I am happy to say that “our boys” are healthy, loved and probably spoiled. One dog, Ryker is like a little sentry. He is always on guard and looks rather menacing with those pointy ears and perfect posture. Then there is Ruger. We call him our special needs dog because he hasn’t a care in the world and can entertain himself for hours with his squeaky tennis ball.
Well, before I headed over to Casa de Longo for my daily visit, I decided to let “the boys” out to frolic and take care of business. Within minutes, I was on the back porch trying to wedge my way in-between Ryker and a huge Grackle (one of those giant black birds)…let’s just say that the bird lost.
I was horrified that my seemingly loving four-legged furbaby was a killer in disguise. But as I later explained to mom, I could not be angry with him, because certain breeds of dogs are genetically imprinted to hunt – no matter how domesticated they get.
This afternoon, “the killer” and I were sitting on the back porch and I started to think how watching him stalk his prey was very similar to fighting cancer.
Even though cancer is sometimes not diagnosed immediately, somewhere along the line you see something or some event occurs that grabs your attention – much like the bird (hopping along) that peaked Ryker’s interest. Then, you find yourself playing the waiting game. While you may not hide in the tall grass like my dog, you do become much more vigilant and watchful to see exactly what you are dealing with. You are basically sizing up your opponent, much like my furbaby and his Grackle.
Now, once you know exactly what you are up against (size and grade of the tumor and any sign that it has metastasized) then you are ready to move in for the attack. Much like my puppy dog, you have two approaches fast and furious or slow and cautious. There are some cancer patients that have extremely aggressive treatments while others have a more delicate course of treatment. But either way, the end result for each is the same…to take Cancer down, fast and with some type of finality. Much like the Grackle, I would prefer that momisan’s Cancer stay down for the count and not show any signs of life once we are finished with her treatments.
As I continued to watch my “killer” sun himself on the porch, I was thankful for his ability to remind me, in his own furry little way, what an amazing attack team we have. Our treatment plan is aggressive and while we have had a few set backs, we have made significant progress in moving this Cancer into remission.
Last night, mom’s nurse came by to change the dressing on her drainage tube and she gave mom the once over and then asked her if she was sure she was eighty. Mom said, “Yes, indeed” and her nurse said that she is in remarkable health. I reminded mom that eighty is the new sixty! And that, my friends is what gets us through those long days. When her medical team reiterates what we already know – that she is strong, healthy and making great progress on her road to recovery. As a side note, don’t shake her hand, she has gotten freakishly strong since the chemo and she has developed a G.I. Kung-Foo Grip! :o)
Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully we will have an answer as to why there is still an excessive amount of lymph fluid draining from her body. We can’t more ahead until the cause of the drainage is found and a course of action is taken to stop it. So please continue to pray that her oncologist will be able to ease the drainage tomorrow so we can all pile back onto this Crazy Train and make out way to our final destination – remission.
Val
Here is the “Killer” innocently posing with his family. From left to right: Val, Ryker aka “Killer”, James and Ruger.
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