I will never forget Friday, January 8th, 2010 at around 3:00 PM. It was the day the Vet called to tell us that Skipper had Stage IV Canine Lymphosarcoma. My heart sank, and I bit my lip as the doctor described with a sympathetic tone the results of the ultrasound. He had mentioned the possibility that it could be cancer when we first took Skipper in earlier in the week. But even then, you are not fully prepared to hear the news that a loved one has cancer. You just want to believe that it is something else. The news hit me like a ton of bricks.
Skipper is a tri-colored Beagle, born on December 13th, 1999. We have been together since March 2000, when I was a junior in college. He has always been a very loyal and trusty companion. He has seen me graduate from college, get my first job afterwards, seen me get married, and has made me smile and laugh countless times. He has given us 10 great years, and physically, you wouldn't even be able to tell he has Lymphosarcoma...
See, there is no cure for Canine Lymphosarcoma. The best treatment option involves chemotherapy to force the cancer into remission. On average, dogs live about a year from diagnosis. However, I have been told that the quality of life during this time for dog is usually high, that dogs do not suffer as badly as humans do with the chemo. Without treatment, Skipper has one month at best. So we owe it to Skipper, both my wife and I, to give him the best quality of life as possible, for as long as possible. I have decided to blog about our experiences with this cancer so that others can learn about it. I hope to post about how the chemo treatments are going, the challenges, the highs and lows, and more importantly, Skipper's quality of life. What you have to understand is that Skipper has quite a bit of fight left in him, and as long as he shows fight, he will do everything we can. Skipper means so much to so many people, and he brought such joy to us, it is the least we can do for him.
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