Firstly, we found out a couple of weeks ago that Tia the Rottweiller likely has bone cancer. She is easily one of the coolest dogs I've had the pleasure of knowing, and is too young (7) for such a fate. Tia is my future FIL's dog, and I worry a bit about how he will handle her loss. (They have decided not to do any aggressive treatment for various reasons, and will put her down as soon as she starts showing any decrease in her quality of life.) To simply say that FFIL is attached to this dog does a disservice to their bond. They had two Rottweller's years ago...when the old one died of natural old-age things, the younger one followed shortly thereafter. Broken heart, perhaps. It was devastating for their family, especially the dad. They're getting some time to prepare this time, at least, but I still worry. I will miss that dog fiercely.
Secondly, my uncle is in the hospital and not doing so well. This is the uncle who is developmentally disabled and who lost his beloved dachshund a few months back. My mom has worked hard to set things up so that he could continue to live independently after their mother died, and he's done well for several years. Easter morning, mom woke up abruptly around 5am just knowing something was not right with him. She went to his house, and found him drowning in mucous and barely breathing. The docs said another hour or two and he likely would have died. He's now in the hospital, with a probable diagnosis of lung cancer. If he improves, he will be moved into a nursing home, but it doesn't appear that he'll be with us much longer. Smoking is horrid, but he is a simple man for whom simple pleasures mean a lot - and he probably got more joy in his 70+ years from cigarettes than anything else. In this case, it's tough to be bitter about the cancer. He's had a long and content life.
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