Feeling Dogged
I haven’t mentioned yet one last member of our family - our Golden Retriever, Bandit. He’s a good guy and he’s lived with us since he was a puppy. Bandit was really our first kid - the one who gave me the confidence to believe that I really could handle all this Mom stuff.
Last summer he was diagnosed with lymphoma, and at the end of 2006, we had just finished up a long course of chemo along with radiation treatments. Bandit went into remission early, tolerated the chemo treatments well, and from all indicators we felt we’d probably get the long end of the 1 to 1 1/2 year survivability rate (they can’t cure the cancer, but they can buy you time).
Yesterday I took him in for his first monthly maintenance treatment, only to find out that he’s already out of remission. I’m heartbroken.
The worst of it is, if we continued with a more aggressive (and expensive) chemo schedule, we could probably continue to buy some time. The problem is, we just don’t have the money. We committed to the first course of chemo and got the radiation half price through a study at the vet school - we had decided that even though it was a big financial pinch, we wanted to do it for Bandit. We even had the pet insurance to help out a bit.
But now the insurance payout is exhausted, and so are our resources to commit to more treatments. Yes, the end is the same - Bandit will never be completely cured in any case. I just feel miserable that I don’t have… don’t have what? More money to throw at the problem to make me feel less guilty? More time so Princess and Trouble will remember Bandit as more than just that dog in the pictures from when they were little?
Anyone have the winning lotto numbers??????