Monday, January 11, 2010

Soul report

Soul's tumor was cancer. The margins were clean. If it was the only one, he will be OK. If there are others we haven't found yet, he won't be. We won't know unless or until the next one shows up--or until he eventually dies of something else.

Really, I don't know anything today that I didn't know yesterday, or anything I didn't know before we found the lump. I knew that all lives end, and that the lives of dogs are shorter than those of humans. I knew I'd most likely outlive Soul.

What I know today is a little more about how he might die, and that it may be even sooner than I thought. It's surprisingly hard to take.

My job remains the same: to take responsibility for my life and live it as well as I can, loving and giving care to those around me.

Teach us to number our days, O Lord.

1 comment:

  1. If there are others we haven't found yet, he won't be.

    No. That is not necessarily true. Cancer in dogs (especially older dogs) is different to cancer in humans. They usually develop more slowly for a start. Even if Soul does get another tumour he could die of old age before the cancer kills him. Having a short life is actually advantageous in that respect. So don't go ruining the rest of the poor dog's life by worrying about him - they pick those sort of thoughts up very easily as I'm sure you know.

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