Day 1527

I feel sick to my stomach. The pathology report came back today and Dash has some sort of thyroid tumor. We don't know yet whether the tumor is benign or malignant, but either way it is bad news. In all likelihood, the tumor will have to be surgically removed. If the tumor is cancerous, we will have to act fast, since some thyroid tumors grow quite aggressively. With the help of our vet, we are looking for the best available surgeon now. Dash will probably need a CT scan, nuclear scintigraphy, and possibly a biopsy prior to making a decision about surgery. If the tumor still moves freely in the neck and has not metastasized, removal should be relatively simply. If the tumor has already established its own blood supply and spread through adjoining tissue, the surgery will be much more risky. Even if the surgery is successful, there's a good chance that chemotherapy or radiation will be required afterwards as well.

Let's just hope it isn't cancer. Poor Dash hasn't gotten a lot of breaks in life. When we adopted him in the Spring of 2006, he was not a healthy dog. He had serious skin allergies, kidney stones, and recurring digestive problems. We nursed him back to good health and then he began to have epileptic seizures. His seizures are well controlled now and his coat looks great. These medical issues weren't the worst of his problems though. About five years ago, Dash was attacked by a viscous dog in the neighborhood and almost killed. It required three surgeries, months of physical therapy, and a lot of loving care to get him back on his feet again. After all this, the last thing our boy needs now is cancer.

I have to accept the reality that we have two very high maintenance dogs now. Dot is incredibly resilient, but she is very old now and has all the problems associated with old age. She hasn't given up though, and still seems to love her life. I think the water therapy and acupuncture are really helping. She is much more mobile and active than many other Dalmatians her age. She did great on the underwater treadmill today. Watching her go through her paces, it would be easy to imagine that she was 8 instead of 13 or 14. With both dogs, we're going to have to take things one day at a time from this point forward. Dot had a very good day today. Dash, not so good.

I didn't go to my networking breakfast this morning. I had other things on my mind. I'm beginning to realize that other than the breakfast itself, this group has very little to offer my company. I've been around long enough to realize that few, if any, of these people will ever have a need for my rather specialized services. Don't get me wrong. They are all nice folks and I enjoy chatting with them on mornings when I'm awake. I'm just not a morning person though and never will be. I've tried everything on the breakfast menu and had an opportunity to try on all my old suits again. That was fun. The Giorgio Armani and Valentino suits still look great after all these years. The Jhane Barnes looked ridiculous. I'm trying to think of valid reasons to continue to get up this early, but I can't think of many.

I go for my first evaluation tomorrow to see how well the new Hepatitis-C treatment is working. Mostly this will be more blood tests. I really hope this advanced treatment is successful. At a point in my life where so many things seem pointless, it would be nice to know that there was at least one instance where I was doing exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day