Here we go…

Let’s talk about yesterday. At 7:36 yesterday morning my phone rang. The oncologist had a cancellation at 9:30 and wanted to know if we wanted to take the appointment. Of course we said yes. We left the house at 8:00 and arrived right at 9:30. Boston traffic is no joke.

We met with Dr. Nicholas Rinaldi from New England Veterinary Oncology Group. He reviewed Maggie’s records and based off her history, the presentation of the tumor and her X-rays she likely has osteosarcoma. The next step will be a fine-needle aspiration and/or surgical biopsy. We were able to get her in while we were there for the fine-needle aspiration and additional X-rays of her chest just to be sure that the cancer hasn’t spread yet.

Good news: her lungs are clear

Bad news: they couldn’t get the needle into her bone so we definitely have to do a surgical biopsy.

The next step will be a consultation with a surgeon. This has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 11. We will likely have to decide if we want to amputate her entire leg initially. They will be able to do the biopsy from that and then from there we could do chemotherapy. It sounds like regardless she has a year or so left.

What I care most about is her quality of life. I don’t want her to suffer. I don’t want her to be in pain. This goes beyond my feelings of sadness and grief but down to the basic level of being a mother and providing safety and comfort for her.

For now, we will continue as we are. Morning walks as long as Maggie wants to go on them. Cuddles all the time (this isn’t new). For now, Maggie is good. She is happy. She still wants to walk. She is my girl. She still gets up out of a stone-cold sleep if she hears me opening cheese.

As for me? I’ve not yet come to terms with this. But the outpouring of love and support has proven to me that we are not alone in our pain and heartache. We are loved. We have all suffered as a result of loving our pets so much, however, we’ve also had a greater benefit added to our lives because of our pets.

I was scrolling through some of the zillions of pictures of Maggie smiling and laughing to myself. I like this one I took the other day in front of a local coffee shop. I thought the sign was endearing. 

Anyway, my sister-in-law once told me that she believes Great Danes come into our lives when we need them the most and they leave us when they’ve healed what needs to be healed. Let the record stand that I’m not healed yet and Maggie needs to stick around.

I’ll follow up after we see the surgeon. Thanks for reading and being on this journey with us.