgery for Thursday to have it removed. On Thursday, I dropped Chloe off and they first performed x-rays before I left of her chest. Everything came back clear, so i left her expecting the best. Dr. Glover tested the lymph node after I left and found cancer cells in there as well. After some discussions with the Oncologist, we realized this was a type of Melanoma and it has spread to the lymph node in her neck. Both doctors thought it is best to not treat this since it is such an aggressive type of cancer and is already in her system. They thought if we went through with the surgery, the benefits would only be a couple more months with her. So I was told we have about 2 months or less. Not the news I was looking for.

I have and still do go through a whole list of emotions, but one thing stays the same. I know Chloe is getting older, slower and not as sturdy. She has a hard time getting up and is on pain meds each day along with meds for her blood pressure. I do not want to see her suffer at all and I know that putting her through another surgery for me to spend a couple more months with her is not right of me. Alisha and I have decided that we are gong to us this time we have left with her to spoil her and keep her as happy and comfortable as possible. 14 is a long life for a large dog and I have truthfully enjoyed every minute of it with her. We have had a lot of great trips and adventures together.

Thursday September 13th was day one. She stills loves to play and is always begging for food in the kitchen or trying to get into the trash. She is still the same old Chloe! Such a great dog. I added in a half cup of chopped boiled chicken to her food all day and she loved that. We are planning to take her someplace this weekend so she can enjoy sniffing around out in the wild. Not sure where yet. More to come tomorrow, day 2.