"Cancer is Evil"

... as said best by my son.

Yesterday was a very sad day at the Thompson house. Our first baby, Mikha has been diagnosed with a very aggressive bone cancer. Yes, Mikha is a dog - but Mikha was really our first child! I know some people don't 'get it', but others will. He is a member of our family. Period.

Last week, we noticed that his ankle was swollen. We took him to the vet, she felt his bones - said nothing was broken and assumed it was likely arthritis. Thursday before we left, his entire lower leg was swollen a great deal! It was painful and he was putting no pressure on it. We put him on pain killers and had him looked after with special care while we were gone. It had gotten worse over the weekend, so we took him back to the vet yesterday. She X-rayed him and found this:

Cancer has eaten right through the bones in his ankle. We can have his leg amputated and he will have a month to live. We can amputate and treat with chemotherapy and he will have 3 months to live. We only have a few days left before this cancer will spread to his organs. (There is some thought that it has already made it's way to his lymph nodes.)

For now, he is on pain meds and happy as can be. A couple days of lots of hugs, photos and goodbyes. This morning, he managed to make his way down 2 flights of stairs to find me in the office, so he could lie at my feet. Still loyal as ever - so I let him eat cat food! :)

Mikha is an extremely unique dog and I wanted to do a full post on how amazing he is, but I shed enough tears yesterday that it will have to wait.

Muffin was hysterical when she found out and Mister curled up on a stool and claimed he was never going to get off. He has been their playmate, best friend, defender, protector and babysitter since the day they both were born.