k9trix

Hello there. Well, I guess I am here for obvious reasons. Although it is not official, still waiting for the test results, I took my 6 year old Basset Hound Charlie to the vet on Monday and the vet is fairly certain that she has lymphoma. I noticed the lymph nodes up near her face a few days prior seemed a little swollen, but since she had been acting and eating normal, didn't think much of it and just thought I was worrying for nothing. But then a few days later they were much bigger and the ones in her arm pits and groin also swelled. This all went so fast I couldn't believe it. And although she may also have an eye infection now, she was still running around, acting as crazy as always. So, I took her in Monday and like I said, the vet is pretty sure that it is lymphoma by the locations of swelling and how quickly it went. She did a chest xray and other tests and I am still waiting for those to come back to find out what exactly I am looking at here. The vet and I had talked about the possibility of chemo and on Monday I really thought that is what my plan would be. But since then, after some soul searching, talking to friends, family, and anybody else that would listen, I decided that Charlie would be better off without it. She gets carsick every single time I take her anywhere. Plus, she is very attached to my other dog, Otis, and hates being away from him --- even if she gets to go somewhere good. I just don't want to put her through the carsickness and separation anxiety every week. And although I would be more than willing to put gajillions of dollars into caring for either of my dogs, I would have to pick up overtime in order to pay for chemo. And that would be more time away from Charlie....something I really don't want to do. So, I have no idea if I am doing the right thing. But that is what I am going with. Ok, so that is all the bad stuff. Now I would like to introduce Charlie in a proper way and tell you some of the great things about her. Like I said, she is a 6 year old Basset Hound (tri-color) and she has lived with me since she was barely 8 weeks old. I already had my big boy Otis and the best thing I ever did was bring her home to him because they have been inseparable since then. She is probably the goofiest dog I have ever had. She constantly is doing stuff to make me laugh....a lot of times not intentionally though. You gotta watch her though because if you leave anything within her reach (and with her long body most things are within reach), she will steal it and run around the house with it, looking like the happiest dog ever. Her favorite is the remote. She also enjoys stealing my side of the bed when I get up for a minute. She loves boys of all kind and is not ashamed to ask for a tummy rub from a man she just met. She has a whole lot to say and I am sure the whole neighborhood has heard her try to talk me into just one more snack many, many times now. At the moment she is snoring loudly by my feet and I want nothing more than to take all her pains away and keep her safe with me. We are both really glad we found this forum and hope to learn a lot from everyone who has unfortunately had to learn the hard way too.

Tracy