Darcy needs some prayers....

Darcy was diagnosed with cancer today. We do not know what type nor do we care at this point. He strongly suspects lymphoma. Whatever type it is, however, has affected her lungs. She has a large amount of fluid in them (as well as a nodule or two) and is coughing and having trouble breathing. She also has a very poor appetite. I took her into the vet last Thursday because of all of those things. The vet, at that time, took xrays of her lungs and found them filled with fluid. So much that you could see the bronchial tubes (lungs on an xray should be black due to the air). However, he did not know the cause. It was either a serious fungal infection or cancer. We did blood work which still did not point him in one direction or the other. Well, today, he was able to do an aspirate of one of the nodules in her lungs. He did not find anything that would point to a fungal infection so the diagnosis is cancer. Since I refuse to make her go through chemotherapy she is now on prednisone in the hopes that it will give her a good quality of life for however long she has left. I would much rather she have a short time with a good quality of life than a long time with a poor quality of life. What's fascinating to me is that she is still in excellent condition, weighing in at 60.8 pounds on Thursday. I have picked up a variety of canned and human food to tempt her into eating. We'll see how we do.

For those of you who don't know (or don't remember) Darcy, here's a recap of her story. Darcy was dumped at a rescue in San Angelo Texas last September. (for some reason, I thought it was earlier than this but this is what her paperwork says, so there ya go. lol) She was 12ish at the time so she is (or almost) 13 years old now. The reason on the surrender form was "too many dogs". Poor Darcy drew the short straw, I guess... She had surgery to remove a lump that turned out to be dermoid.

The vet did not get all of it because she isn't experienced with these and she didn't actually think it was a dermoid, despite all that I told her...luckily for Darcy, it has not abcessed again. Darcy is an excellent dog - great with kids, other dogs, cats, birds, men and women. She has settled into my home well. But I always thought she wanted something different. I pictured a retiree as the optimum home for her. Someone who would be home most of the time and give her all the attention she wanted and deserved. Someone who could take her for walks throughout the day and would take her sightseeing and visiting with friends. Unfortunately, that is no longer in the plans for her. She will stay with me until she goes to the Rainbow Bridge.

What I am hoping for from all of you is simply good thoughts/prayers/wishes/whatever that she has some good days before she has to leave us - and that we can make her remaining time with us as comfortable as possible. However, while she may not have a long time left here with us, I will treat her as if she does. After all, it is possible to beat the odds! And when she does leave, whenever that is, her ashes will have a place with me. For while I started off as her foster home, I have become her final one. She is a special old girl.