Mojo requested

The call I just received was not good, and not one I wanted.  

Step one-we are going to do chest films of the big guy to see if his cancer has metastasized. If that is the case, it's just a palliative care situation.  

History lesson:

It may be a surprise to learn that the big guy is a survivor.  I've always said he has the heart of a lion but was cursed by his genetics and his cancer is just further proof of that.

Nearly three years ago I took him to the vet b/c his behavior had changed.  It sounds odd, but he was being much more compliant, needy, and obedient.  Some owners probably would have thought he was just maturing-it would have made sense given his age; and I was hoping that was the case as it was ABOUT TIME! He's a smart pup and, I think because of that, could be somewhat of a knucklehead at times.

The vet gave me a 'sure, we can do a bunch of tests, spend a bunch of money, but we'll probably find out that he's just getting older'. Unfortunately I let this be my guiding light, probably because it was what I wanted to hear. However, a few months later his symptoms hadn't improved, and a few had been added; among them was an increased thirst.  I could barely keep his waterbowl filled.

I took him to another clinic- the Vet School where I was working at the time. I always tried to avoid going to the vet school first; not b/c they aren't HIGHLY skilled- because they are- rather it's that they want to spend money on lots of tests before they have a conclusive diagnosis and once having a diagnosis they have lots of expensive treatment options.  I've never received the country doctor advice that involved simple household cures, but I always hope to.

The call I got that afternoon was along the lines of "...you have a very sick boy here".

Short story-large mass on his liver, compromised liver function, the prognosis is not good.

We elected to have surgery to remove the tumor.  It was not the most advised solution, but I have great confidence in the surgeon on hand, and figured my boy was worthy of at least being given a fighting chance.

That was Thanksgiving 2010.

He lost a lobe of his liver but he's generally done very well since.

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