It had been a few months since I last added an entry. In early October our dear Rosa was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma, an aggressive cancer of the vascular tissues: blood vessels, spleen, heart, and liver. In Rosa's case it attacked the vessels in her left leg too. Rosa also had significant lung involvement. We were given very few options and, in the end, our decisions were based on comfort and quality of life for Rosa. We could have done chemotherapy which is an excellent choice for many dogs with Hemangiosarcoma but not generally recommended with lung mets like Rosa's.
We put Rosa on a homemade diet, added more fish oil, and started her on Artemisinin to fight her cancer and Yunnan Paiyao to help her with the internal bleeding. I highly recommend reading about these 2 herbal compounds-- no matter if you are a cat or dog companion or are not. Very useful. We will be keeping Yunnan Paiyao in our medicine cabinet from now on. Great for cuts and serious trauma involving any kind of bleeding.
By early November Rosa had had a few major bleeds and was getting more anemic and weak. The second week of November her breathing became more difficult and she really did not want to eat. The weekend of November 14th Rosa started struggling for each breath. Monday our vet came to our home and we helped Rosa to pass gently over to the spirit realm.
Other than keeping the store going at Purrfectplay my life was drawn inward. Grieving her loss is the hardest thing I have done in my adult life, and of course I am not done. I am forever changed by the experience of saying hello and now, goodbye to Rosa. And ...here is where my entry gets stuck. There is just too much and not enough to say about the loss of a dear companion. I will just end this entry with a lovely quote which seems to say most of what is in my heart and mind:
"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan." ----Irving Townsend.
