Answering an Easy Question

I never got around to posting an update from Ella's last radiation appointment. Her tumor has shrunk another 10%! That makes a 30% total shrinkage. She is breathing much easier now. However, we still do not know what kind of cancer it is. The dye test came back inconclusive, so they think a mistake was made. I'm a little frustrated that we don't have results, simply because she only has one more radiation treatment left and I want to know what we need to do for her after that's done. The not knowing part is very hard, but I'm trying to be patient.

I wanted to discuss another topic, too. Over the last two weeks, I’ve been tentatively asked by a few people why we’re trying to save Ella. If it’s costing us so much money, heartache, and stress, why do it? She’s a dog, after all. The questions are tough to hear, but the answer comes easily for us. I figured I’d try to explain why we’re choosing to invest in making Ella well again.

Ella is like our child (Oz, too). We don’t have human children and our pets have become our kids. Just like you would do anything to make your child well again, we’re doing anything we can to make Ella well again. To us, her life is just as valuable as a human child’s. Ella has become an important part of our family, not just a dog we can easily replace. She’s special to us.

Before we adopted, her she had a very hard life. I’ll post her adoption story here one day, but just believe me when I say the poor girl has faced a lot of cruelty at the hands of humans. She doesn’t care though. Yes, she gets scared in certain situations, but for the most part, this little girl is extremely trusting and loving. If you’ve ever met Ella, you know she greets with slobbery kisses, a big smile, and a wagging rear end.

She’s brought so much joy into our lives. After a long day, we can come home and know she’ll be waiting at the door for us. We can lay on the floor and play or snuggle with her and forget about whatever bothered us that day. I started training her early into her time with us and she can do a laundry list of tricks now. She’s extremely intelligent and intuitive. She knows if one of us isn’t feeling well and does her best to cheer us up all on her own. She does so much for us and in return all she wants is to be loved and cared for. We’re happy to oblige.

The gist of it is: we love her. A lot. Is her care costing us a lot? Oh, you bet. Is this painful to go through? You have no idea. Don’t I hate leaving her at the hospital for radiation? I cry every time, but also know she’s in good hands. Doesn’t this put a strain on us? Isn’t it stressful? Yes and yes, but two years ago we rescued her to give her a better life and now we’re trying to do that again. Six years isn’t long enough for her sweet self to have been on this earth. She deserves many more happy years and we’ll fight to give them to her.