Survivors and Celebrations

Lacy's Story

We brought Lacy home at 8 weeks of age. She was supposed to be my girl. I lived in a house with my husband and 2 sons and thought it would be nice to have another female around. She very quickly fell madly in love with my husband. But Lacy loved everyone. I always said that if someone ever tried to rob our home she would probably help them. I volunteer for a non-profit animal rescue and when ever I brought home a new foster cat or dog, Lacy was always so excited and welcoming. Lacy was only about 8 1/2 years old when I noticed that she developed a limp and we took her to the vet to get checked. They did x-rays and a needle aspiration but nothing showed and they said she might have the beginnings of some arthritis. Her rear leg hock was a little swollen. We started giving her some supplements that were supposed to help but she was not getting better but worse. The hock continued to swell so we took her back and this time they did a biopsy that showed what I feared...the dreaded word Cancer. We were devastated and afraid. We knew that we had to try to save her. The vet did not think that she was a good candidate for amputation due to her gait when she walked. They did surgery to remove the tumor and felt that they had gotten it all and so we followed up with radiation just to be sure. She did well at first but withing about 3 months she took a turn for the worse and lost all use of her legs. She could not stand at all. It was heart breaking because she was aware of what was happening and could not understand why she could not follow me from room to room or go outside without assistance. We tried water therapy without any results. They checked her thoroughly and the only thing we found was one very small spot on her lung. Nothing to indicate a reason for the weakness in her legs. We finally had to make the hardest decision any pet owner has to make for their four legged members of their family and that was euthanasia, such a ugly word. It was during all of this that I started researching cancer in dogs and soon found out how wide spread it is. It is not just older animals. I have spoke to so many people that have told me stories about very young animals being diagnoses with cancer. The thing is that it is such an expense to try to fight it and most people can not afford to even try. The only solution is to find a cure. Thanks for supporting the fight against cancer and cancer research.