...after ten years as a team, Oslo, my golden retriever, and I were faced with a devastating diagnosis and learning to deal with canine cancer...
Nothing to “LIKE” about this photo but here is our reality – Many have asked so here it is. This is a photo of Oslo’s hind legs taken last week, his one good leg and his inflicted leg with the bone tumor. This is how he is doing.
We appreciate all the love and support and interest in his well being. It is truly heartwarming. He’s a champ! Yet behind all that, this is the painful physical reminder that our time is indeed special and limited.
The tumor is huge, that’s a regular tennis ball from his private collection. This leg has not fully extended to touch the ground in months. It weighs a few pounds and his muscles have atrophied. His hobbling around on one leg and lifting his body weigh plus this mass has impacted his arthritis significantly. I regularly help him stand up and steady his balance. He gets help getting on the sofa and going up and down the hill to the street. This is what he balances to still catch a ball thrown a foot from his mouth. Should in some way that large bone mass break, it is all over, as the pain would be insurmountable and the bone would not heal.
Clinically known as Osteosarcoma, bone cancer normally metastasizes to the lungs. Yet his breathing still is good. He pants a lot, which could be pain from the cancer‘s progression or from the arthritis, or from sweating from being hot (induced by his round the clock pain meds) or from physical internal changes to his lungs, which we are unaware of. I do my best to keep him comfortable and make life easy for him.
It is ugly, it is cumbersome and it reminds us daily about the frailty of life. We’ve been blessed with a wonderful decade together and many friends. I like to believe he's had a grand life. And we've been blessed to have these six months post diagnosis.
When he’s hobbling to the front door with a smile and grin to greet you… pushing through the arthritis on his good leg, this is what he carries, his baggage, when he's on a blanket in the park, or sitting in my lap, this is what physically presses into his stomach. This is what makes him my hero and my inspiration for persevering forward.
And this is what reminds me to makes every day precious.
This is our reality.
I imagine that any of us ... ALL of us who share our lives with our dogs are in humble awe of you and Oslo. We face these fears and trials as best we can, especially as our dogs age, Personally, I hope my dog and I can do it as gracefully, as lovingly, and as heroically as you and Oslo are doing it. I'm here in Seattle too. Maybe we will cross paths someday. I would like that.
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