And steal from thee thy good perambulations--
Alas, take from thee even the hunger of thy belly
And stop up the lappings of the thirst of thy tongue--
Then cast off this malignant tubercle from the trunk of thy body
And cavort across the fields of thy territory upon three legs sturdy and fine.
Be thou tripod and be thou rich of life.
Exegesis and commentary
As some of you already know, Nadja lost a leg to cancer (osteosarcoma) last October. Unfortunately, it's a very aggressive cancer and has probably already metastasized, so tho' we are hoping to have her with us through the winter, we know we can't expect much more than that.
But the key thing is how much happier she is since the amputation: all September, she had been in such awful pain that she barely walked at all and Karen even had to start force-feeding her things like boiled chicken and scrambled eggs. At that point, we didn't have a diagnosis that made sense (she has arthritis, but this seemed awfully extreme for arthritis), and we were beginning to despair that her quality of life could be restored at all.
Then Amy Johnson, a friend and our vet (JP Animal Clinic), referred us to an osteo surgeon at all Angell, and he immediately diagnosed it as said osteosarcoma. We thought the recommended amputation seemed awfully drastic for an eleven-year-old dog that had about six months to live anyway, but it turned out just right: she is enjoying her walks, naps, and food, and the four of us are able to go on walks together. After those excruciating weeks in September and October, having the opportunity to make her happy and comfortable again, if even just for a few months, is totally worth it.
The special harness Karen uses to carry her up and down stairs.
She also has a giant stroller (her carriage) that we can use when she runs out of stamina on a walk--
but her strength improved week by week through October and November.
Posts
