We lost our sweet Lucy almost 2 weeks ago. I remember announcing his arrival here in the new dog thread almost 10 years ago now.
He was diagnosed with terminal cancer about 3 months before he died. The vet gave him 1-2 months, but we got him a little further, maybe thanks to a great diet. He got salmon and a homemade veggie concoction at every meal. And we had a great time the last 3 months - 3 weekends away at rural cabins, a 10th birthday party, walks in all his favorite parks.
When I met him I was still relatively new to Boise, and didn't have a lot of friends yet. It was me and him for a while. We walked everywhere - I did the math, we probably had about 6,500 walks all over Boise, the Idaho state parks, and the Boise foothills. No matter what was going on my life, those walks kept me grounded, happy, healthy - it was always something to look forward to every day.
He only slowed down the last week or so and stopped eating a day or two before the end. The tumor was growing and I knew I wasn't going to let him needlessly suffer. I was very worried about COVID protocols with euthanasia and not being able to be there with him, but, we managed to set something up outside on a relatively warm day, with some propane heaters so it was very comfortable.
It's been a rough year for a million reasons of course, but especially with this kind of thing around here. We lost our senior foster Loba a few months back. We had nursed her back to health and adoptability, but then her seizures came back and she lost the use of her front legs. We have another senior hospice foster in the house (that just means she's not going anywhere), and I'm hoping she makes it at least a few more months.
This has all happened during a pretty extraordinary time at work where my boss has been in the hospital with COVID and I've been thrown into some heavy stuff with very little notice or pre-existing knowledge about how to deal with it. In has been very difficult to balance it all. I feel like I am holding it together, and that almost surprises me kind of, like I'm waiting to break. It all certainly has a way of focusing you on what matters. Hoping to relax some this week!
