Tobby part 2

As the years past, and she began to grow older, the effects of arthritis began to show. Strenuous activities that she once loved became difficult. Some days she would fall down the stairs when trying to go upstairs because her back legs didn't get the message to move. Despite the discomfort she never abandoned her responsibilities to greet all visitors, whether at home or at work. Her favorite part about going to work now was the car ride because she could just sit and watch the world go by.

This last January, a small lump began to grow on Tobby's left front leg. Similar lumps that had grown on her in the past never seemed to effect her and since this one was roughly the size of a peanut, we weren't too worried. By April, however, the lump on her leg had grown to the size of a golf ball. My mom and I grew more concerned by the day. Later that month we decided that it was time to see our trusted vet, Dr. Driscoll. She recommended that we consider removing the lump, if it was interfering with her day to day activities. Knowing that it was already beginning to interfere with her everyday life, we asked how much the procedure would cost. The quote? $1,000! My heart sank. As much as my family loves Tobby, I knew that we couldn't afford it. Seeing the strain in our face, Dr. Driscoll suggested that we do the pre-op blood tests on Tobby now to see if she would even be able to tolerate surgery. We agreed and when the results came back, she had the best results she had in the last 12 1/2 years! Her liver enzymes, which had been bad since she was a young pup, were back in the normal range. I was so excited that Tobby was so healthy, but the excitement quickly turned to anxiety. While Tobby was healthier than she had ever been, she had a large tumor on her leg that we knew we couldn't get removed because we didn't have that much money. So we did the only thing we could do at that time, wait and hope that it stopped growing.

At least once every week, my mom and I head over to my grandparents house to visit. Tobby decided she wanted to come along this time, so we loaded her up in the back of the car and headed over. We made our usual small talk about pills, doctor appointments and products that got Grandma excited on QVC, and soon it was time to leave. But as we began heading for the door, Grandpa noticed the lump on Tobby's leg. By then it had grown to the size of a tennis ball. We told him to story about how it grew, about our discussion with Dr. Driscoll and how it would cost a minimum of $1,000 to remove. As the story progressed, you could see the sadness in his eyes. While Grandpa will never admit it, he is definitely a dog lover. Soon we were on our way home; Tobby's nose sniffing the outside air as we drove. I couldn't help but notice how content she looked, which was completely opposite of how I felt.
Later on that same night, I was hanging out with Jeremy when I got an unexpected phone call from Mom. She had just gotten off the phone with Grandpa and he told her that we wanted to pay for Tobby's surgery. At first my brain couldn't compute what she was saying. In disbelief I asked her if she was serious. She said yes. I was in shock when I got off the phone with her and quickly shared the great news with Jeremy, I almost started crying. My Tobby was going to get fixed!

...to be continued...