After my walk with Balt this morning, the vet called. Balt's been so good and so happy, my assumption has been that he is well now. The report came back on his tumor and he had a very aggressive malignant melanoma that appeared to be localized in the eye. My vet assured me that in her professional opinion, she felt she got all of the cancer. Of course if money was not an issue, she would suggests more tests and scans to rule out any possibilities of it having spread but understanding that my resources are limited she said to just keep a close eye on him, especially his other eye and his mood. She felt the most likely places for the cancer to have spread to are his brain, lymph nodes and lungs. These would not be places I would be able to notice visual problems, so it would be important to keep a close eye on changes in his behavior.
This past year Balt has been an amazing gift to me, of companionship and comfort. His outlook on life has changed mine. Even in losing his eye, he seems genuinely thrilled to be alive. When sharing with a friend the news from the vet, I was encouraged to cherish the time I have with him that the reality is that it is borrowed time. He has been given more time to be with me and comfort me, but I will not know if that time will be a year or ten. I am learning that is how I must approach life always, on a daily basis as I am confronted with my mom's illness, knowing her prognosis is as bad if not worse than Balt's. Every phone call, every connection, every moment together is a gift.
It was the last Backyard Monday. The day flew by quickly. I brought cake and hot dogs for my kids in backyard. After taking photos of my seniors, my juniors asked to take one as well (see below). "Seven Mile Creek" will be disbanded after this year. After 15 years or so of traditions, it all ends to start again with something different next year. I will be assigned to work with seniors in some kind of advisory group. I would love to have my juniors come with me, but we shall see. After school, Monika and I went grocery shopping to get dish detergent because Erika had taken mine. Monika needed a bunch of stuff and of course I ended up getting a bunch of stuff to, so it was like a full blown grocery run. We had dinner together and watched The Voice. Balt is used to snuggling up with me on couch when I watch my shows, so he had no problem jumping right on top of Monika to get comfortable. I'm glad the couch is still big enough for all of us.
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