I’ve been hesitant to share photos of my baby while sick, because it seems so personal. But if you know her story, you should see her face. And see how resolved and strong she is despite this all.
My baby in the Tardis blanket- she loves it and is always trying to steal it from Mommy!This was a few weeks ago, before it started to bleed. She’s been a trooper with this mass for a while.Lucy in her current bandage style dress. For a pup who hates clothes, she’s been so tolerant for it all. I think she knows it’s this or a cone.
Sorry for the wonky nature of the most recent photo. Yet I’m sure you can still see her spirit. She’s an amazing girl.
Most of my photos are on my phone and take some travel to get to the iPad I’m posting from( my phone’s a pre-Siri 4, so it doesn’t always work the best.) But I’ll try to post as many of my sweet girl’s photos as I can.
We’re struggling with the funds for Ms. Lucy’s operation. What we had planned is not an option. She’s doing okay right now, feeling okay with pain medicine, taking antibiotics twice a day to keep the tumor clean. It’s oozing dramatically now, and we are remarkable grateful for large surgical pads and athletic tape. Add a tee shirt, and she seems comfortable. Her happiness is the most important.
We continue to follow leads to get her treatment. She deserves whatever is best for her. It’s what we want to be able to give her. At times, as we can see her sicker day by day, we’re scared of what that might mean.
But tonight she rolled into her back for a belly rub (and/or back relief.) She sniffed, gulped, and skittered in her dreams. She drank water. She ate kibble. She took her antibiotics in a pill pocket like a champ. She got excited when we mixed her food with wet food pouches (an exotic treat.)
She’s remarkable and unpredictable. It’s how she’s always been. There could never have been a more amazing blessing than to know and love her.
So for anyone wondering about how Lucy is, she is laying comfortably at her Daddy’s feet, being petted, with a soft pillow underneath. She’s soft, and sweet, and seems content.
This is our Saturday night blessing. Love to you all.
She’s so fluffy! (…couldn’t help the Despicable Me reference…)
We were counting on a combination of CareCredit and family support to get Ms. Lucy’s treatment (I.e., the amputation) paid for. We discovered today that we were denied the CareCredit funds, and the family support we were anticipating is not sufficient to cover her operation.
In short, we have no way to pay for her treatment.
I find myself in the place beyond sadness, because although I was stressed and concerned for her welfare yesterday, today I feel at an utter, abjectly powerfully loss of ability to fix any of this. We intend to explore as many financial avenues as possible at this time.
I refuse to believe in a world where my baby, who has done nothing wrong, is forced to die due to a non-connected issue regarding her parents past credit issues. I am torn to bits at this real possibility. Lucy is only 6, and as the young pup she is, deserves to live out her life. I rue my inhibitions in the past 24 hours- a limb lost is huge. A life lost is horrific beyond comparison.
I apologize for delving into this. This is about Lucy’s journey, not her father’s and mine. I just felt the need to be honest with anyone who see’s this, that if there are no more posts, this is why. I will try and continue to document Lucy’s story, because she sure as all hell deserves it. My baby girl is a phenomenal fighter, and if we can’t beat cancer, we will sure give it a run for our money, with love, support for her, and the grace with which she conducts herself. Always grateful, never demanding, my Lucy puts her future in our hands. And if an option exists, we intend to see that future promised.
A deep thank you goes out to anyone who has read and/or commented on her story so far. Lucy is amazing and I’m so glad so many others, near or far, have gotten to see that.
If you are taking the time to look at this blog, you should get to know the amazing puppy going through it all:
Ms. Lucy with some sort of phone filter added; she’s so lovely she doesn’t even need it…
So here’s Lucy!
Lucy loves fish-flavored anything! Salmon flavored dog food and treats are her absolute favorite!
She loves laying on the couch (as is shown), or laying on a blue sparkly pillow that I bought when I was in middle school (I’m 31 and I think that this is hilarious).
Lucy is very vocal, and is not afraid to make her opinions known. However, she is very respectful and doesn’t vocalize too loudly late at night, in regards of the neighbors.
Lucy is a hound/ rat terrier mix, and as you can see, is white and beautifully brindled brown. She is always as soft as a bunny, and has a remarkably white coat, given that she is not a fan of baths.
Lucy doesn’t eat much human food, but absolutely loves popcorn!
Lucy’s current favorite toys are her pink rubber ball and her braided rope. She once deeply loved a dog toy in the shape of Maggie from The Simpsons, which she carried around like an actual baby. After Maggie had to go off to the land of overly loved puppy toys, Lucy has been all about her pink ball.
Lucy was a mystery to her Daddy and I when we got her. She was given to us by someone who needed homes for a new litter of puppies, and as so, came to us as soon as we could take her. She’s been our baby and we’ve been her family since she was a little handful of scrunched-face and wiggly butt. Now she’s 35 lbs. but originally we were told she’d likely max out around 20 lbs. Imagine our surprise when her paws kept getting bigger and bigger! But she grew into those paws, and is the regal thing she is now.
Lucy snores and sleep grumbles frequently. She wakes up with big, sleepy doe eyes.
Lucy once tripped her mommy on an icy sidewalk, then ran back and licked mommy to make sure she was okay.
Lucy once tripped her mommy on an icy sidewalk, then ran back to the front door like, “Whoa, I’ve had enough of Winter, I’d like to be inside, please!” abandoning her mommy, but making her very happy that Lucy didn’t bolt for the trees or the highway.
When Lucy was a baby puppy and not 35 lbs., she would curl up on her mommy’s back, and snooze while Mommy lay on her stomach, reading.
Lucy’s favorite place is to summersault onto her Daddy’s feet, and lay upside down until she slides on her back. Then she gets a bully rub, and all is at peace in her world.
Lucy was once scared of a hallway.
Lucy can sit, come here, lay down, walk on her hind legs, hold a treat on her nose, then snap it out of the air, and go get it…. Usually when asked, but always when she wants to.
If you’re ever crying, Lucy always comes to comfort you.
Lucy has a giant mass impeding her movements. It is oozing because the tumor has run out of a place to go. She has been examined more in the last few weeks than ever in her life. Lucy has sat through long car rides to see specialists, and not only has she tolerated it all, she still gets excited when we head towards the car.
Overall, if you are reading this, you need to know that Lucy is extraordinary. Not because she’s any different from any other pup, but because she *is* a pup.
Thanks for taking the time to get to know my baby. 💗🐶💗
She’s the little trooper behind all this and she’s the one who is about to undergo a transformation. This is an older photo, and while her beautiful smile is still just as bright, she is currently burdened with an enormous sarcoma tumor encircling her front right leg. After several vet visits and a specialist or two, we now have a path for treatment; on Tuesday, we’re going to try to make her better. And that means removing her front right leg.
I know it’s harder on us (her Daddy and I), than it is on her. Well, in the worrying-ahead-of-time sense. I know that regardless of how well she bounces back (and I have all faith she will, she’s one tough cookie!), I’m sure it’s going to be hard on her, at least at the beginning. But I have all faith in the individuals we spoke with today, who seemed both filled with knowledge and kindness, and a hope that we’re doing what Lucy would want, too. She’s a young baby still (only 6) and still has a wonderful lifetime of puppy-related things and adventures ahead of her. With radiation largely ruled out, and chemo prognosis not good, this is what can hopefully give her the rest of the amazing life she deserves.
Selfishly, this blog is an opportunity for me (Mommy) to record this adventure and deal with the changes to come. Yet I know finding this website (Tripawd) today made me feel not alone, and I can’t express how much that means.
My baby girl is precious and wonderful and has quite the adventure ahead of her.
But she’s the most wonderful critter and if anyone can troop on through this, she can. 💗
