Jesse Puppy

I know Jesse our 12 year old dog is not a puppy, but we still consider him one.  He truly was our first child and as much as Mike fought getting him, he has been the best dog I have ever had.  And Mike came around within the first month and they have been best buds ever since. 

For the past month we have been fighting with a cyst on Jesse's chest.  They drained it about a month ago and it filled back up pretty fast.  I noticed on Tuesday that Jesse was licking at it and when he stood his right leg was distorted because it was so large.  So I thought to myself, "I am a big girl, I can take him in by myself."  Dr. R (at Banfield - possibly the best Vet I have ever dealt with) was surprised with how big it had gotten and said we should drain it and then talk about what we needed to do about it.  She came back from draining it and said we needed to think about surgery to remove it.  We decided we would do a surgical consult scheduled for today to discuss whether or not Jesse was a healthy enough candidate for surgery to remove the cyst.

Then on Tuesday afternoon/evening Jesse would not stop licking the cyst which had filled pretty much back up by then.  On Wednesday morning it was an oozing mess, so back into the vet we went.  They put him on antibiotics and then sent me to PetSmart - right next door - to get a cone/donut to keep him from licking it.  That was easier said than done because I had both Tommy and Morgan with me and of course this was during Morgan's nap time so she was a mess.  She was running up and down the aisles and I had to have Tommy chase her while I tried to talk to a salesman about which thing to buy.  When I couldn't decide I bought them all and figured I would figure it out at home.

We got home and I put the donut on Jesse.  He seemed so sad, but I knew it was better for him and it was helping the cyst to crust over (sorry to be so graphic).  Warning here is a picture of the cyst and Jesse in a donut, so breeze past these if you don't want to see yucky stuff:

So today I dropped Jesse off for his surgical consult and Dr. R called within an hour and said they took x-rays and the cyst seemed to not have gone past the body wall, which was a good thing because it looked like it had not grown into the muscle tissue.  Dr. R said pretty much our decision at this point would be surgery or euthanize him because he can’t live with this cyst on him.  She couldn’t guarantee me that this is not cancer, but he can’t live with this cyst because it bothers him so much. 

She said the surgeon is there and they can do the surgery today so that is what we elected to do.  She said she would call me if anything changed once they got in there and it was a “mess” -then we would need to make a decision to proceed or put him to sleep.  

Then Dr. R called in the middle of surgery to let me know there was a tumor causing the cyst.  They are pretty sure it is cancer, but they were going to remove as much of the tumor as they could as well as the cyst.  So now I sit here waiting to hear whether or not our puppy gets to come home tonight or if we have to make a harder decision and put him to sleep. 

I am so thankful for the wonderful years we have had with Jesse - he is truly a member of our family.  But Mike and I are also very realistic and know we do not want Jesse to be in pain.  And we do not want his quality of life to suffer.  So currently I sit here and wait in tears wondering how our puppy is.

So cheers to the years we have had with this amazing dog and here is to hoping that we have a few more.