how lucky i am

Milo awaiting surgery.

Milo's polka dot bandage.

Milo recovering.

Saturday we came home from dinner to only two dogs greeting us at the door. Our 13 year old rat terrier, Milo, wasn't there wagging his stub. He was in the laundry room. Not completely out of the norm. It was later that evening when he came around the corner into the living room swaying back and forth and then completely collapsing we knew something was wrong. 

I can't sing our vet, Dr. Shelton's, praises enough. I left him a message Sunday morning and in an hour he returned my call. After going through a couple of vital signs over the phone we determined it would be best to bring him in Monday morning. We did just that.

The x-ray and ultrasound deemed a large mass in his spleen. We had two options: bring him home and let him continue on as he was, knowing that the next episode he may not wake up from or have surgery. With surgery we had to be prepared that there was the chance they'd discover cancer had spread in his body and at that point it was best to not let him wake up. We went with a fighting chance, surgery. Dr. Shelton and his staff were so compassionate. They gave us a blanket and let us camp out on the floor with Milo until we were ready to send him back. Hardest part was not knowing if we were saying goodbye for a short while or forever. Luckily we got to see our little guy again. They removed the tumor and his spleen. He's awake from surgery and recovering. We hope to be able to bring him home tomorrow. 

Unfortunately, the next step is sending off the tumor and finding out if it's cancerous or not. If it's cancerous we're told he has about 3-4 months. I pray it's not, but if it is at least we get to spend the next several months pampering our beloved pooch. 

*images courtesy of my iPhone and http://pinterest.com/rachelyanez/pins/