Norm

We have a black lab named Norm. He's ten years old. A few weeks ago he wasn't feeling well and I took him to the vet only to discover that he had something bothering his abdomen. The vet took an xray saw that his spleen was enlarged and then sent us for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed a large cyst that was most likely cancerous. It happened so fast and I needed to make a decision within a few hours whether he would undergo surgery to remove the spleen or be put down. Well, my vet felt good about doing surgery since all of his other organs were clear. If it turned out to be cancer, she gave him three-six months before it came back. Surgery was our choice since it was pretty simple and we just weren't ready to say goodby to this great dog. Surgery went great, he was back to normal just a couple of days later. He even wore his ridiculous Elizabethan collar without complaint!

We've had two scares since the surgery. One day he's great, the next day we thought he was going to visit his maker. For a treat we gave him a rawhide bone (which we never do) and it did not agree with him. He lay lethargic and glossy-eyed for the entire day. The next morning, he was feeling himself again! Whew. No more rawhide. Then, just yesterday he was standing next to me and I was petting him and his back legs collapsed and down he went. Here we go again. We made him comfortable and offered him food and water. Water yes, food no. I told my son to grill him up a burger. He found his appetite for that alright! He continued to be very stiff and had sad eyes. But today is a new day! He is chasing his toy and our other dog and you'd never know anything was wrong with him. Hmmm, perhaps we was holding out for the sirloin burger!

I told him that three weeks post surgery was not long enough to justify the cost of his surgery and he was going to need to hang in there for a few months anyway. He just looked at me, kind of like everyone else in the family does when I make stupid comments. Here's a picture of Normie and Skittles.