Thursday, April 29, 2010

Ruby


I returned from Florida to some bad news here at home. Ruby, one of our boxers, appears to be seriously ill.

When I leaned down to pet her after I got home, I noticed that her belly seemed unusually large. She’s never been particularly svelte, but this was definitely abnormal. At first, I thought she’d just put on weight, but Dave said he’d noticed it earlier that week and we agreed it didn’t look or feel like plain old fat.

I took her to the vet yesterday, where x-rays revealed that her abdomen appears to be full of fluid. The vet thinks she has a malignant tumor, probably on her spleen, but she couldn’t see Ruby’s organs on the x-ray to confirm her hunch. So today we’re having an ultrasound done. Dave took the day off to be with her.

Ruby is not a young dog -- she’s somewhere between 9 and 12 years old -- but I still feel sucker-punched by the news. Selfishly, I feel like I should have more time with her. I've only known her a year. Dave's got to feel ten times worse.

Everything is impermanent. Every moment counts.

(Photo: Ernie (left) and Ruby on the balcony, on April 8.)

8 comments:

  1. Oh no. I'm sending love and good, strong energy to Ruby and to you and Dave as you move through whatever is happening to her.

    much love, and yes, every moment counts. Yes.

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  2. I'm sorry to hear this: thank goodness you & Dave were alert enough to notice something wrong. Here's hoping the vets can treat whatever is causing the problem.

    Living with pets whose life-spans are shorter than our own is such an exercise in impermanence. As you and Reya said, every moment counts.

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  3. Wow, that's bad news. I hope the best for all.

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  4. I'll give a full update tomorrow. Some good news -- nothing in the spleen. There are abnormalities in the liver but we're suspicious about the cancer diagnosis. We think she may merely have had a reaction to an NSAID she was taking. Wouldn't THAT be great????

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  5. I wish you and Dave and Ruby the best!

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  6. will keep my fingers crossed for your drug reaction theory (and NOT that awful C word you mentioned). sending happy doggy thoughts your way...

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  7. I feel so bad about Ruby I've decided to send you Henry. He'll be in Jersey on Monday.

    Hide your dirty washcloths. Good Luck!

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