Coleman Update
We spent part of Thursday and all of Friday at the vet school.
I'm bringing my own lawn chair next time. Their tiny club chairs suck.
Folded up like an accordion to sleep. Whatever my discomfort, the Kid had it worse. A full day of tests. He wolfed down a can salmon in the parking lot after we made our escape.
Not before getting some bad news. Cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in his leg...an advanced stage of cancer. Good news: liver and spleen biopsies showed that the boogers haven't made it to the next stop: organs.
Until they remove the tumors and get pathology results, we won't know how aggressive the cells are.
Cole's barely a senior. Not even 9 until July 3rd. Auburn University has the best oncology department. All of my reading and what the surgeon has told me state that mast cell tumors can be unpredictable at this stage. Only the mitotic index of the darned tumor will give us a clue as to his prognosis.
Therefore, Cole goes in for surgery Monday...almost two weeks earlier than originally offered-- all thanks to getting someone else's cancelled appointment. I can't help but feel optimistic. Maybe my offer was accepted, my prayer answered: does my Colemeister get one more good year? That's my goal right now. One more year to work and play, to just be.
So, that's what we're doing this weekend. We're at work together, as usual.
We're not changing a thing. We're having fun, 'til dusk shoos us home.
Decision's made. We'll regroup after the surgery and decide what's best for Cole's quality of life. This surgeon comes with the highest accolades, but what inspires me to trust him is his deadpan honesty and the success of one of his former patients, who I would see when Cole waited physiotherapy, two years ago. If a Malinois police dog had his type of cancer, kept working through treatment and is still on the force two years post surgery, why not Cole too?
We have plans, we're too busy for him to check out now
Our plans may not be as grand as before, but once the insurance catches up, we should be getting a good chunk back, after the deductible. $4570 for one more good year, that's $12 a day. Chump change.
In my eyes, I've already won the lottery. 8 greatest years of adventure and love passed out on my couch right there.
Sunday, we're back at work feeding horses and pruning azaleas. Just another day on the farm.
Garrett is in for a surprise though. We had a talk...
He's taking one for the team. Since Cole and I do not do time apart, like ever, like less than 10 nights in his whole life... Garrett's agreed to be my shadow for the three days and nights Cole is hospitalized. He's even agreed to snuggle, but he's drawing the line at spooning...dammit.
"Pete, Pete, get over here, I need a favor..."
