The End

It looks like the end is near for our older dog, Sedona. She's a black lab mix who's 15 years old. She's had cancer for some three years or so now.

Today, it burst. She bled all over the basement carpeting.

Last year, the vet told us at some point the cancer would abscess and bleed profusely and that would be the sign that she would die soon.

We don't know if she'll pass tonight or three weeks from now. All we know is the end is here, however long it'll take.

So, in what should be a time of celebration for our family (Der Deutscher and I celebrate our 8th wedding anniverstary this week) we're all focused on making Sedona as comfortable as possible.

When the main lump first showed up about three years ago, we had it removed. But within weeks it had grown back. The vet said it was clearly cancerous. We never had it tested to find out what kind. What was the use?

She was already a senior doggy citizen by then. And it had taken some six weeks for her to heal from the first surgery. We weren't going to put her through that again. So we've just let the cancer grow and fed her as much as she needed to stay alive with it growing. Today it's somewhere between basketball sized and beach ball sized.

Right now, Der Deutscher is upstairs coating the kitchen floor with plastic so we can move her up there. She's still down in the basement alternately licking at blood spots on the floor and at the burst cancer. I'm here keeping an eye on her and JBP is running back and forth between the two of us.

Nimitz' Lady

Edited: We found Sedona was more at ease sitting in the garage.