In the Home Stretch!

Regular readers know my job has been a bit of a crazy place the last few months. Well, the end is on the horizon!! I am so happy. I love my job and what I do, but I’ve been doing a bit too much of it lately. It ends with a nice long week in the mountains for me just relaxing in the cool and looking at the leaves’ color change. It’s coming, and I’m counting the days.

I also have some less happy news to share. Two weeks ago my foster dog Riley woke up with a swollen, hot shoulder. He went into the vet and they believed it to be an abscess. After he was shaved they thought there were multiple pockets of pus that needed to be drained so they had to put him under for surgery. The cause of the infection was actually an invasive tumor in his shoulder. Ugh. Cancer.

So, I guess I’m now a three dog house. A senior dog with cancer isn’t exactly adoptable. Riley came out of surgery just fine. Once the infection cleared up it was hard to keep him calm! He had drains and sutures but he didn’t let that stop him!  The vet believes he will have anywhere from six months to two years to live. Yep, that was the time range I was given. Riley is acting like his goofy self and isn’t in any obvious pain. He’s still begging for food and chasing the squirrels. So for now, he’s hanging here with me and we’ll just see what happens as time goes on. I can feel right where the tumor is so I’ll monitor it to see how fast it grows.

Now if I could just get him to stop digging holes under the fence!  😀

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4 Comments

  1. You are awesome and so are the coonhounds! 🙂 Enjoy your upcoming vacation time.

  2. Yeah for Riley who gets to stay with you; this will be tough but you can do it, esp. with the mountain vacation coming up. Sorry to hear about the CA, though – keep him listed; it’s amazing who may show up.
    I’m leaking Beagles and terriers like crazy because a Dachshund digs holes along the fence and they finish the job and slip through. I’m putting up chicken wire along the perimeter this weekend. About 18″ wide, 6″ up the chain link and the rest in an L on the ground. Grass can grow through the wire so you can still mow but ouch! it won’t be pleasant to dig. Check this out: look at the second photos down on the left: http://www.starbucktorbay.com/fencing.htm. Hope this helps you – and me!
    Bobbie Rae recently posted..Bang! Boof! Crash!My Profile

    • It’s funny you posted this, I just laid out some chicken wire yesterday. I don’t have enough to do the whole fence yet so I’ve chosen one of his favorite places and laid it out and spread grass seed. I got the idea from my old vet who had a ‘dog park’ area you could bring your dog to. They had a similar set up. I hope it works!

  3. Wow. Riley is so blessed to have landed with you. I agree with Bobbie Rae that you should consider to post him. Saying this because my colleague and her husband adopted a 10 year English Bulldog with allergies and cancer. They weren’t even looking for another dog but when they heard about her plight, they couldn’t do otherwise. Please keep us posted re the treatment and enjoy what sounds like an incredibly well deserved vacation!!!!
    Tanya @ Mazzie Takes Manhattan recently posted..Wordless WednesdayMy Profile

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