an animal favor

But not for mine (although good energy and thoughts are always appreciated). This is for my aunt's dog, Elvis:

Hello Dear One...

I am sending this email out to try to circumvent some of the story-telling, and ask all of those fabulous people who care about me to send their prayers and good thoughts. Tonight I found out that my sweet rottie, Elvis, has inoperable cancer. Most of you know him and know what a silly head he is...and nothing has changed. If you were to come over right now, you'd never guess his body is riddled with tumors.

My request is that you pray, or send thoughts, or energy, or do whatever you feel to do, so that his remaining time here is pleasant and painless, and when it is time to go, it will be easy for him.

He's been my best friend and companion for so long that I have a hard time picturing life without him. It could be a few days, a few weeks, a few months, no one knows. These past 11 years with him have been amazing. He has never lost his puppy personality and he saved my life twice. Dogs just don't come any better.

I found a bump in his belly a couple of weeks ago. The vet said we should watch it after the aspiration showed nothing. It didn't change for the better,so I decided to have it removed. Today we went in for routine bloodwork to prepare for the surgery. The vet suggested we go ahead with the lung x-rays while we were there, then we wouldn't have to do them the same day as the surgery. There won't be any surgery now as his lungs are filled with golf-ball sized tumors.

We are going to treat him as holisically as possible, and keep him comfortable. There is hope that we can stem the growth-rate of the tumors, but little hope of a cure. I will not put him through chemo or anything that will hurt him.

I appreciate your support and care. You have always been there for me when I needed an ear, and I hope throughout the years, I have been there for you. I am grateful that you are in my life and I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Since we don't know how long he will be with us, if you would like to stop and see him, just call me and we'll have a visit!

I know they are meant to have the life span they have. I can logic my way through this with the best of them...and reality is just plain lousy sometimes. If you can add my roommate, George, to the prayers, that would be great too. As you know, he lost his beautiful son, Isaac, to brain cancer 2 years ago. And while seeing Elvis through to the end of his life isn't even in the same universe of pain, it is still something I wish he did not have to go through because he has grown quite attached to Elvis. More grief is not really something George needs in his life right now, as you can imagine. I thought perhaps Isaac just really needed a great dog, so he's asking for Elvis. Wouldn't that be sweet?

Thanks for listening. Thanks for your support. Thanks for your shoulder.

Love!

VAL




I hope she won't mind me posting this. I know she's getting support from friends and family, but hey, there are tons of animal lovers out there, so the more good energy and thoughts, the better, right?