I’ve really wrestled with whether to write this or not. But the fact is that you all are family. We’ve shared our life with you each and every day for over a decade. And there should be no secrets. Especially from family. I’ve learned that when you do not voice what’s wrong or what’s right, you don’t help anyone. So I’m going to let you know excatly what’s going on. Because there has been many questions and you deserve answers. Yet I can’t respond to each comment.
As you know, we opted not to let Brickle have surgery to remove his mouth growth. We did elect to have surgery by a specialist pet dentist which was costly to at least diagnose and biopsy. It turned out not to be cancer. Yay! But it did not solve the issue of the growth getting bigger. No vet (we saw three) would remove even the surface of the growth without taking out half his jaw. So we’ve done many treatments and diet changes and I’m very sorry to say in the last week, the growth is getting very large. I will include a picture below. So if it makes you queasy, please skip over it for now.
Our main concern is not having it rupture and this week I had a scare when blood was everywhere from something cutting it. I’ve had to switch to very soft foods and be very careful. But we really need this to shrink. And I’m doing all I can to figure this out. We will not get his jaw cut or teeth removed. He cannot go thru another surgery. We know that.
I know by admitting we have few answers and telling you exactly what is happening is going to admit we don’t know it all. We don’t! No one does. But when we each try and do the right things for our dogs, that is all we can do. Our best. They deserve our best.
He also is up most nights with pain from arthritis in his back legs and hips. I barely get any sleep which is why the blog is late sometimes. We have him on natural medicine and I’m sorry to say, pain pills. I hate that. But he has to be comfortable. We are exploring adding hydrotherapy to his care routine. Again, we will do our best for him. We have to. No matter the cost of the time of the changes to our lives.
So. What about Italy in view of this? It’s not Italy that I am afraid he won’t like or that we wouldn’t be able to care for him there. There are many excellent vets. But our main concern right now is if he is healthy enough for the trip on the cruise boat. And we need to determine that. He is first. Above any country or home. The last week has brought a lot of things to our attention. And it’s a lot.
We know we are inviting hateful comments from some that we aren’t considering him in this move. But we are. He is our main concern. And you can bet we will do what we feel is best. We wanted to update you. Our family.
